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The Beat<\/b><\/p>\n
In depth: Dallas shootings<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n In the US last week, two men were<\/span> shot and killed<\/span><\/a> by police officers\u2014both victims were African American and both had their last moments caught on camera, and subsequently uploaded to social media. On 7 July in Dallas, Texas, thousands gathered downtown to march through the city in a Black Lives Matter<\/span> protest<\/span><\/a>. The movement campaigns against<\/span> police violence towards African Americans<\/span><\/a> \u2014a recent<\/span> study<\/span><\/a> by a Harvard professor concluded that African Americans and Hispanic are 50%<\/span> more likely<\/span><\/a> to be victims of police brutality than white Americans.<\/span><\/p>\n At the protest, a<\/span> gunman<\/span><\/a> shot and killed five police officers and wounded six others. After 45 minutes of negotiation with the sniper, police decided to<\/span> use a robot<\/span><\/a> and C-4 explosives to kill the shooter\u2014representing the<\/span> first time<\/span><\/a> a robotic system has been used by police in a deliberately lethal manner. The use of the robot has sparked<\/span> debate<\/span><\/a> about the<\/span> ethics and legality<\/span><\/a> of such use of force. A new piece on <\/span>Wired <\/span><\/i>has assessed why the robot was likely the<\/span> only choice<\/span><\/a> police had in this instance, and<\/span> this<\/span><\/a> article from <\/span>Fortune <\/span><\/i>explains that the legality of the \u2018killer robot\u2019. Both<\/span> The New York Times<\/span><\/i><\/a> and<\/span> The Atlantic<\/span><\/i><\/a> have weighed in on how the use of robots changes the way police interact with technology in law enforcement. There\u2019s a lot to read on the topic, but some picks are<\/span> here<\/span><\/a>,<\/span> here<\/span><\/a> and<\/span> here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n CT Scan<\/b><\/p>\n Syria and Italy cooperate on countering terrorism?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Damascus is<\/span> offering data<\/span><\/a> on European jihadists in exchange for restoring diplomatic relations with Rome. Negotiations began on 4 July and included a visit by Major General Deeb Zeitoun, head of Syrian intelligence to Italy, and an<\/span> exchange<\/span><\/a> between Bashar al-Assad and Italian secret service chief Alberto Maneti in Syria. Major General Zeitoun travelled to Italy for the meeting despite<\/span> EU sanctions blacklisting him<\/span><\/a>. It\u2019s alleged that Syria promised to exchange information on EU citizens who have joined Daesh in return for Italy<\/span> attempting to influence the EU\u2019s Higher Representative for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini, into lift economic sanctions on Syria. <\/span>Significantly, this marks the first official contact between high level Syrian and EU officials since<\/span> 2011<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Capacity building for Bangladesh<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n In the wake of the 1 July<\/span> Dhaka attack<\/span><\/a> that<\/span> killed 20<\/span><\/a>, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Nisha Desai Biswal, arrived in Bangladesh on 10 July to discuss options for US assistance in law enforcement and countering terrorism.<\/span> Discussions<\/span><\/a> with Prime Minister Sheik Hasina touched on capacity building for Bangladesh on counterterrorism, intelligence collection and training of law enforcement officers. The US had previously offered FBI assistance to investigate the attack. India also<\/span> pledged<\/span><\/a> to work \u2018shoulder-to-shoulder\u2019 with Bangladesh on countering terror attacks in the region, the incident adding impetus to a<\/span> counterterrorism cooperation pact<\/span><\/a> between the two countries first proposed in<\/span> 2015 which has not yet been signed.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Checkpoint<\/b><\/p>\n A case for border security\u2014India\u2019s drug trafficking<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n The Golden Triangle<\/span><\/a> (Myanmar\u2013Laos\u2013Thailand) and<\/span> Golden Crescent<\/span><\/a> (Afghanistan\u2013Pakistan\u2013Iran) are the largest producers of hashish and heroin. Their proximity to<\/span> India\u2019s borders makes the region susceptible to drug trafficking<\/span><\/a>, with the movement of the illicit substances predominantly occurring across land borders. An expert panel at<\/span> CSIS<\/span><\/a> have released<\/span> a podcast investigating India\u2019s drug trafficking problem<\/span><\/a> as<\/span> large volumes continue to be smuggled<\/span><\/a> across its porous borders.<\/span><\/p>\n All quiet on the Pakistani front?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n US senators and senior officials met with Pakistan\u2019s military chief to<\/span> discuss efforts to bolster the country\u2019s border security<\/span><\/a> in light of<\/span> Afghanistan\u2019s fluctuating stability<\/span><\/a>.<\/span> A strong insurgency continues in Afghanistan<\/span><\/a> and<\/span> there\u2019s pressure on Pakistan<\/span><\/a> to ensure that its land isn\u2019t used for terrorist activity. Afghanistan and Pakistan share a 2,600km border, where<\/span> illegal movements across the border from Afghanistan to Pakistan<\/span><\/a> remains a point of contention between the two nations\u2014as seen by the violent clashes between Afghan border security guards and Pakistani soldiers in<\/span> June at the Torkham border<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Transcending Borders<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n The Pew Charitable Trusts have released a new report\u2014<\/span>\u2018Transcending Borders\u2019<\/span><\/a>\u2014as part of their new publication series<\/span> Trend<\/span><\/i><\/a>, <\/span><\/i>which aims to collate perspectives from various eminent voices from a variety of disciplines \u2018who are seeking to inform and improve our world\u2019. In this edition, Pew explores transnational security concerns that are no longer able to be contained by traditional political and geographic boundaries, from<\/span> the threat of antimicrobial resistance<\/span><\/a> to how<\/span> migration routes<\/span><\/a> have changed in light of the<\/span> current European migrant crisis<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n First Responder<\/b><\/p>\n Climate change in the Mekong Delta<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n The World Bank has<\/span> agreed to loan<\/span><\/a> Vietnam US$560 million for two projects to support urban development, climate resilience and sustainable livelihoods in the Mekong Delta. Recent extreme weather phenomena in the Mekong Delta region has negatively affected the lives of the 1.2 million people living there and the credit will be used to help the provinces adapt to climate change in a sustainable way. This article from <\/span>Forbes<\/span><\/i> examines<\/span><\/a> the link between climate change and conflict\u2014arguing that climate change could increase the likelihood of conflict if combined with pre-existing driving factors such as ethnic tensions, making it a national security issue.<\/span><\/p>\n The next great earthquake under Bangladesh<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n A<\/span> new piece<\/span><\/a> from The Earth Institute Colombia University has examined how a massive earthquake possibly building under Bangladesh could impact the most densely populated nation on earth. The fast-growing but poor nation is unprepared if a major earthquake was to eventuate\u2014it\u2019s hugely overpopulated\u2014with \u00a0natural gas fields, heavy industries and electric power plants located close to potential fault lines meaning they\u2019re likely to be destroyed completely with disastrous implications for residents living in close proximity. Watch a 10 minute documentary on the problem<\/span> here<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Beat In depth: Dallas shootings In the US last week, two men were shot and killed by police officers\u2014both victims were African American and both had their last moments caught on camera, and subsequently …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":469,"featured_media":27703,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1410,283,273,31],"class_list":["post-27702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-border-security","tag-climate-change","tag-counterterrorism","tag-united-states"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n