MISSILE DEFENSE
Lawmakers urge re-test of missile defense system
Andrea Shalal-Esa, Reuters — July 12, 2013
Four U.S. Republican lawmakers on Friday urged Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to conduct another test of the missile defense system this year after last week’s test failure, and to make development of a next-generation interceptor a top priority.
Republican Lawmakers Finger First Missile Test Failure Culprit: Barack Obama
John T. Bennett, Defense News — July 12, 2013
Four senior pro-defense US Republican lawmakers have identified what they believe to be one of the chief culprits of a recent Pentagon missile test failure: Barack Obama.
U.S. plans to go ahead with missile defense system despite test failure
Paul Tinder, BioPrep Watch — July 11, 2013
The U.S. military will continue with plans to deploy a missile system in Alaska, despite a recent test failure by an interceptor missile, a Pentagon official said on Tuesday.
CHINA
China Has World’s Most Active Missile Programs, U.S. Says
Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg — July 11, 2013
China’s military has the world’s “most active and diverse ballistic missile program,” with an expanding inventory of nuclear warheads that can reach the U.S., according to a Pentagon intelligence report.
IRAN
Six powers to meet to discuss Iran nuclear dispute
Adrian Croft and Ethan Bilby, Reuters — July 11, 2013
European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will host a meeting of senior officials from six major powers in Brussels next Tuesday to discuss how to move forward nuclear negotiations with Iran following the election of a new president.
NORTH KOREA
Images Indicate N. Korea Carried Out Long-Range Rocket Test
Global Security Newswire — July 11, 2013
A new expert analysis of satellite photographs strongly suggests that North Korea tested an engine for one of its long-range rockets sometime this spring — a development that has implications for its work on ICBMs.
North Korea Defies Isolation With Fastest Growth Since 2008
Sangwon Yoon and Eunkyung Seo, Bloomberg — July 12, 2013
North Korea’s economy is estimated to have expanded at the fastest pace since 2008 last year, even as Kim Jong Un’s regime faced increasing isolation over its missile tests and nuclear-weapons program.
NUCLEAR TERRORISM
Smugglers Turn to Air Transport to Evade Maritime WMD Policing
Rachel Oswald, Global Security Newswire — July 11, 2013
Effective global policing to interdict weapons of mass destruction-related components being shipped on the high seas is forcing would-be proliferators to increasingly smuggle contraband by air, which offers faster and more permissive transport, according to two senior Obama administration officials.
