Author: thaobh.leo@gmail.com

The convergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and biology offers great promise for medicine and public health, including the potential to yield transformative societal benefits. Yet this same convergence could introduce serious global health and national security risks. As capabilities continue to advance, AI-enabled biotechnology might lower the technical, operational, and motivational barriers to creating biological weapons. It might also enable high-consequence attacks involving enhanced or novel pathogens. The dual-use nature of biotechnology requires proactive mitigation measures to counter these threats. In this report, the authors develop a defense-in-depth mitigation strategy that is robust, complementary, and deployable across a wide variety…

Bottom lines up front WASHINGTON—One definition of insanity, the famous saying goes, is to do the same thing over and over yet expect different results. This expression is apt when applied to international trade negotiations, particularly when negotiators repeatedly seek an agreement while neither side budges on critical issues. The European Union and India, for example, spent years, across multiple changes in leadership, negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA) that appeared to be going nowhere. This process raised the question: Why continue to pursue the ambition if nothing fundamental has changed? And yet, this example also proves that persistence pays…

As she marked the 14th anniversary of the abduction of her son, Austin Tice, during a 2012 reporting trip to Syria, Debra Tice remained in recovery following her own multi-month health scare.Last October, CNN interviewed a former advisor to ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad who told the outlet that Tice, a veteran Marine Corps captain and freelance reporter, had died in 2013. Debra Tice describes the event as a “crash” that sent her health into a tailspin. She became unable to eat, losing weight and becoming so weak she couldn’t leave the house, she said. Gastroenterologists and other physicians, she…

For decades, Beijing has used trade not only as a means to generate economic growth but also as a geopolitical tool to attract investment, strengthen its industrial base, expand its economy, and support its military. It has done so by integrating national security, economic security, energy policy, and environmental policy. In sectors as varied as automobiles, chemicals, and solar panels, the Chinese government’s policies have led to overproduction at home, which pushes companies to export at low prices, flooding international markets and undermining the manufacturing bases of rival economies. The erosion of those countries’ industrial capacity ultimately weakens their ability…

Raytheon will dramatically accelerate the production of Tomahawk cruise missiles for the U.S. Navy over the multi-year period under the terms of an unprecedented $22.9 billion contract, awarded as part of the U.S. Department of War’s Arsenal of Freedom. Raytheon press release This contract follows the landmark agreements between Raytheon and the Department of War and supports the annual production ramp to more than 1,000 Tomahawk missiles and associated support, ensuring a stable, predictable supply for the Navy and allies. “Tomahawk is the Navy’s most important strike weapon, able to target hostile forces hundreds of miles away without ever risking the lives of…

NEW YORK (AP) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still has an Alzheimer’s disease program. Congress appropriated $41 million to it this year. There’s just no one staffing it. Then there’s the agency’s Office on Smoking and Health. Congress allocated $246 million for that. Its staffers were cut, too. Same for the epilepsy program. Its sickle cell disease data collection operation. Its rape prevention unit. Think of them as the CDC’s zombie programs — they appear to be alive, at least according to legislation and congressional appropriations. But functionally they are dead or nearly dead, because the CDC…

8/18/26 National Security and Korean News and Commentary | Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University wpDiscuzInsert

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – AUGUST 17: (L-R) Namo Fazil and ​Kaik Brito face off during Dana White’s Contender Series season ten, week two weigh-in at the Palace Station Hotel & Casino on August 17, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC) It’s that time of year again! Contender Series is back with 10 straight weeks of mixed martial arts (MMA) action, streaming at 7 p.m. ET TONIGHT (Tues., Aug. 18, 2026) on Paramount+. In the main event, Welterweights collide as former MVP MMA 1 breakout star, Namo Fazil (10-1), fights Brazilian bruiser, Kaik Brito (19-6). The co-main…

The American Middle East is finished. The regional order that has prevailed since 1991 has been one of the many casualties of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. The American and Israeli failure to dislodge the regime in Tehran has proved the bankruptcy of decades of sanctions and violence. The inability of the United States to protect its Gulf allies from Iranian attacks or to keep the Strait of Hormuz open has fatally undermined the core security bargain that justified its network of military bases in the region. And Israel’s increasingly threatening posture and abandonment of any pretense of interest in…

Bryce Henry is regarded as a standout surging contender across multiple weight divisions, but his controversial win over an ex-BKFC welterweight champ did not earn him an abundance of respect among his pugilistic peers. Rico Franco was the first to weigh in on the Bryce Henry vs. Julian Lane result that saw the former get taken down by the latter, and the illegal grappling technique caused the bout to be waved off via disqualification. This fourth-round outcome at the BKFC Fight Night: Mohegan Sun card in June got many talking, and ‘Bon Bon’ had his own viewpoint on this situation.…