U.S. President Barack Obama recently reiterated his stance that the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian military would directly affect American involvement in the country’s two-year-old civil war. Obama made the comments while conducting a joint press conference with … Read More…

Tehran said it is not opposed to direct talks with Washington to resolve the standoff over its nuclear weapons program. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khomeini’s comments appear to be a softening of its longstanding rejection of any bilateral talks … Read More…

The U.S. ambassador to Syria recently told Congress he has not seen evidence verifying claims that chemical weapons were used in the country’s two year civil war. Ambassador Robert Ford, who was recalled from his Damascus Post in the beginning … Read More…

Israeli President Shimon Peres recently said his country has faith in U.S. policy regarding Iran’s development of nuclear weapons. Peres made the comments while speaking beside U.S. President Barack Obama in Jerusalem. Obama made his first trip to Israel since … Read More…

Syrian government and opposition forces traded accusations over the alleged firing of a chemical weapon near the disputed city of Aleppo. Neither claim has been confirmed, but two dozen people are reported to have been killed by the resulting chemical … Read More…

A top Austrian diplomat recently said Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile poses a threat to the country’s civilian population. Austrian State Secretary for the Foreign Ministry Reinhold Lopatka said the use of chemical weapons in Syria would be a disaster and … Read More…

Vali Nasr, dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, recently pointed to signs of a possible break in the diplomatic struggle over Iran’s nuclear program. Nasr said Tehran entered the latest round of talks with … Read More…

Syrian rebel commanders recently announced their forces have taken a government military intelligence compound near the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. The compound is located near the Yarmouk River in the Shagara, which is only eight kilometers from Syria’s 1974 ceasefire line … Read More…

An expose in the French magazine Paris Match claims Syrian children and infants are being critically injured by nerve gas as the country’s two-year-old civil war grinds on. The magazine recently published disturbing images of an injured boy named Omar … Read More…

A hotel in Venice, Florida, was recently evacuated when police found a potential chemical threat in one of the rooms. Police called to investigate a suicide at the Fairfield Inn and Suites in Venice ordered the hotel evacuated for approximately … Read More…

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Un recently threatened to wipe out a South Korean island with around 5,000 residents. North Korean rhetoric has become increasingly bellicose since it became the subject of a series of new United Nations economic sanctions. The … Read More…

Recent South Korean and U.S. joint military exercises prompted further rhetoric from North Korea, which said it carried through on a threat to end the 60-year-old armistice put in place at the end of the Korean War. The U.S.-South Korean … Read More…

The Washington bureau chief of the Wall Street journal recently published an editorial arguing that the international effort to stop Iran from attaining nuclear weapons capability is about to enter a critical phase. Gerald F. Seib said it is possible … Read More…

A recent analysis of the risks posed by bioterrorism or a potential pandemic states that the chances of either occurring are very low and the key to containing them is preparedness, communication and science. Rebecca Keller of Stratfor says media … Read More…

The European Union recently opened a regional secretariat of the EU Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Center for Excellence in the Malacañang Palace, the Philippine executive administration office. The center is the second regional secretariat opened by the EU, which … Read More…

Public affairs and organizational expert Donald Moynihan recently decried cuts to the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, arguing that centralization of U.S. disaster response capabilities is beneficial. Moynihan, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s La Follette School of Public … Read More…

A Norwegian nuclear weapons expert recently asserted that nations without nuclear weapons capability may be the key to eliminating nuclear arms altogether. Sverre Lodgaard, a senior research fellow at Norway’s Institute of International Affairs, notes that the developing world is … Read More…

North Korea recently warned that it is willing to use its nuclear arsenal in a pre-emptive strike against the United States. The threat, which originated out of the North Korean foreign ministry, came on the heels of a United Nations … Read More…

Following an accusation by Iran’s representative leveling accusations of “genocide” against Israel, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations nuclear watchdog Joseph Macmanus walked out of an agency meeting on Wednesday. Officials from Canada and Australia also left the closed-door meeting … Read More…

Certain contracts for the remainder of the fiscal year may be cut by the Department of Homeland Security because of sequestration, according to Nick Nayak, the department’s chief procurement officer. No determination has been made so far about which contracts, … Read More…

Yukiya Amano, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, recently urged Iran to give international inspects access to the Parchin military site. “I request Iran once again to provide access to the Parchin site without further delay,” Amano … Read More…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Monday that Iran was treading ever closer to being able to construct a nuclear bomb and that sanctions and diplomacy were not working. Netanyahu called for a “clear and credible military threat” to … Read More…

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden recently told 13,000 members and supporters of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee that President Barack Obama would be willing to use force to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Biden drew several standing … Read More…

The U.S. Department of State Special Envoy and Coordinator for Threat Reduction Programs recently spoke at Tufts University about the significance of bioterrorism and biosecurity as threat to the United States and the role of the Global Partnership in addressing … Read More…

Dallas Fire-Rescue was recently called to investigate a white powder incident at a local office building. Two employees at the firm Allied Marketing came into close contact with the powder. DFR’s Jason Evans said that the employees showed no signs … Read More…

An Australian woman was recently hospitalized after opening a letter filled with white powder at a real estate office in Gawker, South Australia. The envelope was addressed to the husband of outspoken real estate manager Hayley Marley-Duncan, who was recently … Read More…

The Netherlands-based Hotzone Solutions recently signed a cooperation agreement with the Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense Center of Excellence in Vyskov, Czech Republic. The agreement covers cooperation between Hotzone Solutions and the JCBRN CoE in the area of … Read More…

A man was recently arrested outside a Leominster, Massachusetts, bookstore in possession of a variety of chemicals that, if combined, would create a lethal grenade. Jesse Holland is being held without bail after his arraignment on charges of possession of … Read More…

A terrorist expert with nearly 25 years of experience in the field recently revealed his views on the growing threat of lone-wolf terrorists. Jeffrey D. Simon, who previously worked with the Rand Corporation, addresses the issue in a new book, … Read More…

Public health experts are voicing increasing concern over cuts in funding for disaster preparedness. The United States faces an ever growing threat from catastrophic storms and terrorist attacks. Many experts predict that it is only a matter of time before … Read More…

The perpetrator of the 2008 bombing of the San Diego federal courthouse was recently sentenced to 55 years in prison for using a weapon of mass destruction. Donny Love, Sr., the plot’s mastermind, persuaded his girlfriend and two others who … Read More…

A study conducted by researchers at St. Louis University concluded that the majority of U.S. schools and businesses are not prepared for a bioterrorist attack or pandemic illness. The preparedness study was undertaken by a team led by professor Terri … Read More…