Recent News

By Region: South America

Issues Before the 7th Biological Weapons Review Conference

(Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses) Russia pursued a bio-weapons programme during and after the end of the Cold War. So did Iraq. Although the Convention provides for an approach to the UNSC to carry out investigations, this provision has not been invoked so far. …

August 31, 2011
| Filed under Africa, Asia/Pacific, Europe, Middle East, North America, South America, South Asia, Biological Weapons, Countermeasures, International, and Policy & Initiatives
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New psychological first aid guide to strengthen humanitarian relief

16 August 2011 — Humanitarian emergencies – like earthquakes, extreme drought, or war – not only affect people’s physical health but also their psychological and social health and well-being. A new guide makes sure that best practices are consistently applied in humanitarian settings to improve the mental health of disaster affected populations.

August 17, 2011
| Filed under Africa, Asia/Pacific, Europe, Middle East, North America, South America, South Asia, International, and Policy & Initiatives
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Op-Ed – More BTWC Education Needed for Life Scientists

(VBC Blog) State Parties to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) have agreed since the Second Review Conference in 1986 that educating life scientists about the BTWC would strengthen the prohibition norm. Although, in 2005 when they met to discuss codes of conduct for scientists, it became clear from statements by governments and the Read More »

August 16, 2011
| Filed under Africa, Asia/Pacific, Europe, Middle East, North America, South America, South Asia, and Policy & Initiatives
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Qaeda WMD Threat Remains After Bin Laden’s Death, Ex-Official Says

The most likely … are simple forms of chemical or biological weapons" instead of a nuclear strike, Leiter said. He cited the lethal toxin ricin, which is fairly easy to produce, as one bioweapon that might be used. Ricin is derived from commercially …

August 1, 2011
| Filed under Middle East, North America, South America, Bioterrorism, International, and Policy & Initiatives
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Polio Can Be Beaten If U.S. Protects Worldwide Vaccination Efforts

Smallpox, which claimed 2 million lives in 1967, was stamped out by 1980 through an enormous vaccine campaign. Today the world has a shot at a second such triumph, this time over polio. It will take more than good medicine to succeed. …