International News Coverage
Middle East, Terrorism and Counterterrorism
In Congress, Netanyahu Faults ‘Bad Deal’ on Iran Nuclear Program
Peter Baker/ The New York Times
With dark warnings and a call to action, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel used one of the world’s most prominent venues on Tuesday to denounce what he called a “bad deal” being negotiated with Iran and to mount an audacious challenge to President Obama.
Suicide Bombers Kill Houthi Fighters in Central Yemen
Al-Arabiya
Turkey’s state-run news agency says Turkey has delivered two plane-loads of military aid to Iraq. The Anadolu Agency says two C-130 military cargo planes carrying the equipment landed at an air base near Baghdad on Tuesday. It did not give any detail on the supplies.
Iraq Presses Offensive Against IS to Reclaim Tikrit
Voice of America News
Human Rights Watch is urging Iraqi forces and pro-government fighters to protect civilians as they press an offensive against the Islamic State group to reclaim the strategic city of Tikrit.
Europe
Deadly Coal Mine Explosion in Rebel-Held Donetsk
The Associated Press
An explosion ripped through a coal mine before dawn Wednesday in war-torn eastern Ukraine, killing one miner and trapping over 30 others underground, rebel and government officials said.
Nemstov Murder: Putin Urges End to Political Killings
BBC
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has called for an end to “shameful” political killings in Russia, after the shooting of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov just outside the Kremlin walls. He said the most serious attention should be paid to high-profile crimes. The former deputy prime minister, 55, was murdered on Friday night and buried in Moscow on Tuesday.
France Seeks Three Suspects Over 1982 Terror Attack
The Associated Press
More than 32 years after a deadly terror attack in the old Jewish quarter of Paris, French authorities have identified three suspects and are seeking their arrest. On 9 August 1982 a group of Palestinians burst into the Jo Goldenberg deli and sprayed machine-gun fire, killing six people including two Americans. A spokeswoman for the Paris prosecutor’s office said international arrest warrants had been issued for three suspects – now in their late 50s and early 60s – believed to have been members of the Abu Nidal group.
The Americas
Boston Set to Remember Bloody Week as Bombing Trial Opens
Scott Malone, Elizabeth Barber / Reuters
Boston will relive some of its worst memories on Wednesday when federal prosecutors begin laying out their case against Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
Mexico Arrests Zetas Cartel Leader Omar Trevino Morales
BBC
The leader of one of Mexico’s most notorious drugs gang, the Zetas cartel, has been captured by security forces, officials say. Omar Trevino Morales, known as Z-42, was arrested on Wednesday in the city of Monterrey in the northern state of Nuevo Leon, police said. He is said to have run the cartel since the 2013 arrest of his brother, Miguel. The arrest comes days after Mexican police captured another suspected drug lord, Servando “La Tuta” Gomez.
US Running Out of Room to Store Oil; Price Collapse Next?
Jonathan Fahey / The Associated Press
The U.S. has so much crude that it is running out of places to put it, and that could drive oil and gasoline prices even lower in the coming months.
Africa
Warplanes Strike Airport in Libyan Town, Limited Damage
Ayman Al-Warfalli / Reuters
Two unidentified warplanes on Wednesday bombed the airport of the western Libyan town of Zintan, allied with the country’s internationally recognized government, damaging electricity systems but not the runway, a local official said.
Ebola-Hit Countries Seek Help to Repair Their Economies
Adrian Croft / Reuters
The three West African states hardest hit by the Ebola outbreak asked for help from donors on Tuesday to repair the damage to their economies now that the epidemic seems to be waning.
Asia
Microsoft Co-Founder: I Found a Sunken Japanese Battleship
Doug Stanglin / USA Today
A research team led by Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Paul Allen has located a Japanese battleship that was considered one of the world’s largest and most technologically advanced warships when it was sunk off the Philippines during World War II, according to the expedition’s web site.
China Defense Budget Rise to Defy Slowing Economy
Megha Rajagopalan / Reuters
China’s defense budget this year will rise about 10 percent compared with 2014, a top government official said on Wednesday, outpacing the slowing economy as the country ramps up investment in high-tech equipment such as submarines and stealth jets.
Saudi Arabia, South Korea Sign MOU on Nuclear Power
Reem Shamseddine, Brian Kim / Reuters via Daily Mail
Saudi Arabia and South Korea have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to cooperate on the development of nuclear energy, Saudi state news agency SPA said, building on a deal signed in 2011.
Energy Security, Science and Technology, Climate Change
Delivering Unwelcome Species to the Mediterranean
Kate Galbraith / The New York Times
The Mediterranean Sea is among the world’s great environmental jewels. The sea is highly saline, almost entirely enclosed by land and contains immense biodiversity. Scientists have long worried that its health is imperiled. Swelling coastal populations and ship traffic have brought overfishing and pollution. Climate change threatens to roil the waters still further.
India Allocates $400 Million For 175 GW Renewable Energy Expansion Goal
Smiti Mittal / Clean Technica
India’s Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced the government’s decision to increase the renewable energy capacity addition target for 2022. India now aims to have an installed renewable energy capacity of 175 GW by 2022. 100 GW of this would come from solar power, 60 GW from wind energy, 10 GW from small hydro power, and 5 GW from biomass-based power projects.
Philippine Cities Most at Risk From Disasters, Study Shows
Joseph D’urso / Reuters
Of the 10 world cities most exposed to natural hazards, eight are in the Philippines, according to research which also showed that over half of the 100 cities most exposed to earthquakes, storms and other disasters were found in four Asian nations.
On Our Flashpoint Blog
Debt and Decisions: Puerto Rico
Luke Lorenz
While the small American territory of Puerto Rico struggles to overcome the most significant economic crisis that it has faced in its history, the importance of this affair is receiving little attention from the U.S. mainland. The tragedy of this apathetic attitude is that Puerto Rico’s recovery is dependent upon the actions of the U.S. Congress.
House Bill Focuses on Reorganization of National Labs
Philip Rossetti
On February 27th, Representative Hultgren introduced H.R. 1158, the Department of Energy Laboratory Modernization and Technology Transfer Act of 2015 intended “to improve management of the National Laboratories, enhance technology commercialization, facilitate public-private partnerships, and for other purposes.”
ASP in: “Investing in America’s Next Energy Boom”
William George
Last week, ASP Board Member Norman Augustine co-authored an article with Chad Holliday in The Hill calling for more investment in energy research and development (R&D) to improve US energy security and the quality of life within the country.
ASP Senior Fellow Seyom Brown Discusses Obama’s National Security Policy
William George
On Wednesday, February 25, 2015, the American Security Project hosted Dr. Seyom Brown in a discussion of President Obama’s national security policy. Dr. Brown sat down with ASP CEO BGen Stephen Cheney, USMC (Ret) and examined key questions regarding the current Administration’s national security policy choices.
Concerns Over the Daesh and Libya
Luke Lorenz
The recent beheadings of 21 Egyptian workers by a Libya based ISIS affiliate has revealed that extremist ideology is bourgeoning in this environment of destabilization.
The Long Final Leap Against Polio in Pakistan
Kennington Cung
On February 23, 2015, in Quetta, Pakistan over 400 teams of healthcare workers began an eight day campaign to inoculate of 478,000 children against polio. The men and women bring with them paperwork, information handouts, coolers containing the vaccines, and an extensive military security detail. With another four workers found murdered just ten day prior, bringing the death toll to eighty six, the heightened security is not only important for the safety of health workers but also crucial to keep the momentum to eradicate polio.
Upcoming Events
Congressional Breakfast Conversation on National Security Strategy
March 11 @ 9:30am – 10:00am
Well-informed congressional leaders are key to ensuring the national security of our nation. For that reason, American Security Project (ASP), is hosting a breakfast roundtable discussion on strategic approaches to national security issues from a nonpartisan perspective.
Discussion with Gov. Christine Todd Whitman: Climate Change Calls for Clean and Safe Energy
April 10 @ 10:00am – 11:00am
Join Governor Whitman at the World Affairs Council of Hilton Head Island as she discusses the important issue of climate change and its impact on clean, safe energy. She will recount her experience as governor as well as the Administrator of the EPA. Come join this exciting event.
ASP Recently Published
Energy Security in the Caribbean
American Security Project
On Wednesday, February 4th 2015, the American Security Project hosted a half-day conference examining energy security in the Caribbean. Nearly 100 experts from academia, International Financial Institutions, the US government, and private corporations attended the conference.
Global Natural Gas Pivot to Asia
American Security Project
Asia currently has two of the world’s three largest economies, and its energy needs to fuel these economies are continuing to grow. Energy suppliers are increasingly looking to exploit this market demand, trying to secure their market share in an economy with a long term demand. To this effect, energy suppliers are looking to how they can best fulfill the needs of the Asian energy markets.
Effective Measures for Tackling Climate Change — Divestment
American Security Project
This report focuses on how effective fossil fuel divestment campaigns in the United States would be in combating the effects of global climate change, as well as explore various solutions that aim to mitigate and eventually reverse the effects of our current accelerating climate change.
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