Key Reads
Wall Street Slumps at the Open on Global Growth Worries
Tanya Agrawal / Reuters
Wall Street fell sharply for the third straight day on Thursday after the Federal Reserve highlighted global growth concerns and as finance stocks declined on speculation that the central bank would not raise interest rates in September.
North and South Korea Exchange Artillery Fire
Ju-Min Park, Tony Munroe / Reuters
South Korea fired tens of artillery rounds toward North Korea on Thursday after the North launched shells to protest South Korea’s anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts along the border, as tension escalated on the peninsula.
National Security & Strategy
All Factions in Yemen Conflict May Have Committed War Crimes
Thomas Gibbons-Neff / The Washington Post
Recent attacks and airstrikes by armed groups and the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen have killed numerous civilians and may amount to war crimes, according to a new report by Amnesty International.
Asymmetric Operations
Thailand Says Bombing ‘Unlikely’ to Be Tied to International Terrorism
Poypiti Amatatham / The New York Times
Thailand’s military government said Thursday that the deadly bombing of a Bangkok shrine this week was “unlikely” to be connected to international terrorism, saying it had reached that preliminary conclusion after consulting with foreign intelligence agencies.
Islamic State Claims Responsibility for Massive Car Bombing in Cairo
Erin Cunningham, Heba Habib / The Washington Post
The Islamic State claimed Thursday it carried out a massive car bombing that targeted Egyptian security forces in Cairo, calling the operation revenge for the deaths of some of its members earlier this year.
Climate Security
Climate Change Intensifies California Drought, Scientists Say
Justin Gillis / The New York Times
Global warming caused by human emissions has most likely intensified the drought in California by roughly 15 to 20 percent, scientists said Thursday, warning that future dry spells in the state are almost certain to be worse than this one as the world continues to heat up.
Energy Security
U.S. Oil Falls Towards $40 on Global Glut
Lisa Barrington / Reuters
U.S. crude oil prices fell to almost $40 a barrel on Thursday, their lowest since the global financial crisis of 2009, as supplies rose in North America and the Middle East, filling stockpiles to record levels. Oil has lost a third of its value since June on high U.S. production, record crude pumping in the Middle East and concern about falling demand in Asian economies.
Nuclear Security
The AP’s Controversial and Badly Flawed Iran Inspections Story, Explained
Max Fisher / Vox
On Wednesday afternoon, the Associated Press published an exclusive report on the Iran nuclear program so shocking that many political pundits declared the nuclear deal dead in the water. But the article turned out to be a lot less damning that it looked — and the AP, which scrubbed many of the most damning details, is now itself part of this increasingly bizarre story.
The IAEA Story That’s Not Quite What It Seems to Be
Steve Benen / MSNBC
With the international nuclear agreement picking up increased support from congressional Democrats, opponents are not only discouraged, they’re also looking for something to help derail the deal’s progress. Yesterday, at least for a little while, the right seemed to think it had found new ammunition against the diplomatic solution.
UN Watchdog Says Access to Suspected Iran Nuclear Site Meets Demands
Barak Ravid / Haaretz
The International Atomic Energy Association said Thursday that it was satisfied by the access its inspectors would receive to the Parchin military site, where the Iranians are suspected of experimenting with components to create a nuclear bomb.
On Our Flashpoint Blog
ASP’s BGen Cheney on the UK’s Nuclear Program
Julia Maloof
ASP CEO BGen. Stephen Cheney is featured in an article on the United Kingdom’s current nuclear program in National Defense Magazine’s September 2015 issue. The nuclear program, Trident, has recently been called into question as it is currently slated to be replaced by the late 2020s, which would cost the UK between $23.4 and $31.2 billion.
ASP Board Chairperson and Former EPA Admin Gov. Christine Todd Whitman Speaks on MSNBC About Animas River Chemical Spill
Cecilia Li
ASP Board Chairperson and former EPA Admin Gov. Christine Todd Whitman spoke about the chemical spill in the Animas River on MSNBC’s “The Rundown with José Díaz-Balart” this morning. “The important thing is to clean out the river because not only do you have people who depend on that for their livelihood, the river rafting trips, all the tourists that are there, and the people who use it for drinking water, for cleaning, all of those kinds of things, but you also have the ecology and animals that have no place else to go.”
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