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The Beat<\/strong><\/p>\n Petrobas probe deepens<\/em><\/p>\n Former Brazilian president Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva is the latest high-profile politician facing prosecution<\/a> for his role in the evolving Petrobas corruption scandal. On Tuesday, Judge S\u00e9rgio Moro, a central figure in the ongoing Opera\u00e7\u00e3o Lava Jato<\/a> (Operation Car Wash) investigation, ruled<\/a> that Lula must stand trial on corruption and money laundering charges. The development will add to Lula\u2019s mounting troubles, as he\u2019s already facing trial on obstruction charges<\/a>. Lula\u2019s administration earnt international acclaim<\/a> for its popular social welfare programs and robust economic management, but allegedly presided over a US$3 billion bribery scheme involving state-owned oil giant Petrobas. Prosecutors have alleged that Lula received US$1.1 million<\/a> in home improvements and expenses from construction company OAS in a bid to secure inflated contracts with Petrobas.<\/p>\n Local corruption undermines PRC authority<\/em><\/p>\n The Chinese government has cracked down<\/a> on unruly residents in Wukan, a small fishing village in southern Guangdong province. Five years ago residents took to the streets<\/a> over a land dispute and against corrupt local officials, forcing the central government into granting them local elections<\/a>. Fast-forward to earlier this month, the government began retracting this concession by jailing and fining<\/a> elected chief Lin Zuluan for bribery. In response to the new wave of protests, 2,000 police<\/a> have been deployed to reassert government control over the village.<\/p>\n CT Scan<\/strong><\/p>\n Big Apple bombings<\/em><\/p>\n US police discovered<\/a> multiple bombs in New York and New Jersey over the weekend. Details are still emerging<\/a> regarding the alleged perpetrator, Ahmad Khan Rahami, who\u2019s believed to be responsible for planting the series of devices\u2014one of which detonated, injuring 29. New York\u2019s Wireless Emergency Alerts System<\/a> was used to broadcast<\/a> a message warning New Yorkers to keep an eye out for the still-at-large Rahami. Mayor Bill de Blasio highlighted<\/a> the alert\u2019s contribution to the eventual capture of Rahami, who was found sleeping outside a bar and subsequently fired<\/a> at officers before being apprehended. Crowdsourcing the intelligence function in times of crisis isn\u2019t a new concept. SAIP, designed by the French government after the Bataclan Theatre attacks, was supposed to warn<\/a> Twitter users in the event of an attack, but took nearly three hours to notify users after the Bastille Day attacks in Nice.<\/p>\n Informal networks<\/em><\/p>\n RUSI\u2019s Raffaello Pantucci argues<\/a> Daesh\u2019s strategy of embracing smaller, lone actor attacks abroad is a product of the digital age. Communication technologies are making it easier<\/a> for groups to promote their message and reach out through more informal networks.<\/p>\n Assaf Moghadam has an interesting piece<\/a> over at War on the Rocks <\/em>on the recent arrest of British Islamist Anjem Choudary. Moghadam highlights the need to better understand how informal networks like Choudary\u2019s collaborate with terror organisations.<\/p>\n Checkpoint<\/strong><\/p>\n Uri attack stirs Kashmir conflict<\/em><\/p>\n Tensions are running high between India and Pakistan following the deadliest attack on security forces in Kashmir in over 25 years. On 18 September armed militants assaulted<\/a> an Indian army base near the town of Uri, killing 17 and wounding a further 20. Border skirmishes<\/a> have erupted with Indian forces killing up to 12 suspected militants. India has blamed Pakistan for the Uri attack, alleging the militants crossed over from the Pakistani border and carried weapons with Pakistani markings<\/a>. Indian Home Affairs Minister Rahnath Singh branded Pakistan a \u2018terrorist state<\/a>\u2019 on Twitter while Ram Madhav, a senior official in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, demanded \u2018For one tooth, the complete jaw\u2019. The long-simmering Kashmir conflict<\/a> reignited in July 2016 after Indian security forces killed popular militant commander Burhan Wani. Since then, a series of incidents have claimed 80 lives<\/a>.<\/p>\n EU border update<\/em><\/p>\n Next month Bulgaria will host<\/a> the launch of a new European Border and Coast Guard Agency. The agency\u2019s remit<\/a> is to \u2018help provide integrated border management at the external borders\u2019 and will staff a minimum of 1,500 border guards. In his 2015 State of the Union Address, EU President Jean-Claude Juncker set a target<\/a> of deploying 200 extra border guards and 50 vehicles at the Bulgarian external border by October.<\/p>\n First Responder<\/strong><\/p>\n SNAPPing the bug<\/em><\/p>\n On Wednesday 21 September, the UN General Assembly hosted a meeting to address the threat<\/a> posed by new strands of resistant bacteria, pledging<\/a> tighter regulation of antimicrobials, cooperation, and research for alternative medicines. Researchers at Melbourne University are designing<\/a> a new class of agents based on chains of proteins dubbed \u2018structurally nanoengineered antimicrobial peptide polymers\u2019 (SNAPP). The polymers were effective<\/a> during tests on mice infected with antimicrobial-resistant bugs.<\/p>\n RAND released a report last week, \u2018Identifying Future Disease Hotspots: Infectious Disease Vulnerability Index<\/a>\u2019. The report found that 24 of the world\u2019s most vulnerable countries \u2018form a solid, near-contiguous belt from the edge of West Africa to the Horn of Africa in Somalia\u2019. The authors are concerned disease could spread across the belt, exacerbating local crises.<\/p>\n Global resilience<\/em><\/p>\n Barack Obama, in his last speech<\/a> to the UN as president, called upon the international community to \u2018press forward with a better model of cooperation and integration\u2019 across global institutions in order to manage the challenges of inequality, technology, disease, climate change, governance, and conflict. On the climate front, 20 more nations are expected<\/a> to sign the Paris Agreement at the General Assembly meeting this week, bringing the total up to 47 of the 55 needed for the agreement to enter into force.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Beat Petrobas probe deepens Former Brazilian president Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva is the latest high-profile politician facing prosecution for his role in the evolving Petrobas corruption scandal. On Tuesday, Judge S\u00e9rgio Moro, a …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":551,"featured_media":28826,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[176,1410,1012,127,92],"class_list":["post-28821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-barack-obama","tag-border-security","tag-daesh","tag-terrorism","tag-united-nations"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n