China says willing to discuss cyber security with the U.S.
By Terril Yue Jones BEIJING (Reuters) – China offered on Tuesday to talk with the United States about cyber security amid an escalating war of words between the two sides on computer hacking, but suspicion is as deep in Beijing as it is in Washington about the accusations and counter-accusations. The world’s two leading economies have been squaring off for months over the issue of cyber attacks, each accusing the other of hacking into sensitive government and corporate websites. A U.S. …
http://news.yahoo.com/china-says-willing-discuss-cyber-security-u-101739511.html
Congress urged to pass vote changes for IMF
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – More than 130 academics and global policy pundits urged the Congress on Monday to enact delayed changes in voting powers in the International Monetary Fund and warned that failure to do so would diminish U.S. influence in the global financial lender. The reforms were approved by the IMF in 2010 in a historic deal that makes China the third-largest voting member in the IMF after the United States and Japan. …
http://news.yahoo.com/u-congress-urged-pass-vote-changes-imf-204453242–finance.html
Distinguished Warfare Medal Honoring Drone Pilots Faces Bipartisan Backlash
WASHINGTON — A new medal that would honor drone pilots and cyber warriors and outrank battlefield combat medals such as the Purple Heart and Bronze Star is facing backlash from veterans organizations and members of Congress, with a bipartisan group of 22 senators pressing the Pentagon to change the designation. The newly created Distinguished Warfare Medal, approved last month by then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, will honor members of the military for achievements beyond the battlefield since Sept. 11, 2001.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/11/distinguished-warfare-medal-drone-pilots_n_2852677.html
North Korea cuts off hotline with South Korea
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea has cut off a Red Cross hotline with South Korea as it escalates its war of words against Seoul and Washington in response to a military drill in the South and U.N. sanctions imposed for its recent nuclear test. The North had threatened to cut off the hotline on March 11 if the United States and South Korea did not abandon their joint military exercise. The Red Cross hotline is used to communicate between Seoul and Pyongyang which do not have diplomatic relations. “We called at 9 a.m. and there was no response,” a government official from South Korea said. …
http://news.yahoo.com/north-korea-cuts-off-hotline-south-korea-013425532.html