Topic: Federation of American Scientists

Syria chemical weapons scare: Is Assad threatening to use them, or lose them? (+video)

A report suggests that Syria has ramped up activity at chemical-weapons sites. But President Bashar al-Assad might simply be sending a message to the international community.

General Petraeus affair raises deep personal and public questions

CIA Director David Petraeus has resigned over an extra-marital affair, reportedly with his biographer. How did the FBI learn that his personal e-mail account had been hacked? What happens to the spy agency now, under fire for its handling of the terrorist attack at Benghazi?

Global News Blog
Are Syrian shells raining biological agents down on Lebanese?

Lebanese living along the Syrian border are reporting rashes and other ailments. They suspect Syrian biological weapons are to blame, although weapons experts say that is unlikely.

Syria's chemical weapons: How secure are they?

Syria has been amassing chemical weapons since the 1980s and is believed to have a larger stockpile than any other country that has faced ethnic civil war.

Mysterious Air Force space plane lands after 15 months in orbit

An unmanned space plane built by Boeing, the second of its kind, returns to Earth after 463 days in orbit for a clandestine mission.

Drones over America. Are they spying on you?

Thousands of drones could be routinely flying over the United States within the next 10 years. They can help with law enforcement and border control, but they also raise questions about invasion of privacy.

Secrets are safe as WikiLeaks, starved of funds, halts operations

WikiLeaks will not release any more secrets until it can raise enough money to keep going, according to the clandestine group's website. It has been choked by financial institutions that no longer process online donations to WikiLeaks.

A stronger Iran returns to nuclear talks in Geneva

Iran began talks Monday in Geneva with world powers eager to curb its expanded nuclear capabilities.

WikiLeaks and Julian Assange: Stateless, penniless pariahs?

In the latest blow, online payment service PayPal has cut off WikiLeaks. Meanwhile, WikiLeaks has been forced to move from website to website, and Julian Assange has gone to ground.

Could WikiLeaks survive without Julian Assange?

Its founder is a wanted man, and its systems are under attack. But the website dedicated to releasing classified information has opened a Pandora’s Box that will be difficult to close.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange: What does he want?

The aims of Julian Assange seem to shift with each WikiLeaks release. Is he anticorruption? Antiwar? The inconsistency suggests that anti-secrecy may be his only guiding principle.

Terrorism & Security
Pentagon threatens to 'compel' WikiLeaks to hand over Afghan war data

With WikiLeaks on the verge of publishing another cache of secret Afghan war documents 20 times larger than its original leak, the Pentagon said Thursday that it may 'compel them to do the right thing.'

WikiLeaks: Facing 90,000 documents, US officials take go-slow approach

WikiLeaks documents didn’t undermine Congress's plan to pass a war-funding bill. And the Pentagon is rejecting calls for changes in how the military shares information with uniformed members.

WikiLeaks case: Army charges soldier in release of Iraq cockpit video

The Army said Tuesday that Spec. Bradley Manning stole information on a massive scale, though charging papers did not mention the WikiLeaks website by name.

Cases of WikiLeaks and other leaks: Worth prosecuting?

Prosecutions of leaks of classified information are so difficult that other options may be more effective, the Justice Department suggests. The US is currently pursuing several leak cases, including one involving the website WikiLeaks.

Soldier arrested in WikiLeaks classified Iraq video case

Army Spc. Bradley Manning has been arrested in connection with the April release of classified footage of a US helicopter mistakenly shooting Iraqi civilians to website WikiLeaks.

Will secret technology help rogue nations get nuclear weapons?

New technology uses lasers to enrich uranium for nuclear power. Critics say it's approval would hamper nuclear weapons nonproliferation goals.

America's new 'dual track' approach to Iran nuclear program

At first, the US said, the new push for sanctions on Iran was a rebuff of a fuel swap deal. But now, it says, both the sanctions and the deal should try to address the Iran nuclear program.

NPT: Obama reveals size of US nuclear weapons arsenal. Will Russia respond?

President Obama's stunning disclosure puts pressure on Russia to reciprocate. But Moscow relies much more heavily on its nuclear weapons arsenal for security and regional power.

UN conference on nuclear proliferation a big test for Obama

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty conference opens at the United Nations on Monday. Reducing nuclear weapons is a key issue for President Obama, but there are many challenges.

Global News Blog
Extradite Viktor Bout? Russia counters US pressure.

On Thursday, a Thai prosecutor said Thailand would resist US pressure to extradite Viktor Bout to the US. In August, a Thai court dropped all criminal charges against Bout, widely suspected of being a key player in the shadowy arms-smuggling world.

Next nuclear worry for US: Kazakhstan?

So far, the former Soviet state has cooperated with the US on nuclear issues. But a new report suggests that Kazakhstan might be looking to do business with other, less responsible regimes, too.

US use of private contractors in war hits record high

They make up 57 percent of Pentagon's personnel in Afghanistan, report shows.

Global News Blog
US intel chief says no Iran nukes possible before 2013

A declassified memo from a briefing US intelligence chief Dennis Blair gave in February sheds light on how the US views Iran, Al Qaeda, and Afghanistan.

Bright Green
Border wall successfully halting illegal immigration (of wildlife)