Iran confirmed on Monday that it has breached the limit on its stockpile of enriched uranium set by the 2015 nuclear deal, renewing concerns that Tehran could, within months, have enough weapons-grade uranium to build a nuclear bomb. But experts say the violation is more of a symbolic move than a concrete step toward obtaining a nuclear weapon. Though most agree that Iran has the expertise and capability to eventually build such a device, it is not clear that Tehran has the intent or even sees the necessity of doing so. “This is not a dash to a nuclear bomb,” said Kelsey…

OPERATIVES AT A controversial cybersecurity firm working for the United Arab Emirates government discussed targeting The Intercept and breaching the computers of its employees, according to two sources, including a member of the hacking team who said they were present at a meeting to plan for such an attack. The firm, DarkMatter, brought ex-National Security Agency hackers and other U.S. intelligence and military veterans together with Emirati analysts to compromise the computers of political dissidents at home and abroad, including American citizens, Reuters revealed in January. The news agency also reported that the FBI is investigating DarkMatter’s use of American hacking expertise and the possibility…

Are America’s disasters abroad a result of stupidity or some elaborate plan? An observer of modern U.S. foreign policy can be torn on that one. It makes sense that generals, contractors, and other national-security state types will invent and follow a deliberate policy of divide and rule, as well as to create crises to move on to the next big job. But if one looks closely, it does begin to seem that perhaps narrow-minded, shortsighted stupidity is a better overall explanation of the causes and results of the U.S. government’s recent behavior in other people’s countries. George W. Bush’s unprovoked invasion…

Europe may not have an Apple or a Facebook but it does have one killer export when it comes to technology: regulation. The EU already sets the global rules for digital privacy, forcing countries from Argentina to Japan to rejig their national standards in line with the region's tough stance on data protection. Now, the European Union wants to do the same with trade rules on data. Ahead of a G20 ministerial meeting this weekend in Japan, EU officials are pushing to cement the region's dominance over new standards about how companies send data between trading blocs. Europe's goal is to…

The White House has pushed Arab nations to start securing their neighborhood on their own, but the U.S. might not like the result. THROUGHOUT HIS presidency, Barack Obama has tried to place the responsibility for Middle East security on the region’s leaders, particularly allies like Saudi Arabia whom America has provided with billions of dollars worth of military machinery. At the same time, his administration has backed away from deploying American troops to what have become a growing number of dangerous hot spots. “It’s more effective to use our capabilities to help partners on the ground secure their own country’s futures,” Obama said in a weekly address in September, employing…