IRAN
Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline could trigger US sanctions
Hazardex – March 22, 2013
Iran and Pakistan have celebrated the start of construction of the Pakistani leg of a $7.5 billion, 1,900- gas pipeline, which aims to supply Pakistan with natural gas to fuel power generation, but it could also trigger US sanctions, making it impossible to raise remaining funds needed to build the pipeline’s last segment.
KOREAN PENINSULA
Defense minister remains under new government to confront N. Korean provocations
Kim Eun-jung, Yonhap News Agency – March 22, 2013
Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin, who will stay in office under President Park Geun-hye after the resignation of the nominee for his successor, faces an escalation of troubles in handling North Korea as the recalcitrant neighbor is stepping up its missile and nuclear programs as well as cyber warfare capabilities.
Editorial: In the Korean standoff, will Seoul go nuclear?
Mark Mackinnon, The Globe and Mail – March 21, 2013
An analysis of recent pushes in South Korea for nuclear weapons capability.
UNITED KINGDOM
Nuclear Weapons Uncertain as Scots Weigh U.K. Exit
Peter Woodifield, Bloomberg Businessweek – March 21, 2013
For 44 years, the U.K. has stored its nuclear weapons in western Scotland. It now could be faced with finding the Trident missiles in a foreign country should Scottish nationalists win their bid for independence.
MISSILE DEFENSE
Opinion: Our Fruitless Quest for Missile Defense
Steve Chapman, Townhall – March 22, 2013
An opinion piece on the ineffectiveness of the U.S. missile defense program.
U.S. Congress Approves $380 Million For NATO Missile System
Stop NATO, Center for Research on Globalization – March 22, 2013
A House bill approved today to keep the federal government operating through September includes $380 million for a missile defense project that has employed hundreds in Central New York. The House voted 318-109 to approve the $984 billion spending plan, a day after the Senate passed the measure that leaves in place $85 billion in automatic spending cuts.
CHEMICAL WEAPONS
U.N. to investigate chemical-weapons allegations in Syria
Colum Lynch, The Washington Post – March 21, 2013
The U.N. secretary general said Thursday that he will launch an investigation into whether chemical weapons were used in Syria, seeking to address accusations that, if proven, could alter the trajectory of the two-year-old civil war in the country. Speaking to reporters at the U.N. headquarters in New York, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said his top advisers are still trying to determine the scope of the mission and the steps required to guarantee the safety of U.N. personnel during the probe.