A report released today by the Department of Energy’s inspector general says that an earthquake could destroy the building at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico that produces the plutonium cores of nuclear weapons.
In the event of a collapse, deadly levels of radiation would be released into the air. Continue reading
United States officials have confirmed they will be holding peace talks with Islamic terrorist group The Taliban.
The first meeting will take place in Doha, Qatar. The Taliban have opened their “official” overseas office in Qatar. Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai says his government will also send officials to negotiate peace with the terrorists. Continue reading
Republicans in Congress are taking steps to protect the nation’s electrical grid in the event of a solar flare or terrorist nuclear attack.
The Secure High-voltage Infrastructure for Electricity from Lethal Damage Act would push the federal government to install surge protectors and other devices to protect the grid against attack. Continue reading
British Prime Minister David Cameron held a press conference just before the G8 summit in Northern Ireland to announce a groundbreaking trade deal between the European Union and United States.
Cameron called the deal the “biggest bilateral trade deal in history” and said that a successful agreement would have more impact on world finance than all other world trade deals put together. Continue reading
White House spokesman have finally joined with other world governments in confirming Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government has used chemical weapons on their own citizens in an attempt to stop the civil war.
President Obama had called the use of chemical weapons a “red line” that would force American involvement in the ongoing war. Continue reading
A report from UCLA related economists say that the expected “great recovery” of the U.S. economy is not happening and that the economy is falling short of even normal growth.
The UCLA Anderson Forecast for the second quarter said the real gross domestic product is too small to help the nation climb out of his slump. Forecast director Edward Leamer wrote the current figure is 15.4% below what is considered a “normal” growth trend. Continue reading
The United States government is changing their tact on Islamic extremism in Africa by offering rewards for the most notorious Islamic terrorists.
A bounty of up to $23 million has been offered on information that leads to the arrest of the leader of the Boko Haram and a major al-Qaeda operative. Continue reading
In light of reports that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons on civilians and that military troops are carrying out summary executions of suspected rebels without trial, the U.S. is considering supplying arms to the Syrian rebels.
U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told reporters that for the first time the U.S. is no longer ruling out the possibility of arming the rebels. Last year, President Obama had rejected a similar proposal from then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
“Arming the rebels, that’s an option,” Hagel said during a press conference. “You look at and rethink all options. It doesn’t mean you do or you will. These are options that must be considered with the international community.”
A European Union ban on arming the rebels expires in a few weeks and Hagel’s British counterpart, Philip Hammond, said Britain would be looking at their options after the ban’s expiration.
Sources within the defense department told a BBC reporter that because the U.S. does not want to directly get involved militarily in Syria, arming the rebels is now considered the “least worst option.”
Both Hagel and Hammond stated that despite multiple reports and photographic proof of the Syrian government using chemical weapons, there is still not enough hard evidence to act. Hammond said that because much of the public clearly remembers the weapons of mass destruction claims in 2003 which led to the Iraq invasion, any evidence of chemical weapons would have to come from “very clear, very high quality evidence.”
More than 70,000 have died in the Syrian civil war.
The U.S. Air Force has officially designated six cyberweapons meaning that cyberwar now has codified definition.
The move was meant to give the Air Force Space Command, which controls satellite and cyberspace for the military, an opportunity to fight for additional funding in the budget. However, critics say the move could open up waves of problems for the government and private businesses. Continue reading
The U.S. has sent stealth bombers to South Korea in what the Defense Department is calling a “military exercise.”
The move comes one day after North Korea severed a hotline to South Korea. The line was the last official link between North and South. Continue reading