Famous Names.
Cheaper, faster, and easier.
“I start every day pretty much the same way: Coffee and News Items.” — Richard Haass, president emeritus, The Council on Foreign Relations.
1. The United States faces increasingly worrisome biological threats. Rapid advances in biotechnology, AI, and computational power provide U.S. adversaries with the means to advance bioterrorism against the United States. Spillover of known pathogens like influenza or unknown viruses can quickly and unexpectedly threaten the entire U.S. population. Americans face greater risks from biological threats today than at any time this century—and these risks are growing rapidly. The threats affect not only humans, but also animals and plants, endangering U.S. agricultural industries. The frequency and severity of naturally occurring biological events is increasing. The risk of accidental biological threats has grown due to the proliferation of domestic and global labs conducting research on highly contagious pathogens. It is becoming cheaper, faster, and easier to develop bioweapons due to the rise of AI and increasing access to rapidly evolving computational capacity and biotechnological tools. While U.S. preparedness against biological threats has declined, multiple administrations have documented that U.S. adversaries have biological weapons and may turn to biowarfare as an area of asymmetric advantage. The United States’ bio-preparedness is regressing. This places Americans in danger, poses national security risks, and compromises U.S. global competitiveness in biotechnology innovation. (Source: csis.org)
2. Al-Qaeda and its network of affiliates have 50 times more recruits than they had at the time of 9/11, according to data compiled by a United Nations monitoring group. The figures, drawn from intelligence gathered by spy agencies such as MI6, show that there are now 25,000 potential fighters dotted across the globe. At the time of the Twin Tower attacks, in September 2001, there were an estimated 500 terrorists. The statistics were shared at a briefing at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) before the publication of the UN security council monitoring team’s annual report on the global terrorist threat. (Source: thetimes.com)
