| Arizona tells Pence it needs additional 500 health care workers as COVID-19 cases soar Posted: 01 Jul 2020 02:24 PM PDT  Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey told Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday that the state needed an additional 500 health care workers as the number of cases of COVID-19 continues to set records there.
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| Watch Florida police laugh after shooting protesters with rubber bullets Posted: 02 Jul 2020 09:53 AM PDT  The department said it is conducting a review of 8,000 minutes of body camera footage, but it is defending the officers involved in the video, first published by the Miami Herald.
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| Gunmen attack Mexican drug rehab center killing 24 Posted: 01 Jul 2020 04:58 PM PDT  Gunmen killed 24 people at a drug rehabilitation facility in the central Mexican city of Irapuato, police said on Wednesday, underlining the government's challenge in fulfilling its pledge to stop gang violence. Police in the city in Guanajuato state said the unidentified attackers also shot and wounded seven people in what was the second attack at an Irapuato rehab center in the past month. Guanajuato's Attorney General Carlos Zamarripa said he had designated a specialized team to investigate the killing, which he called a "cowardly criminal act," while Governor Diego Sinhue called for a joint effort from federal and state authorities to tackle violence.
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| US tries to seize Iranian gas heading toward Venezuela Posted: 02 Jul 2020 09:46 AM PDT  U.S. federal prosecutors are seeking to seize four tankers sailing toward Venezuela with gasoline supplied by Iran, the latest attempt to disrupt ever-closer trade ties between the two heavily sanctioned anti-American allies. The civil-forfeiture complaint filed late Wednesday in the District of Columbia federal court alleges that the sale was arranged by a businessman, Mahmoud Madanipour, with ties to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization. "The profits from these activities support the IRGC's full range of nefarious activities, including the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, support for terrorism, and a variety of human rights abuses, at home and abroad," prosecutor Zia Faruqui alleges in the complaint.
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| The Best Bike Lights to Illuminate Your Ride Posted: 02 Jul 2020 10:26 AM PDT |
| Trump ally Herman Cain who attended Tulsa rally hospitalised with coronavirus Posted: 02 Jul 2020 05:56 AM PDT  Herman Cain, a Republican politician and 2011 primary candidate for the party's presidential nominee, has been hospitalised after testing positive for Covid-19.Mr Cain, a conservative columnist and former CEO of Godfather's Pizza, is currently being treated in an Atlanta-area hospital.
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| Op-Ed: Could the racist past of Mt. Rushmore's creator bring down the monument? Posted: 03 Jul 2020 03:00 AM PDT  What should be done with an accomplishment that features problematic men carved in a problematic location by a problematic sculptor?
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| ‘We’ll be waiting on you.’ Florida sheriff wants to deputize gun owners against protesters Posted: 02 Jul 2020 07:49 PM PDT  A Florida sheriff warned people protesting police brutality that he would call on individual gun owners to defend themselves if peaceful demonstrations got out of hand.
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| Seattle police clear out protester-occupied zone Posted: 01 Jul 2020 04:54 PM PDT  More than 30 people are arrested as officers disperse demonstrators from the "lawless" area.
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| McConnell warns Democrats about changing Senate rules to kill the filibuster Posted: 01 Jul 2020 02:36 PM PDT  The Senate GOP leader spoke as some experts believe there's a fair chance his party could lose control of the chamber in November.
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| The killing of 26 people at a drug rehab center in Mexico thought to be part of a gang war Posted: 02 Jul 2020 05:57 PM PDT  Authorities suspect the assault was part of a fierce turf battle that has transformed industrial Guanajuato into one of Mexico's deadliest states.
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| Chicago issues emergency quarantine order for travelers from 15 states Posted: 03 Jul 2020 03:58 AM PDT  Chicago has issued an emergency travel order requiring anyone coming to the city from states experiencing a surge in COVID-19 infections to quarantine for 14 days.
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| Texas Republicans to host in-person convention despite coronavirus surge Posted: 02 Jul 2020 01:57 PM PDT  The committee voted 40 to 20 to host the meeting that about 6,000 people are expected to attend in Houston's George R. Brown convention center in just over two weeks. During a lengthy virtual meeting, those opposed to hosting the convention in person said it would endanger older delegates and would disenfranchise many people who would not go out of fear of the virus. "Texas maintained our in-person convention process through World War Two, we met together after our 9/11 terrorist attacks despite the danger in the air," said executive committee member David Covey.
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| Huge bird of prey catches shark-like fish and flies off in viral video Posted: 03 Jul 2020 05:14 AM PDT  Visitors to a beach last week would have seen a shark-like fish soaring above their heads thanks to one bird's actions.A video shared online showed one huge predatory bird seen with what appeared to be a shark suspended in its claws above crowds at South Carolina's Myrtle Beach.
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| Court record shows St. Louis couple pulled gun before Posted: 02 Jul 2020 11:44 AM PDT  O'FALLON, Mo. (AP) — The white St. Louis couple who became internationally famous for standing guard with guns outside their mansion during a protest have pulled a gun before in defense of their property, according to an affidavit in an ongoing case. As demonstrators marched near the Renaissance palazzo-style home of Mark and Patricia McCloskey on Sunday, video posted online showed him wielding a long-barreled gun and her with a small handgun. The protesters, estimated at around 500 racially mixed people, were passing the house on the way to the nearby home of Mayor Lyda Krewson.
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| Terrifying: Why France Once Pointed Its Nuclear Weapons at Germany Posted: 02 Jul 2020 09:53 AM PDT  Any Soviet invasion route would have gone through Germany.
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| A Black woman questioned her hotel bill — and an employee called police, NC suit says Posted: 02 Jul 2020 05:22 PM PDT  The suit comes days after a video showed a worker at another hotel in North Carolina call police on Black guests at the hotel pool.
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| Locals remain anxious amid India-China border stand-off Posted: 03 Jul 2020 12:46 AM PDT  Even as tensions are rising, locals along the border are worried their land is at stake.
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| Lindsey Graham Uses Benghazi to Defend Trump on Russian Bounties Posted: 02 Jul 2020 08:49 AM PDT  Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) was among the loudest Republican voices in Congress screaming about the attack on U.S. diplomats in Benghazi, Libya back in 2012. But he apparently has no problem with President Donald Trump's decision to ignore intelligence about Russian bounties on American soldiers in Afghanistan. In fact, during a Thursday morning appearance on Fox & Friends, Graham actually used the Benghazi attack to defend Trump and accuse his Democratic colleagues of hypocrisy.After co-host Brian Kilmeade quoted Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), who accused Trump of committing "treason," Graham fired back by asking: "Where were all these Democrats when Benghazi was on fire, when they were calling for help from the consulate? The president of the United States Obama was briefed and went to bed and never called anybody for a day and a half while our people were being slaughtered in Benghazi. Where was the outrage then?!" Graham went on to say that in his view the "conflicting intelligence" in this case "does not justify a nation stage conflict with Russia." He also defended Trump's apparent lack of knowledge about the bounties by saying, "You don't tell the president of the United States everything you would tell a second lieutenant!" Co-host Steve Doocy then gave Graham an assist by adding, "It should surprise anybody that it's a big story in The New York Times. I mean, that's what they do! They come up with these big stories to make Donald Trump look bad." "And it's all B.S.," Graham replied. "He wasn't briefed. And there was no consensus." While Trump may not have been verbally briefing about the bounties, the intelligence was reportedly in his Presidential Daily Briefing, which he apparently declined to read. Despite this, Graham said Trump has an "unwavering desire and commitment to protecting our troops on the ground." Fox & Friends ended its interview with Graham by asking about his recent golf outing with Trump. "Who won?" Doocy inquired."I've never seen him play this well," Graham said with a straight face as the co-hosts giggled. "I mean, he's got more on his shoulders—I'm hoping, OK, he's a little distracted. He beat me like a drum." Jake Tapper Exposes Pompeo, Graham and Giuliani's 'Stunning' HypocrisyRead more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| There is no epidemic of fatal police shootings against unarmed Black Americans Posted: 03 Jul 2020 12:15 AM PDT  Ideally officers would never need to take anyone's life. But the data on police killings doesn't support reducing or abolishing law enforcement.
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| Iran says identifies cause of nuclear 'accident' Posted: 03 Jul 2020 09:38 AM PDT  Iran's top security body said Friday it had determined the cause of an "accident" at a nuclear site but declined to release details, citing security reasons. "Investigations by relevant bodies have accurately determined the cause of the accident at... Natanz nuclear complex," said a spokesman for Iran's Supreme National Security Council, referring to one of the country's main uranium enrichment plants. "Due to certain security concerns the cause and details of this accident will be announced at the proper time," state news agency IRNA quoted Keyvan Khosravi as saying.
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| Florida shatters records with over 10,000 new COVID-19 cases in single day Posted: 02 Jul 2020 07:38 AM PDT  Outbreaks in Texas, California, Florida and Arizona have helped the United States break records and send cases rising at rates not seen since April. In June, Florida infections rose by 168% or over 95,000 new cases. Florida, with 21 million residents, has reported more new daily coronavirus cases than any European country had at the height of their outbreaks.
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| Black Lives Matter: Florida police officers laugh and brag on video about shooting rubber bullets at protesters Posted: 02 Jul 2020 02:45 PM PDT  Florida police officers responding to a George Floyd protest have been caught on camera laughing and bragging about shooting protesters with rubber bullets.The video shows police forming a line against a group of protesters in Fort Lauderdale on 31 May and eventually tossing tear gas to drive them away. When protesters began throwing the cannisters back at the police, they responded by shooting at demonstrators with rubber bullets.
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| US victims of FARC rebels win claim to Venezuelan's fortune Posted: 02 Jul 2020 09:12 PM PDT  Three American defense contractors held for five years by leftist rebels in Colombia moved closer to collecting on a $318 million judgment against their former captors when a U.S. Supreme Court justice rebuffed an appeal by a sanctioned Venezuelan businessman whose assets they seek to claim. Justice Clarence Thomas refused to hear an emergency appeal by Samark López, letting stand an order by a federal appeals court immediately turning over $53 million from the businessman's previously seized U.S. bank accounts, though the appeals court judgment is being contested.
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| He consulted experts when COVID-19 hit. Now, his state is reopening as others shut down. Posted: 02 Jul 2020 07:58 AM PDT  Gov. Phil Murphy was faced with thousands of COVID-19 cases in April — but these days he is cautiously optimistic.
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| India Kanpur: Eight policemen killed in clash with gang members Posted: 03 Jul 2020 01:11 AM PDT  Gang members fired at the officers during a raid in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
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| A 100-mph car chase in California ended in the Pacific Ocean, police say. The driver survived and was arrested. Posted: 01 Jul 2020 06:11 PM PDT  The suspect was taken into custody "as he stumbled up the rocky shoreline" after driving off a cliff and into the Pacific Ocean, police say.
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| Jeff Sessions appears to refer to Black Harvard scholar as "some criminal" Posted: 02 Jul 2020 01:49 PM PDT  In an interview, Sessions criticized former President Barack Obama for having "a beer at the White House with some criminal."
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| Kim Jong Un says North Korea prevented coronavirus from making inroads Posted: 02 Jul 2020 02:40 PM PDT  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told a meeting of the politburo of the ruling Workers Party the North had stopped the novel coronavirus from making inroads in the country, state news agency KCNA said on Friday. "We have thoroughly prevented the inroad of the malignant virus and maintained a stable anti-epidemic situation despite the worldwide health crisis, which is a shining success achieved," Kim Jong Un said in a statement carried by KCNA.
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| Catholic priest suspended from church for calling Black Lives Matter protesters ‘maggots and parasites’ Posted: 02 Jul 2020 02:35 PM PDT  A Catholic priest in Indiana has been suspended from his public ministry, after he called Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters "maggots and parasites".Reverend Theodore Rothrock, assigned to St Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church in Carmel, Indiana, was suspended on Wednesday, after he disparaged BLM protesters in a bulletin published on Sunday, according to Huffpost.
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| A massive economic crisis and the coronavirus pandemic are pushing Lebanon towards a famine Posted: 03 Jul 2020 12:39 AM PDT  There are estimates from the World Bank that 75% of the country's population could end up living in poverty, France24 reported.
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| Made in America: Meet Iran's 'Zombie' Cannon Posted: 02 Jul 2020 11:38 AM PDT  Neither tank nor artillery piece.
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| Before COVID hit, China hoarded protective gear. But two can play that game | Opinion Posted: 02 Jul 2020 03:18 PM PDT  COVID-19 has a proven antiviral remedy called Remdesivir, but buying up three months' worth of the drug's global supplies has put the United States in the crosshairs of international criticism, making America look both heartless and hypocritical.
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| School districts pushed to reopen say there isn't enough money to do it safely Posted: 03 Jul 2020 02:00 AM PDT  "They're caught between a rock and a hard place, and the biggest fear is they're going to be forced to open schools without the safety guidelines."
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| Hong Kong activists discus parliament-in-exile Posted: 03 Jul 2020 04:34 AM PDT 
Pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong are discussing a plan to create an unofficial parliament-in-exile to send a message to China that freedom cannot be crushed, according to campaigner Simon Cheng. Cheng spoke to Reuters in an exclusive interview in London -- while tensions flared back in Hong Kong. More than 300 people were arrested in the former British colony on Wednesday, with police firing tear gas and water cannons. Protesters were in the streets in defiance of sweeping new security legislation introduced by China. --- A law that punishes crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces - with up to life in prison. China denies interfering in Hong Kong and has warned foreign powers not to meddle in its affairs. For Cheng back in London the issue rings close to home -- he's a Hong Kong citizen who worked for the British consulate there for almost two years until he fled after he said he was beaten and tortured by China's secret police. He has since been granted asylum by Britain and says another parliament could help keep democracy alive. "The shadow parliament can send a very clear signal to Beijing and the Hong Kong authorities that, actually, the democracy need not to be based on the mercy of Beijing, and need not be complied with the constitution or the system, because the people are losing hope that Beijing or the authorities can live up to their promise to let the people get 'one person, one vote' to elect their representatives, and even their leader. So now we want to set up the non-official civic groups that truly reflect the voice of the Hong Kong people." He said that the idea was still at an early stage and declined to say where the parliament might sit. After UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson offered some Hong Kong residents the path to British citizenship following China's imposition of the law, Cheng says he expects thousands of people to come. He called this a very good signal from the UK, but said one day they will be back in Hong Kong.
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| Rideau Hall: Canadian Armed Forces member arrested after breaching official residence Posted: 03 Jul 2020 05:34 AM PDT  Justin Trudeau lives on the estate but was not home when a Canada armed forces member entered the gates.
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| Only verified intelligence? A look at presidents' briefings Posted: 02 Jul 2020 09:26 AM PDT  The White House says President Donald Trump was never briefed on intelligence that Russia had put a bounty on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan because there wasn't corroborating evidence. Intelligence that may be on shaky ground today may foreshadow tomorrow's calamity. HOW DO PRESIDENTS RECEIVE NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION?
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| Senator warns of political pressure on U.S. probe into hackers of green groups Posted: 03 Jul 2020 07:11 AM PDT  A Democratic U.S. senator says he has written to Attorney General William Barr outlining his concerns about potential "political interference" by the Trump administration in an investigation of a private espionage firm that targeted environmental groups in the United States. Last month Reuters reported https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-cyber-mercenaries-exclusive/exclusive-obscure-indian-cyber-firm-spied-on-politicians-investors-worldwide-idUSKBN23G1GQ that U.S. law enforcement was investigating aspects of a seven-year-long hack-for-hire operation carried out by a New Delhi-based firm called BellTroX InfoTech Services on behalf of unknown clients. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a letter https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6980750-20200702-Letter-from-Whitehouse-to-Barr.html to Barr and in an interview with Reuters on Thursday that the investigation was being carried out by prosecutors in New York and that unnamed sources had alerted his office that the Department of Justice has taken what he said was "an interest in this matter which seems inconsistent with ordinary procedure."
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| Daveed Diggs on what Fourth of July means to Black Americans Posted: 03 Jul 2020 09:09 AM PDT  "What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim."
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| The E.U. never even considered letting in U.S. travelers. That's how bad America's outbreak is. Posted: 02 Jul 2020 04:19 AM PDT  "The U.S. was never going to make it," one E.U. diplomat said. "Just look at their coronavirus situation."
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| Syria harvest boom brings hope as hunger spikes Posted: 02 Jul 2020 09:36 PM PDT  Watching a combine harvester grind through his golden wheat, farmer Yahya Mahmoud is relieved the yield looks good this year, even as a tanking economy leaves millions hungry across war-torn Syria. Before the war erupted in 2011, Syria produced enough wheat to feed its entire population but harvests then plunged to record lows, boosting reliance on imports, mainly from regime ally Russia. Heavy rains and reduced violence in parts of the country this year have led to a much improved harvest, one that farmers and officials hope will soften the blow of an economic crunch that has plunged millions into food insecurity.
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| Cartels Target Top Cop as Killings Soar in Mexico Posted: 02 Jul 2020 01:33 AM PDT  CALI, Colombia—There was a time, not so long ago, when Mexico City remained a safe haven from the deadly cartel violence plaguing the rest of the country. A place where El Narco dared not tread.That time is no more.Shortly after sunrise on Friday, June 26, Mexico City Police Chief Omar García Harfuch was ambushed near his home in an upscale residential community. The unprecedented attack was carried out by a paramilitary force of more than two dozen men armed with automatic weapons, grenade launchers, and .50 caliber sniper rifles.Twenty-eight sicarios (hitmen) divided into four separate estacas (kill squads) had set up roadblocks on the Paseo de la Reforma, the most famous boulevard in the capital, which leads to neighborhoods full of sprawling mansions and embassy compounds. The police chief survived the barrage fired at his armored SUV, but he took three bullets and two of his bodyguards and a bystander were killed.García Harfuch, who is expected to recover, tweeted from his hospital bed that: "Our nation must continue to confront those cowards of organized crime."The assassination attempt has been blamed on the Jalisco New Generation Cartel—CJNG in Spanish—one of Mexico's fastest-growing and most powerful crime groups.Mike Vigil, formerly the DEA's chief of international operations, called the attack "brazen" in an interview with The Daily Beast."We've had other attacks in Mexico City but nothing like this," Vigil said. He described CJNG as a "hyper-violent" and "supersized cartel" capable of shooting down army helicopters and attacking military convoys.The cartel's operation against García Harfuch "was committed with absolute impunity and no regard for the rule of law," Vigil said.Mexican Narcos, More Brazen by the Day, Land Coke Plane on a Highway and Shoot a GeneralThe attack comes at a time when violence stemming from organized crime is spiking across Mexico. Scores of bodies have been found in mass graves or dumped on roadsides, and federal officials and law enforcement officers are increasingly under attack. Last year was Mexico's most violent year on record, with some 35,000 documented homicides—the true number is likely much higher as many murders go unreported—and 2020 is already on pace to eclipse those numbers. Nationwide at least 226 police officers were murdered between January and May of this year, or one-and-a-half dead cops each day."People in Mexico City thought they lived in this nice, safe bubble," Manny Gallardo, a Mexican journalist who specializes in covering the cartels, told The Daily Beast. "But now the war has come home to them." INSIDE THE ATTACKWiretaps obtained a few weeks ago by Mexico's National Intelligence Center [CIN] had hinted that CJNG was planning to target a government official, according to Mexican press reports. The leak didn't reveal who the mark would be, but CIN analysts had speculated García Harfuch could be one of the intended victims, according to Vigil. CJNG's leader, a former police officer named Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, aka El Mencho, had been looking to strike back after authorities froze cartel assets and arrested certain high-ranking gang members—including Mencho's son, Rubén Oseguera, aka Menchito, who was extradited to the U.S. in February.Journalist Gallardo said Mencho may have chosen Police Chief García Harfuch because he'd played a role in the government's recent crackdown. García Harfuch arrested some of Mencho's top lieutenants, including the commander of CJNG's Mexico City cell and the leader of the powerful Union de Tepito gang, which was the cartel's principal ally in the capital. The chief rolled up gangsters at least as far away as the city of Guadalajara, where he arrested a ruthless CJNG assassin who murdered two Israeli citizens last July, according to Gallardo.Robert Bunker, a security specialist at the University of Southern California, called the attack against the police chief a declaration of war against the Mexican state that "has further undermined federal authority.""Another firebreak has been crossed in the criminal insurgency raging across Mexico," Bunker told The Daily Beast.Authorities have made more than two dozen arrests, including the alleged mastermind behind the plot, CJNG's José Armando Briseño, or Vaca (Cow), El Universal reported. But Gallardo said those captured were in essence fall-guys or patsies—deliberately chosen for what he calls a "suicide mission" because they were expendable. "CJNG has highly trained commandos but they didn't want to risk them," he said, and added that the failure to use elite shock troops is likely what led to a botched mission and the chief's escape."The pandemic has erased many jobs, and a lot of people are desperate. That makes for easier recruitment by the cartels. So they hired some untrained newbies for the [hit on Harfuch] . This is how organized crime takes advantage of poverty and ignorance in Mexico." BEHIND THE VIOLENCEIn the run-up to the ambush in the capital, the last couple of months have been particularly bloody. Some of the more high-profile incidents include: * On Sunday of this week at least 20 people, including Mexican Marines, were killed during a clash between rival gangs in the Michoacán region. * In mid-June a federal judge and his wife were gunned down by CJNG sicarios in the state of Colima—the first time in more than 15 years that a national-level judge has been murdered in Mexico. * A few days later a caravan of police vehicles was ambushed in western Guerrero state, leading to the deaths of eight officers with three wounded. * Also in June, some 30 bodies were found dumped on roadsides across two northern states, apparently casualties of a power struggle within the powerful Sinaloa Cartel, formerly run by Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. * In early June, seven cops were abducted and later found dead in the CJNG-controlled territory of Colima.Experts say part of the rise in criminal activity is due to the coronavirus pandemic. Mexico has been one of the hardest-hit countries in Latin America, with 220,657 confirmed cases and more than 27,000 deaths at the time of this writing. The health crisis has diverted the attention and focus of security forces, while the cartels capitalize on the chaos to take over new turf, settle old scores, and even provide food and medical supplies to strapped communities in order to build their brand. But the outbreak has also impacted both supply and distribution chains for narcotics, forcing drug lords and their minions to expand operations to diversify their revenue streams. Slowed commerce between China and Mexico means the narcos have reduced access to vital precursor chemicals needed to produce drugs like crystal meth and fentanyl. Meanwhile the closed U.S. border has limited their ability to move what product they do have stockpiled. That scarcity is leading to ever more violent struggles between rival crime syndicates."With the pandemic negatively impacting illicit narcotics trafficking routes, cartel profits are down, which is resulting in criminal organizations fighting over dwindling profits," said USC's Bunker. "Also with Mexican state and federal forces increasingly strained [by the pandemic] more opportunities exist for the stronger cartels and criminal gangs to move against plazas [drug shipping and production corridors] and regions held by weaker opposing groups," he said. Crime groups are also flexing their muscle in new directions since the pandemic, turning to other black-market options to fill their coffers, such as extortion, kidnapping, fuel theft, even taking over the regional avocado trade."The cartels have to have huge revenue streams to pay sicarios and money launderers, and to bribe public officials. Otherwise those people might go to work for a rival group," said Vigil. "Nobody works for free." NEW TECH AND TERROR TACTICSAnother factor behind the rising tide of violence is that the cartels have adopted new tech and weapons systems for use against each other and government forces.Crime groups are increasingly using anti-personnel car bombs, attack drones, and improvised armored fighting vehicles [AFVs], according to Bunker. The AFVs can range from bullet-proofed tactical trucks with machine guns mounted in the cargo bay, all the way up to the so-called "narco-tanks"—semis or dump trucks with welded sheet metal armor and multiple gun ports. "The use of assault rifles, grenade launchers, body armor, .50 caliber sniper rifles, and rocket propelled grenades [RPGs] is pretty standard now in many of the cartel tactical units, along with caltrops and burning vehicle blockades for area denial, channeling, and kill-zone creation purposes," Bunker said. (Caltrops are those spikes laid down across roads to blow car tires.)Journalist Gallardo agreed that cartel capabilities are on the rise: "I've interviewed sicarios trained by Colombian paramilitaries to fly drones and drop C4 on targets. They're well trained in small-arms and infantry tactics, as well as how to dismember and torture people. That's how [the cartels] work today."Growing power and increasingly sophisticated methods of warfare often intimidate poorly funded local police, making cartel rule absolute in regions with little state presence."In isolated areas they can act without fear of government reprisal," Vigil said, and in fact often serve as the de facto authorities, settling quarrels, and dispensing food and medicine.As part of a comprehensive solution, Vigil said, "security forces need to provide a government presence throughout the country, especially where they have these voids that are filled by organized crime groups."Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Sikh pilgrims in deadly Pakistan train crash Posted: 03 Jul 2020 07:10 AM PDT  At least 21 die as an express train hits a van carrying the pilgrims near the city of Lahore.
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| U.S. Supreme Court takes up Trump bid to withhold parts of Russia report Posted: 02 Jul 2020 06:57 AM PDT  Democratic U.S. lawmakers are highly unlikely to gain access before the Nov. 3 election to material withheld from former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian political meddling after the Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear President Donald Trump's administration's bid to keep it secret. The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee last year subpoenaed grand jury materials related to the Mueller report, which documented Moscow's interference in the 2016 presidential election to boost Trump's candidacy. The Justice Department withheld the materials when the report was released.
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