Tag Archives: US
16 April 2014
During an interview with CNBC News, Mexico’s finance minister, Luis Videgaray, stated that the US must ‘share responsibility’ for tackling the illegal drug trade between Mexico and the US. Videgaray stated that it is a challenge to have a neighbouring country with such a demand for illegal drugs and that the US needs to increase its efforts to reduce this demand for the illegal drugs.
Source: CNBC News | Mexico, US need to ‘collaborate’ on drug cartels
9 April 2014
Human Rights Watch released a letter that was sent to the US Secretary of State John Kerry on 31 March. The letter urged the United States to not resume military aid to Egypt unless the military-backed government ceases the alleged human rights abuses and ensures that violators are held accountable. (more…)
Source: Human Rights Watch | Egypt: Failure to Meet US Aid Conditions
Source: Reuters | Rights group calls on U.S. to delay military aid to Egypt
3 April 2014
The exchange of information between Dutch intelligence services and the United States National Security Agency (NSA) is no longer taking place entirely outside the public eye. After a graph published in German news magazine Der Spiegel in August 2013 initially seemed to suggest that the NSA had intercepted 1.8 million records of metadata from Dutch phone calls in the period of December 2012 to January 2013, it became clear this February that Dutch intelligence services had gathered these records themselves, and had subsequently shared them with the NSA. This information consisted of metadata records gathered in the context of anti-terrorism and military operations abroad.
A substantial share of Dutch intelligence efforts is directed towards Somalia, and millions of Somali phone calls have been intercepted from both the Dutch town of Burum and Dutch navy ship HMS Rotterdam. The Netherlands has been collecting this information in order to support the Dutch contribution to the navy missions combating piracy in the Gulf of Aden. The (meta)data is shared with the NSA (who do not have access to Somali telephone traffic) and in return the US has provided the Netherlands with technical support needed to intercept local telephone traffic from the HMS Rotterdam.[1] (more…)
25 March 2014
On 24 March 2014 a senior US military official confirmed that the US is sending 150 special troops and at least four military aircraft to Uganda in order to search for the fugitive warlord, Joseph Kony. In 2005 the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Kony, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
(more…)
Source: The New York Times | More U.S. Troops to Aid Uganda Search for Kony
Source: The Washington Post | US sends more troops, aircraft to search for Kony
Source: The Guardian | US sends special forces to Uganda to hunt for brutal warlord Joseph Kony
25 March 2014
Japan will turn over more than 700 pounds of weapons-grade plutonium and highly enriched uranium, estimated at 450 pounds, to the US. In the past, Iran has criticised Japan’s nuclear stockpiles as evidence of a double standard for trusted countries. Also, last month, China began to criticise Japan’s supply as well. However, the portion of stockpiles that Japan is handing over is only a fraction of Japan’s overall stockpile. Additionally, Japan plans to open up a new nuclear plant which could produce tons more per year, but the US has been urging Japan to abandon the programme. Regardless, Japan’s announcement is a success in President Obama’s push to secure the world’s most dangerous materials. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, a National Security Council official, regarding the agreement with Japan stated, ‘[t]his is the biggest commitment to remove fissile materials in the history of the summit process that President Obama launched, and it is a demonstration of Japan’s shared leadership on nonproliferation.’
Source: The New York Times | Japan to Let U.S. Assume Control of Nuclear Cache