National Security: National Security, Pentagon & Defense Department News - The Washington Post

President Obama executive order gives Treasury authority to freeze Yemeni assets in U.S.

Karen DeYoung — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:10:00 EST

President Obama issued an executive order Wednesday giving the Treasury Department authority to freeze the U.S.-based assets of anyone who “obstructs” implementation of the administration-backed political transition in Yemen.

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Syrian rebels get influx of arms with gulf neighbors’ money, U.S. coordination

Karen DeYoung, Liz Sly — Tue, 15 May 2012 20:53:00 EST

Syrian rebels battling the regime of President Bashar al-Assad have begun receiving significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, an effort paid for by Persian Gulf nations and coordinated in part by the United States, according to opposition activists and U.S. and foreign officials.

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Chen Guangcheng, blind Chinese activist, calls into Hill hearing again

William Wan — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:03:00 EST

Blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng called into a U.S. congressional hearing for the second time in two weeks Tuesday and said his relatives have been persecuted in retaliation for his escape from house arrest.

More world news coverage:

- India to buy less oil from Iran

- Syrian rebels get influx of arms thanks in part to U.S.

- Rebekah Brooks charged in phone-hacking scandal

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Panetta curtails F-22 flights after pilot complaints of blackouts

Craig Whitlock — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:09:00 EST

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta ordered the Air Force Tuesday to curtail flights of its F-22 Raptor fighter jet and accelerate the installation of backup oxygen generators in response to pilot complaints of wooziness and fainting spells in the cockpit.

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Hollande, new French president, forced to backtrack on Afghanistan pullout vow

Edward Cody — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:23:00 EST

PARIS — Sworn in Tuesday as president of France, Francois Hollande has already been forced by the unforgiving calculus of military logistics to backtrack on his campaign promise to pull all French forces out of Afghanistan by the end of this year.

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Tue, 15 May 2012 09:23:00 EST

Survey: Critical sectors less attuned to cyber threat

Ellen Nakashima — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:39:34 EST

A new survey out Wednesday finds that the energy and utilities industries rank the lowest when it comes to computer and information security risk management.

The third biennial survey by the Carnegie Mellon University CyLab comes as Congress is considering legislation to mandate cybersecurity measures in critical industries.

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U.N. nuclear inspector dies in Iran

Joby Warrick — Tue, 8 May 2012 11:02:00 EST

A member of the U.N. nuclear watchdog’s inspection team died and a second official was injured in a car crash as the two were carrying out inspections inside Iran on Tuesday, U.N. officials and diplomats said.

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NSA’s Gen. Alexander: Companies should be required to fortify networks against cyberattack

Ellen Nakashima — Fri, 4 May 2012 12:40:44 EST

Gen. Keith Alexander, the head of the nation’s largest spy agency and its cyberwarfare command, is urging adoption of legislation to require companies providing critical services such as power and transportation to fortify their computer networks against cyber attacks.

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Iran’s supreme leader embraced concept of nuclear arms, archival document suggests

Joby Warrick — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 17:36:07 EST

In a speech three months ago, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei repeated his religious edict against nuclear weapons, insisting that his country would never build them. But a newly published document suggests that Khamenei hasn’t always viewed the bomb as a “great sin.”

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