Military spending

Global military spending just saw its biggest spike in a decade, but the US outspends everyone else by far

Global military expenditure was $1.917 trillion in 2019, rising 3.6% from 2018 and 7.2% from 2010 to reach the highest level since 1988, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

World military spending decreased steadily in the years after the 2008-2009 global financial crash but has risen in each of the five years since 2015, the latest in what SIPRI researcher Nan Tian described as four phases in military spending over the past 30 years.

The post-Cold War years saw spending decline in what many saw "as a peace-dividend period," Tian said Tuesday during a webcast hosted by the Stimson Center and SIPRI.

Mass surveillance

National Security Surveillance on U.S. Soil Fell Amid Scrutiny of Russia Inquiry

The number of people targeted for court-approved surveillance by counterterrorism and counterintelligence investigators in 2019 plunged to its lowest level in at least seven years, a drop that coincided with intense scrutiny on the F.B.I.’s use of its national-security wiretapping power in the Trump-Russia investigation.

There were 1,059 such targets of wiretap and search warrants under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, in 2019, according to a newly declassified report released on Thursday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

The number of such FISA targets had been on an upward trend during the previous six years, when investigators used FISA to eavesdrop on an average of more than 1,500 people each year. 

Health security

How Long Are We Going to Be Wearing Masks? We Asked the Experts

To help stem the dramatic spread of coronavirus throughout the United States, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has officially recommended that people wear cloth face masks in public, especially when proper social distancing (i.e. keeping six feet between you and the next person) isn't possible. The recommendation holds true for individuals over the age of two, while infants, who are at greater risk of suffocation from mask-wearing, should go mask-free. Wearing a mask properly lowers your risk of both contracting and transmitting COVID-19, so it's important for adults and older children to follow that recommendation. But how long will this new normal last? The CDC hasn't addressed exactly how long we'll be wearing masks over our noses and mouths as we go about our essential business and errands, so we asked experts for their predictions.

Biosecurity

Trump contradicts US intel community by claiming he's seen evidence coronavirus originated in Chinese lab

Trump officials have been pushing the US intelligence community to determine the exact origins of the coronavirus outbreak in pursuit of an unproven theory that the pandemic started because of a laboratory accident in China, multiple sources told CNN.
In acknowledgment of that effort, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued an unprecedented public statement Thursday prior to Trump's comments making clear the intelligence community is currently exploring two possibilities but cannot yet assess if the outbreak "was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan" or began "through contact with infected animals."
It is unusual for the intelligence community to comment publicly on its work before a formal assessment is made. Thursday's statement appears to have come in response to growing questions over the origins of the virus as Trump administration officials have spent weeks repeatedly floating the theory that the virus originated inside a Chinese lab.

Intel analytics

Artificial Intelligence Outperforms Human Intel Analysts In a Key Area


In the 1983 movie WarGames, the world is brought to the edge of nuclear destruction when a military computer using artificial intelligence interprets false data as an imminent Soviet missile strike. Its human overseers in the Defense Department, unsure whether the data is real, can’t convince the AI that it may be wrong. A recent finding from the Defense Intelligence Agency, or DIA, suggests that in a real situation where humans and AI were looking at enemy activity, those positions would be reversed.

Artificial intelligence can actually be more cautious than humans about its conclusions in situations when data is limited. While the results are preliminary, they offer an important glimpse into how humans and AI will complement one another in critical national security fields.

DIA analyzes activity from militaries around the globe. Terry Busch, the technical director for the agency’s Machine-Assisted Analytic Rapid-Repository System, or MARS, on Monday joined a Defense One viewcast to discuss the agency’s efforts to incorporate AI into analysis and decision-making.

Hypersonics


US Air Force launches study of another hypersonic cruise missile

The US Air Force (USAF) is conducting market research in search of companies capable of helping to build an air-breathing hypersonic cruise missile.

The service made known its interest in a “Future Hypersonics Program” sources sought notice posted online on 27 April.

The Future Hypersonics Program is intended to develop a “solid-rocket boosted, air-breathing, hypersonic conventional cruise missile, air-launched from existing fighter [or] bomber aircraft”, the USAF says.

The service is looking for the missile to have an open systems architecture.

“The effort involves the use of digital engineering and model-based engineering practices for requirements, design, trade studies, and analyses,” says the service. “This weapon system must be designed and analysed to achieve a preliminary design review in [the fourth quarter of FY2021].”

The USAF is looking for companies with a variety of expertise including sustained air-breathing hypersonic propulsion, such as ramjet, scramjet, or dual-mode engines; stable hypersonic aerodynamics; aero-thermal protection systems; solid rocket motors; warhead and missile integration; as well as advanced hypersonic guidance, navigation and control.

Drug trafficking

Former police chief of Honduras accused of trafficking drugs to US

US federal prosecutors have accused the former national police chief of Honduras of trafficking tonnes of cocaine to the US on behalf of the country’s president, Juan Orlando Hernández, and his brother, who was convicted of similar charges in October.

Hernández was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the trial of his brother Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernández, but the US has continued to call him an ally in its “war on drugs”.

According to the complaint filed on Thursday by the Southern District of New York, the former police chief Juan Carlos Bonilla “participated in extreme violence, including the murder of a rival trafficker, to further the conspiracy.”

Prosecutors also allege that Bonilla was entrusted with “special assignments, including murder” by President Hernández – who is identified as a co-conspirator – and his brother, Tony.

Airport security

Passengers Must Wear Masks On Major Airlines To Cut Spread Of Coronavirus

The three largest U.S. airlines will begin to require passengers to wear face coverings or masks on flights to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

American, Delta and United Airlines join JetBlue and Frontier in taking the action amid growing pressure from Congress and their own employees.

Flight attendants having been calling on their airlines and the federal government to require face coverings or masks on passengers since the pandemic began, and in recent weeks, some Democratic lawmakers have been urging the same, ramping up pressure on the Trump administration and the airlines to do more to protect travelers and employees from COVID-19.

The Federal Aviation Administration has said it expects airlines to follow CDC recommendations that everyone wear face coverings when in public, but the regulatory agency has stopped short of requiring them.

Biosecurity

Fauci Says It's 'Doable' To Have Millions Of Doses Of COVID-19 Vaccine By January

There's a chance that hundreds of millions of doses of a potential COVID-19 vaccine could be available by early next year, Dr. Anthony Fauci, a key member of the White House coronavirus task force, said Thursday, even though the federal government has not approved a vaccine against the virus.

In an appearance on NBC's Today Show, Fauci was asked whether he thought it was "in the realm of possibility" to have a potential vaccine ready for wide distribution by January.

"I do," Fauci replied. "I mean, I'm obviously part of the team that's involved in that."

Fauci, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, noted that the ideal plan for a potential vaccine is to ensure it is safe and effective — and can be rapidly scaled up for distribution.

Of course, the Food and Drug Administration has not approved a vaccine for the coronavirus. Noting that vaccine trials are still in the early phase, Fauci added that to accelerate production, the companies making the medicine would need to do so "at risk."

Health security

Remdesivir: Drug has 'clear-cut' power to fight coronavirus

There is "clear-cut" evidence that a drug can help people recover from the coronavirus, say US officials.

Remdesivir cut the duration of symptoms from 15 days down to 11 in clinical trial at hospitals around the world.

The full details have not been published, but experts said it would be a "fantastic result" if confirmed, but not a "magic bullet" for the disease.

A drug would have the potential to save lives, ease pressure on hospitals and allow parts of lockdown to be lifted.

Remdesivir was originally developed as an Ebola treatment. It is an antiviral and works by attacking an enzyme that a virus needs in order to replicate inside our cells.

The trial was run by the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and 1,063 people took part. Some patients were given the drug while others received a placebo (dummy) treatment.

International cooperation


Mexico’s Initiative to Ensure Global Access to Medicines, Vaccines and Medical Equipment to Face COVID19

On March 26, the G-20 held a virtual summit focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic. In that meeting, the President of Mexico Andrés Manuel López Obrador made three concrete proposals, the first of which was the intervention of the United Nations to ensure that all countries have equal access to medicines and medical equipment which, because of the ongoing pandemic, are being hoarded by those States with an economic advantage. He also indicated that the U.N. should intervene to avoid economic speculation regarding the purchase and acquisition of medicines and medical equipment. A few weeks later, on Monday April 20, this Mexican proposal, endorsed by 179 countries as co-sponsors, would be adopted by consensus as General Assembly resolution 74/274, entitled “International cooperation to ensure global access to medicines, vaccines and medical equipment to face COVID-19.”

Terror threat

Analysis: Experts warn ISIS may be using COVID-19 crisis to stage global resurgence

Terrorism experts have issued warnings that the Islamic State may be exploiting the global instability caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic to stage a worldwide resurgence. Indeed, there are signs that Islamic State activity has been intensifying in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and even Europe, in recent days.

On April 28, the Islamic State said it was responsible for a suicide attack in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk, which injured four people. The attack targeted the Information Protection Agency, which is the de-facto intelligence agency of the local Kurdish-led government in northern Iraq. It is estimated that the Islamic State commands at least 20,000 armed fighters in Iraq and Syria. Between April 15 and 21 alone, the Islamic State carried out at over 30 operations across Iraq, according to reports.

On the same day, April 28, a motorist who appears to have deliberately rammed his vehicle into two police motorcyclists in Paris said he had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. Earlier this month, police in the German city of Frankfurt arrested three alleged members of the Islamic State, who were in the process of planning a bomb attack aimed to kill large numbers of civilians. These attacks follow a reported “uptick in propaganda] by the Islamic State, aimed at a European audience.

Navy

LEONARDO DRS' "ENERGY MAGAZINE" GIVES THE NAVY POWER FOR SHIPBOARD LASERS AND OTHER HIGH-ENERGY SYSTEMS

The Navy is at a tipping point with regard to electrical power. Most shipboard generators are already maxed out providing power for systems like cooling pumps, heating/ventilation/air conditioning chillers and fans, lighting, and defensive systems like radar, sonar, and electronic countermeasures.

Coming on the scene now are a variety of power-hungry next-generation technologies like higher-power radar systems and offensive/defensive systems such as directed energy lasers that the Navy wants to incorporate into a range of ship systems. That not only drives the need for more power but also for higher power quality, more efficient use of power, and intermittent power for the high bursts of energy required by pulse-power weapons and sensor systems.

“There will be an increased demand for advanced power conversion systems coupled with energy storage in order to meet the peak power demand, as well as maintain compliance to the electrical interface to the ship generators,” said Andy Nerbun, director of engineering and new product development at Leonardo DRS.

The key to managing all this power is an “energy magazine” that employs state-of-the-art lithium ion (Li-Ion) batteries or other solutions for energy storage and advanced controls for energy management. Such a system is capable of supplying energy to either the ship’s electrical distribution system or directly to a pulse weapon/sensor, while accommodating peak power demands that the ship’s generators cannot provide or provide back-up power if a generator goes offline. During times of lower demand the energy magazine is recharged from the ship’s electrical system.

Intel collection

NGA Taps Maxar To Do Land Use Change Detection

Satellite imagery behemoth Maxar Technologies has won $20 million in contracts from NGA to provide land use change detection analysis. Near real-time change detection analysis is a bit of a holy grail for US intelligence agencies as they keep tabs on adversaries.

As Maxar explains in its press release today, “Automated change detection visually exposes areas of important change, enabling rapid and effective intelligence gathering across thousands of images from multiple sources.”

Under the contracts, the company will provide “updates and enhancements using its sophisticated change detection model and deliver land cover and classification solutions in support of NGA’s needs.” Land cover classification, the Maxar release says, “provides a global view of the current landscape by applying machine learning to perform automated spectral, spatial and temporal classification, enabling a better understanding of how specific regions of Earth are being used on a micro scale.”

Energy security

The United States, Oil Market, Russia and the Arab World

Man prefers to rule primarily because genetic traits and material evidence hold and compel it. The division of societies is due to his decisions.  On the other hand, guidance from time to time is causing maturity in its manners. It also helps in the aggressive occupation of human life from objects. The variability of hormones in the human body varies according to the geographical elements. From the 13th to the 18th century, such people performed many feats.  Circumstances and events made these hormones such that the search for dry shores from the sea began to determine destinations. Hormonal variability reduces the element of consistency in their destinations. All the changing factors from the passage to the passer-by are the reasons for their increase in difficulties. 

In these two great cultural powers, along with genes, the boundaries of regions also have a profound effect. Easterners are adherents of the doctrines of reconciliation and sentimentality, while Westerners are adherents of the doctrine of materialism and individualism.  Under Western society, people migrated in search of permanence (family system) and materialism, which made him an explorer of land and beaches, freeing him from the turmoil of the seas and the storms of gravity. The stillness and utility of the interior gave him a distinct name.  The pirates and looters were so busy preparing to become the Maharaja of the land that new inventions caught up with them. This skill extended their reach to the dry shores. 

Weapons

France and Germany agree on new Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) MBT

On April 28, Germany and France at last signed a framework agreement defining the project organization and management structures of the heavy land combat system’s architecture. “The MGCS project to be implemented under German leadership is to replace the German Leopard 2 and the French Leclerc from the mid-2030s. With this project, Germany and France are sending an important signal for European cooperation in defense policy,” the German Defense Ministry said.

“Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and her French counterpart Florence Parly have signed a Framework Agreement, in which project organization and management structures are laid down. Due to the Corona situation, the ministers were unable to meet for joint signing,” the German Defense Ministry said. 

“Both countries should benefit equally from the cooperation, which is why the contracts to be concluded are based on a 50% financing between Germany and France. In addition, both nations are to receive sufficient intellectual property rights for the intended future use of the work results,” writes the Ministries of Defense regarding the contents of the agreement. 

Biosecurity

Modernizing biotechnology for the fight against COVID-19 and the future of pandemic response

As the world scrambles to combat the global pandemic of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), we’re witnessing a real-time demonstration of emerging biotechnology’s capabilities — computational tools, biological engineering, and advanced manufacturing are key factors in the fight against COVID-19. The United States should start to accelerate biotechnology in order to combat COVID-19.

The anatomy of an outbreak requires specific response capabilities. First, as people get sick, we need the ability to rapidly and reliably test people and track the spread of the virus. Second, we need treatments and vaccines to remedy the sick and to prevent spread to the uninfected. Ultimately, the ability to rapidly produce and manufacture these technologies at-scale is critical to responding to the pandemic. In these arenas, biotechnology is working to speed up the response.

Health security

Report: COVID May Have Killed Way More Americans Than We Think

A new analysis found that during the early weeks of the coronavirus outbreak, the number of excess deaths in the US far exceeded the number of deaths attributed to COVID-19, according to The Washington Post.

In other words, the numbers suggest that the pandemic’s death toll could be vastly higher than what the government has been reporting so far.

Official records collected from the beginning of March through early April and released by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) were analyzed by a team of Yale School of Public Health experts. The analysis showed an estimated 15,4000 excess deaths — twice as many as those attributed to the deadly coronavirus at the time.

The excess deaths, however, can’t directly be blamed on the virus itself, as the number likely includes those who didn’t seek medical treatment for other illnesses due to fear of catching the coronavirus at a medical treatment facility. Other factors, including statistical variabilities and fluctuations in different causes of death, could also explain the difference.

Aerospace

This Experimental Drone Could Change America's War Strategy

The Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie, an unmanned and experimental combat aerial vehicle, is tough to spot on radar and could be directly linked to the F-35 through an encrypted data connection to serve as a wingman under the pilot’s control. But even with these pros, it’s the cost of the Valkyrie, not its capabilities, that could change America’s aerial warfighting strategy.

While there’s no question the U.S. boasts the largest air force in the world in terms of total military aircraft, the makeup and size of that force has shifted dramatically since the final days of World War II. At that time, the U.S. boasted some 300,000 combat aircraft. Today, the nation has only around 13,400, spread out across its various military branches.

The reason for this change is the steady progress of technology, which has dramatically increased the combat capabilities and the cost of each aircraft in service today. These parallel developments in aviation production have resulted not only in a leaner, more capable Air Force, but a change in combat strategy altogether. Gone is the World War II mindset that called for superiority through volume. On today’s battlefield, it’s technology, not numbers, that makes the biggest difference.

Nuclear security

Russia slams US arguments for low-yield nukes

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday rejected U.S. arguments for fielding low-yield nuclear warheads, warning that an attempt to use such weapons against Russia would trigger an all-out nuclear retaliation.

The U.S. State Department argued in a paper released last week that fitting the low-yield nuclear warheads to submarine-launched ballistic missiles would help counter potential new threats from Russia and China. It charged that Moscow in particular was pondering the use of non-strategic nuclear weapons as a way of coercion in a limited conflict — an assertion that Russia has repeatedly denied.

The State Department noted that the new supplemental warhead “reduces the risk of nuclear war by reinforcing extended deterrence and assurance.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry sees it otherwise.

The ministry’s spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, commented on the State Department’s paper at a briefing on Wednesday, emphasizing that the U.S. shouldn’t view its new low-yield warheads as a flexible tool that could help avert an all-out nuclear conflict with Russia.

Science

Is the universe conscious? It seems impossible until you do the maths

THEY call it the “unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics”. Physicist Eugene Wigner coined the phrase in the 1960s to encapsulate the curious fact that merely by manipulating numbers we can describe and predict all manner of natural phenomena with astonishing clarity, from the movements of planets and the strange behaviour of fundamental particles to the consequences of a collision between two black holes billions of light years away. Now, some are wondering if maths can succeed where all else has failed, unravelling whatever it is that allows us to contemplate the laws of nature in the first place.

It is a big ask. The question of how matter gives rise to felt experience is one of the most vexing problems we know of. And sure enough, the first fleshed-out mathematical model of consciousness has generated huge debate about whether it can tell us anything sensible. But as mathematicians work to hone and extend their tools for peering deep inside ourselves, they are confronting some eye-popping conclusions.

Not least, what they are uncovering seems to suggest that if we are to achieve a precise description of consciousness, we may have to ditch our intuitions and accept that all kinds of inanimate matter could be conscious – maybe even the universe as a whole. “This could be the beginning of a scientific revolution,” says Johannes Kleiner, a mathematician at the Munich Centre for Mathematical Philosophy in Germany.

Financial safety

US STOCKS-Wall Street rallies on promising coronavirus drug

Drugmaker Gilead Sciences Inc announced that its drug remdesivir is showing promise as an effective COVID-19 treatment, giving a boost to the broader market and sending its shares up 5.7%.

The U.S. economy suffered its sharpest decline in 11 years, with first-quarter GDP contracting at a 4.8% quarterly annualized rate according to the Commerce Department, marking the end of the longest U.S. economic expansion on record.

Many believe the worst is yet to come.

At the conclusion of its two-day monetary policy meeting, the Fed left key interest rates near zero and Chair Jerome Powell warned the economy will drop at an "unprecedented rate" in the current quarter.

Politics

Putin has just made two huge mistakes — and his timing couldn’t be worse

Russian President Vladimir Putin has a well-earned reputation as an astute tactician and a steely decision-maker. Yet over the past few weeks he has mismanaged Russia’s responses to two major crises: the collapse of the oil market and the coronavirus pandemic. Now he is facing one of the most acute challenges to his rule right at the moment when he had thought it safe to extend his term through a constitutional referendum.

The Kremlin’s first mistake came in early March, when it reacted to falling oil prices by rejecting Saudi entreaties to cut production. The Russian decision to push for an oil glut proved to be singularly mistimed.

Putin had likely hoped that a sudden drop in prices would bankrupt the many independent U.S. shale producers who operate on thin margins. And since the Russian budget balances at around $40 per barrel, while Saudi Arabia targets a price that is roughly twice that, the Kremlin no doubt figured it could stick it to the Saudis while absorbing a short-term fall in revenue.

Foreign affairs

Trump Isn’t Ready for Kim Jong Un’s Death

The internet is ablaze with rumors, chatter and circular reporting about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s whereabouts. U.S. and regional media have variously reported that Kim is recovering from heart surgery, in “grave danger,” “in a vegetative state” or even dead, setting off a torrent of speculation about who might succeed him and the implications for regime stability. President Donald Trump did little to shed light on the rumors, stating first, “I’ve had a very good relationship with him. I can only say this, I wish him well,” and later adding, “I do know how he’s doing, relatively speaking. … You will probably be hearing in the not-too-distant future.” Trump also boasted, “If somebody else were in this position, we would’ve been right now at war with North Korea.”

Trump has often bragged about his approach to North Korea, touting his relationship with Kim in and of itself as progress toward bilateral ties and denuclearization. But Kim’s absence is now showing us just how fragile Trump’s approach really is.

Economic security

COVID-19 Could Bring Down the Trading System

For three years, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has attacked the global trading system. Now other forces are battering international trade. The pandemic spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, is stoking new pressure for protectionism, and the World Trade Organization (WTO) needs to prepare for more countries to capitulate under the strain.

If the trend is left unchecked, the world may repeat the experience of the 1930s, when industrial production fell by nearly 40 percent, unemployment soared, and economic activity remained anemic for the better part of a decade. Then as now, trade barriers did not cause the problems. America’s Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act did not trigger the Great Depression, and tariffs today will not have caused the COVID-19 depression. But such barriers could affect the recovery, especially given the modern importance of cross-border supply chains. What happens now will influence the shape the trading system will take for decades to come.

Military spending

Russia’s military spending: Frequently asked questions

In recent years, Russia has embarked on a military modernization programme funded by rapidly increasing military spending and has pursued a more assertive foreign policy. This has attracted attention to the level of its military spending. The data in the SIPRI Military Expenditure Database is often used as a convenient way to compare two or more states’ military effort and, by implication, their military strength. Yet according to SIPRI’s data, Russia spends less than might be inferred from the scale of its military activities and the size of its armed forces. The following answers to frequently asked questions explain the SIPRI figures for Russian military expenditure and how best to interpret them. They should be read alongside the general sources and methods and frequently asked questions for SIPRI military expenditure data.

 

What are the recent trends in Russian military expenditure?

Russian military expenditure has grown significantly over the past two decades. It increased by 30 per cent in real terms between 2010 and 2019 and by 175 per cent between 2000 and 2019. Although Russian military spending decreased in 2017 and 2018, it rose again in 2019 to reach $65.1 billion (see figure 1 and table 1). The military burden on Russia’s economy—that is, military spending as a share of gross domestic product (GDP)—was 3.9 per cent in 2019. This was higher than in 2010, but much lower than the peak of 5.5 per cent reached in 2016...

Health security

Explainer: How Russia’s Healthcare System Is Tackling the Coronavirus

Here’s a brief overview of how Russia’s medical system — with its sharp regional disparities in quality of healthcare — is tackling Covid-19:
Bed numbers

— Russia’s government has ordered 100,000 hospital beds for coronavirus patients, including through repurposing existing facilities. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has pledged to allocate approximately 20,000 hospital beds for Covid-19 patients as hospitalizations spiked in the week starting April 20.

— Of Russia’s 800,000 regular hospital beds, 15% could be quickly transformed into intensive care facilities, according to Yury Krestinsky, who previously worked in the Health Ministry and now leads Sberbank’s healthcare business. That means 120,000 patients with more serious conditions could be treated at one time.

— Moscow’s Health Department warned in mid-April that the city could run out of intensive care beds within two weeks. Only 57 of the city’s 248 hospitals are authorized to take in coronavirus patients so far.

— Moscow is treating mild Covid-19 cases at home, with doctors advising patients over video calls.

— Health officials have authorized doctors across Russia to diagnose coronavirus without lab tests after reported studies showed a high rate of false negative test results. About half of Russia’s Covid-19 cases are asymptomatic, according to officials.

— Russia’s bed shortage endangers the lives of thousands of patients with rare diseases including hepatitis and HIV, advocacy groups warn.

Outer space

The U.S. Air Force's X-37B Space Plane Could Soon Leave Earth for 2 Years

The U.S. Air Force is getting ready to launch its sixth mission with the mysterious X-37B space plane. If history is any guide, space mission OTV-6 could last as long as two years.

OTV stands for “Operational Test Vehicle.” Officially, the Air Force deploys the 29-feet-long X-37B robotic mini-shuttle to test out new technology. But it’s obvious that the Boeing-made space plane is capable of much more than that.

Indeed, the X-37B seems to have a lot in common with some of the latest Chinese and Russian space weapons.

OTV-6 is scheduled to launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on May 16, 2020. The unmanned X-37B de-orbits on its own and lands like an airplane.

Health security

Previous bad decisions led to current fatal problems

Putin’s Health-Care Cuts Spark Protests in Russian Heartland

...Yury Korovin, 60, is the only surgeon left in Okulovka hospital, where services are under threat as the authorities focus on medical care in the larger town of Borovichi. Until last year there were four surgeons, but three quit, including two in March who left for better pay in the neighboring Leningrad region.

“I come in and ask the nurse, ‘What medicines have we got?’ She says, ‘Nothing!’ ” Korovin said on April 5 in a hotel room in Okulovka where activists gather. “Patients have to bring their own sheets.” Late last year, because there’s no functioning endoscopic equipment, Korovin had to cut open a patient to stop bleeding in his stomach.

Politics

Kremlin Using Virus Outbreak to Push Through Putin’s Reforms: Proekt

The Kremlin is attempting to take advantage of Russia’s coronavirus outbreak to maintain President Vladimir Putin’s popularity and ensure that the public votes for his constitutional reforms, the Proekt investigative outlet reported Wednesday, citing unnamed federal officials.

The reforms would potentially allow Putin, 67, to extend his 20-year rule into 2036. Putin postponed a public vote for the constitutional amendments, originally scheduled for last Wednesday, and declared a “non-working” period after Russia saw a sharp spike in Covid-19 infections.
Here are the key takeaways from Proekt’s investigation:

Kiriyenko kickstart

— Sergei Kiriyenko, Putin’s first deputy chief of staff who’s in charge of the constitutional reforms vote, tested positive for Covid-19 in mid-April, Proekt said. Kiriyenko reportedly recovered in three days and his second and third tests were negative.

Financial safety

How Banks Are Using Behavioral Science to Prevent Scandals

Efforts to deal with corporate malfeasance, employee misconduct, and ethical failings are falling short. Nowhere is this more visible than in the financial sector. More than $400 billion has been paid in fines since the 2008 financial crisis. But one corner of the industry offers hope: It is using behavioral science tools to identify risky behavior early on.

Some of Europe’s largest banks — ING Group and ABN Amro in the Netherlands and RBS in London — have created behavioral risk teams composed of professionals trained in organizational psychology, anthropology, forensics, and other disciplines. Each team has a direct reporting line to the chief audit, compliance, or risk executive. Teams also have the independence and autonomy to conduct companywide reviews and assess business units in which they perceive behavioral risk.

Let’s look at how the RBS team operates. It engages in “deep dive” reviews of areas that warrant attention, zeroing in on small groups (fewer than 500 members) selected according to input from internal and external stakeholders, including members of the internal audit, compliance, human resources, and legal teams. It searches for in-depth, granular insights specific to certain “subcultures” where ethical lapses may be occurring.

Arms race

Russia & US are rushing into new arms race as they run out of time for realistic arms-control deal

The New START Treaty is set to expire in February 2021. The US insists that China be brought into any new agreement; Russia insists that any new talks include NATO nukes. The likely result is no deal and a dangerous new arms race.

The last remaining vestige of Cold War-era arms control agreements between the US and Russia — the New START Treaty — will expire in February 2021. For its part, Russia has been seeking US concurrence in invoking a provision of the treaty which allows for an automatic five-year extension of the agreement without the need to seek any further legislative ratification. The US has balked, indicating that the Obama-era treaty, dating back to 2010, does not include China, and as such places the US at a strategic disadvantage (the US used similar logic to justify its withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces — or INF — Treaty.)

New arms, new race

Both the US and Russia are engaged in the early stages of developing new strategic nuclear weapons to replace older systems. These weapons, which will cost trillions of dollars to develop and deploy, are with few exceptions still many years away from entering into service. A five-year extension of New START would provide both nations time to reach an agreement which responsibly addresses the need for strategic nuclear force modernization while continuing the past practice of seeking additional cuts in their respective nuclear arsenals.

Election security

Christopher Steele claims Clinton lawyer fed him debunked claim about Russian collusion in 2016

British ex-spy Christopher Steele testified he met with Democratic lawyers during the 2016 presidential election, and one provided him with now-debunked claims about alleged Trump-Russia collusion as he compiled his dossier.

Steele, a former MI6 agent whose salacious and unverified dossier was used by the FBI in its Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act targeting of Trump campaign associate Carter Page, discussed his meetings with two lawyers tied to Hillary Clinton's campaign and the Democratic National Committee during a deposition in a British court in mid-March, according to a transcript obtained by the Daily Caller.

Michael Sussman and Marc Elias, two top lawyers for the Perkins Coie law firm, which represented the Clinton campaign and the DNC, played an even more significant role in the Trump-Russia investigation than previously known.

Steele testified Sussman provided him with claims about Alfa Bank’s purported ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin during a late July meeting. These allegations made their way into a mid-September 2016 memo that became part of Steele’s dossier, although Steele repeatedly misspells “Alfa” as “Alpha.” Shortly after writing that memo, Steele met with Elias, who was the general counsel for Clinton’s campaign and had personally hired the opposition research firm Fusion GPS in April 2016 on the campaign’s behalf. Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson hired Steele in June 2016. It is not known what Steele and Elias discussed at their meeting.

Biosecurity

Pentagon agency DARPA working on cloning antibodies to fight COVID-19

A Pentagon agency is working to produce an antibody treatment to combat the novel coronavirus until a vaccine is ready.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), a research and funding branch of the Defense Department known for its out-of-the-box innovations, aims to "make pivotal investments in breakthrough technologies for national security." Its inventions include the internet, Siri, GPS, videoconferencing and even self-driving cars. 

Now, DARPA is racing against time as experts warn of a likely second wave of the coronavirus this fall.

Dr. Amy Jenkins leads DARPA's Pandemic Prevention Platform (P3). The program, which launched in 2018, works with outside researchers to develop a quick response to emerging infectious diseases with a goal of delivering medical countermeasures in 60 days. P3 is currently working with two universities, Duke and Vanderbilt, and two pharmaceutical companies, AbCellera and AstraZeneca, on a COVID-19 response.