Nuclear weaponsIAEA Warns on North Korea and Iran Published 8 June 2021 IAEA Director Rafael Grossi issued dire warnings, saying Pyongyang may be reprocessing plutonium and that Iran’s lack of compliance is hurting prospects for salvaging the JCPOA (the 2015 nuclear deal). Pyongyang has continued to pursue its nuclear ambitions since that time and detonated

BOOKSHELF: Assassination handbookA History of Political Murder Published 8 June 2021 Michael Burleigh explores the many facets of political assassination, explaining why it is more frequent in certain types of society than others and asking whether assassination can either bring about change or prevent it, and whether, like a contagious disease, political murder can be catching.

InfrastructureEnvisioning Safer Cities with Artificial Intelligence Published 8 June 2021 Over the past several decades, artificial intelligence has advanced tremendously, and today it promises new opportunities for more accurate healthcare, enhanced national security and more effective education, researchers say. But what about civil engineering and city planning? How do increased computing power and machine learning

Texas electric gridAnalysis: The Texas Electric Grid and the Improvements that Didn’t Come By Ross Ramsey Published 8 June 2021 After the deadly and expensive electrical outages during a winter freeze in February, Texas lawmakers passed major bills aiming to make such disasters less likely in the future. But there’s still a lot to do. After

Climate & securityIncreasing Pace, Intensity of Climate Hazards to Compound Security Threats: Report Published 8 June 2021 The other day the Expert Group of the International Military Council on Climate and Security (IMCCS) released its second annual World Climate and Security Report, which warns of the compound security threats posed by the convergence of climate

COVID originsCOVID Origins Probe Should Focus on Lab-Leak Theory, Analysts Say By Adrianna Zhang Published 7 June 2021 Analysts say there is increasing interest in determining whether the coronavirus leaked from a research lab in Wuhan, China, where the deadly virus was first detected in humans, as the U.S. intelligence community acts on President Joe

COVID originsHow Virus Detectives Trace the Origins of an Outbreak – and Why It’s So Tricky By Marilyn J. Roossinck Published 7 June 2021 Every time there is a major disease outbreak, one of the first questions scientists and the public ask is: “Where did this come from?” As an expert in viral ecology, I

GunsAmericans Bought 1.6 Million Guns Last Month. Who Were the Buyers? By Tom Kutsch Published 5 June 2021 Americans bought 1.6 million guns last month – an impressive number, but only the 14th highest on record, and still down 18 percent from May 2020. What has remained far more opaque is who exactly was doing

GunsU.S. Judge Overturns California’s Decades-Long Ban on Assault Weapons Published 5 June 2021 A judge in San Diego has slammed a 1989 ban on assault weapons as unconstitutional and said Americans should have the right to own semi-automatic rifles. “Like the Swiss Army knife, the popular AR-15 rifle is a perfect combination of home defense

ARGUMENT: Lab-leak theoryThe Lab-Leak Theory: Evidence Beyond a Reasonable Doubt Published 5 June 2021 In the justice system, where the most exacting evidentiary standards are applied, Andrew McCarthy writes, the requirement is proof beyond a reasonable doubt, not proof beyond all possible doubt. “There is no proof beyond all possible doubt.” And investigative journalists have