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Five Alleged MS-13 Leaders Indicted in Washington, D.C., on Racketeering Charges, Accused of Ordering and Carrying out Murders and Other Attacks

The 32-count superseding indictment, which was returned on Nov. 1, 2011, and unsealed today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, charges various defendants with taking part in a racketeering conspiracy, murder in aid of racketeering, kidnapping in aid of racketeering, assault with a deadly weapon in aid of racketeering and other offenses.



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Seven Ohio Men Arrested for Hate Crime Attacks Against Amish Men

Seven Ohio men were arrested today on charges that they committed and conspired to commit religiously-motivated physical assaults in violation of the Matthew Shepard-James Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act.



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Former Los Angeles Resident Pleads Guilty in Plot to Attack Seattle Military Processing Center

Walli Mujahidh, aka “Frederick Domingue, Jr.,” 32, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder officers and agents of the United States, conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction and unlawful possession of a firearm.



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Virginia Man Accused of Attempting to Bomb U.S. Capitol in Suicide Attack

Amine El Khalifi, an immigrant from Morocco who is illegally present in the United States, was charged today by criminal complaint with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against property that is owned and used by the United States.



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Individual Indicted in Connection with Machine Gun Attack on U.S. Embassy in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2011

Mevlid Jasarevic, 23, a citizen of Serbia, was indicted today by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia on charges of attempted murder and other violations in connection with his alleged machine gun attack on the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, on Oct. 28, 2011.



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Virginia Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Carry out Suicide Bomb Attack on U.S. Capitol

Amine El Khalifi, a 29-year-old resident of Alexandria, Va., pleaded guilty today in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia in connection with his efforts to carry out a suicide bomb attack on the U.S. Capitol Building in February 2012 as part of what he intended to be a terrorist operation.



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United Technologies Subsidiary Pleads Guilty to Criminal Charges for Helping China Develop New Attack Helicopter

Pratt &s first modern military attack helicopter, the Z-10.



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Indiana Man Pleads Guilty to Religiously Motivated Attack on Toledo-Area Mosque

An Indiana man faces a likely sentence of 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to hate crimes stemming from the arson of the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, the Justice Department announced today.



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Three Men Charged with Hate Crime for Attack on African American Woman and White Man in California

Billy James Hammett, 28, and Perry Sylvester Jackson, 27, were arrested today in Yuba County, Calif., on federal hate crime charges for their racially motivated attack on an African American woman and white man in Marysville, Calif., on April 18, 2011.



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Two California Men Indicted in Federal Hate Crime Case Stemming from New Year’s Eve Attack on African-American Youths

A federal grand jury has indicted two members of the Compton 155 street gang on federal hate crime charges related to a racially motivated attack on four African-American juveniles at a residence in the city of Compton, Calif., on New Year’s Eve.



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Former Web Producer Indicted in California for Conspiring with “Anonymous” Members to Attack Internet News Site

A former web producer for a Tribune Company-owned television station in Sacramento, Calif., was charged today in an indictment for allegedly conspiring with members of the hacker group “Anonymous” to hack into and alter a Tribune Company website.



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Suspect in Boston Marathon Attack Charged with Using a Weapon of Mass Destruction

Attorney General Eric Holder announced today that Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, 19, a U.S. citizen and resident of Cambridge, Mass., has been charged with using a weapon of mass destruction against persons and property at the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, resulting in the death of three people and injuries to more than 200 people.



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Washington State Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Hate Crime in Attack on Sikh Man

The Department of Justice today announced Jamie Larson, 49, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Seattle to a federal hate crime relating to a racially-motivated assault of a 50-year-old Sikh man who works as a taxi cab driver.



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Three MS-13 Leaders Found Guilty of Racketeering and Additional Charges for Multiple Murders and Attacks

Three leaders of MS-13 in Washington, D.C., were found guilty by a federal jury today of conspiring to participate in racketeering activity and other charges stemming from their roles in murders, extortion and other violent crimes in the Washington area.



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Two Compton Men Plead Guilty to Federal Hate Crime Charges Resulting from New Year's Eve Attack on African-American Youths

Two Latino men associated with the Compton 155 street gang pleaded guilty today to federal hate crime charges related to a racially motivated attack on African-American juveniles at a residence in Compton, Calif. on New Year’s Eve.



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Utah Man Indicted on Federal Hate Crime and Gun Charges Related to Religious-Motivated Attack on Synogogue

The Department of Justice announced today that a federal grand jury sitting in Salt Lake City returned a superseding indictment charging Macon Openshaw, 21, of Salt Lake City, on gun possession charges and a federal hate crime charge relating to a bias-motivated attack at a local synagogue.



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Two Men Sentenced for Federal Hate Crime Charges Resulting from 2012 New Year's Eve Attack

The Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California announced that two Latino men associated with the Compton 155 street gang were sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr. for their racially-motivated attack on African-American juveniles at a residence in Compton, Calif., on Dec. 31, 2012.



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Attorney General Holder Urges Congress to Create National Standard for Reporting Cyberattacks

In a video message released today, Attorney General Eric Holder called on Congress to create a strong, national standard for quickly alerting consumers whose information may be compromised by cyberattacks. This legislation would strengthen the Justice Department's ability to combat crime, ensure individual privacy, and prevent identity theft, while also helping to bring cybercriminals to justice.



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Utah Man Pleads Guilty to Religious-Motivated Attack on Synagogue and Gun Charges

Macon Openshaw, 21, pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah today to a federal civil rights crime relating to a bias-motivated weapons discharge aimed at a local synagogue and to two unlawful gun possession charges.



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Attorney General Holder Delivers Statement on the Arrest of Ahmed Abu Khatallah for His Role in Attack in Benghazi, Libya

Attorney General Eric Holder released the following statement Tuesday regarding the arrest of Ahmed Abu Khatallah for his role in the attack on the U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya



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Libyan National Charged with Federal Offenses in 2012 Attack on U.S. Special Mission and Annex in Benghazi

Ahmed Abu Khatallah, aka Ahmed Mukatalah, a Libyan national approximately 43 years of age, has been charged for his alleged participation in the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. Special Mission and Annex in Benghazi, Libya, which resulted in the deaths of four Americans



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Ahmed Abu Khatallah Indicted for Terrorist Conspiracy Stemming from September 2012 Attack in Benghazi, Libya

Ahmed Abu Khatallah, aka Ahmed Mukatallah, made his first appearance today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on a federal terrorism offense arising from his alleged participation in the Sept. 11 through 12, 2012, terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya, which resulted in the deaths of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty



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Utah Man Sentenced to 60 Months for Religiously-Motivated Attack on Synagogue and Gun Charges

Macon Openshaw, 22, was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Tena Campbell for the District of Utah to serve 60 months in prison for a bias-motivated attack at a local synagogue and for two unlawful gun possession charges



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Inovio's COVID-19 vaccine claims echo Theranos, says short attack

Inovio Pharmaceuticals’ stock has climbed higher and higher over the past month since it said it was working on a speedy COVID-19 vaccine.




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Africa in the news: Debt relief in Somalia, government efforts to combat COVID-19, and new Boko Haram attacks

Debt relief in Somalia and other African countries On Wednesday, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) jointly announced that Somalia is now eligible for debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. Successfully completing the HIPC program will reduce Somalia’s external debt from $5.2 billion currently to $557 million in about…

       




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Africa in the news: Debt relief in Somalia, government efforts to combat COVID-19, and new Boko Haram attacks

Debt relief in Somalia and other African countries On Wednesday, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) jointly announced that Somalia is now eligible for debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. Successfully completing the HIPC program will reduce Somalia’s external debt from $5.2 billion currently to $557 million in about…

       




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Blame Pakistani spy service for attack on Indian air force base


The Pakistani intelligence service is behind the recent attack on a major Indian air force base in Punjab using a terrorist group it created 15 years ago, according to well-informed press and other knowledgeable sources. The attack is designed to prevent any detente between India and Pakistan after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise Christmas Day visit to Pakistan.

The escalating violence between the two nuclear-weapons states, which have already fought four wars, threatens to get worse. The Pakistani intelligence service has the capability to launch more attacks with little notice, at some point prompting a vigorous Indian response.

On Dec. 31, a team of terrorists infiltrated across the Pakistani border into India. On Saturday they assaulted the Pathankot air base, one of India’s largest air force installations near the border. At least seven Indian soldiers were killed in the fighting, which lasted for days. On Sunday, the Indian Consulate in Mazar-e Sharif in northern Afghanistan was also attacked by gunmen.

Both attacks are the work of the Pakistani terror group Jaish e Muhammad, according to reliable press reports. JEM was created in 2000 by Mualana Masoud Azhar, a longtime Pakistani terrorist leader. Azhar was captured in India in 1994 after taking western hostages in Kashmir. In December 1999 a group of terrorists hijacked an Air India jet flying from Nepal to India and diverted it to Afghanistan. They demanded the release of Azhar and his colleagues in return for the passengers and crew.

And they got it, thanks to help from the Pakistani intelligence service ISI and al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, according to accounts of the hijacking based on the Indian officials who negotiated with the terrorists for the hostages’ freedom.

The Afghan Taliban assisted the hijackers once they got to Afghanistan. Once Azhar was traded for the hostages, the ISI took him on a public victory tour through Pakistan to raise money for the jihad against India, and he announced the formation of Jaish e Muhammad, or the Army of Muhammad, in early 2000. JEM received training and weapons from the ISI and worked closely with al Qaeda.

In December 2001, JEM terrorists working with terrorists from another ISI-backed group, Lashkar e Tayyiba (LET), attacked the Indian parliament building in New Delhi. That attack prompted India to mobilize its military, and a tense standoff went on for nine months. Only intense mediation by President Bush’s national security team averted war.

Azhar kept a low profile for several years after LET’s 2008 attack on Mumbai, but he reappeared publicly in 2014, giving fiery calls for more attacks on India and the United States. His group is technically illegal in Pakistan but enjoys the continuing patronage of the ISI.

The ISI is under the generals’ command and is composed of army officers, so the spies are controlled by the Pakistani army, which justifies its large budget and nuclear weapons program by citing the Indian menace. Any diminution in tensions with India might risk the army’s lock on its control of Pakistan’s national security policy. The army continues to distinguish between “good” terrorists like JEM and LET and “bad” terrorists like the Pakistani Taliban, despite decades of lectures from American leaders.

The army has long distrusted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who has advocated a detente with India since the 1990s. An army coup in 1999 sent him into exile in Saudi Arabia for a decade. His warm embrace of Modi on Christmas Day in his home in Lahore undoubtedly angered the generals.

Modi’s visit was the first by an Indian prime minister in more than a decade. It was also Sharif’s birthday and the birthday of Pakistan’s founder, Muhammad Jinnah. Modi’s decision to visit and the warm family greeting Sharif extended set the stage for a planned resumption of formal diplomatic negotiations between the two countries scheduled for later this month.

So far New Delhi has not canceled the planned talks. Modi’s advisers are well aware of the double game the Pakistani army plays and the differences inside the Pakistani establishment. After four wars with Pakistan and a nuclear arms race, Indian experts understand the complexity of the dynamics inside Islamabad. The Indians have accepted Prime Minister Sharif’s public condemnation of the attack and promised to provide evidence of JEM’s role to his government, including cellphones captured in the attack.

Washington put JEM on the terrorist sanctions list years ago—but it continues to coddle the Pakistani army. Gen. Raheel Sharif, the army’s boss (and no relation to the prime minister) got a warm embrace from the Pentagon last fall—despite the ISI’s support for the Afghan Taliban’s offensive against the Kabul government and despite the Pakistani military’s backing of terror groups like JEM.

This piece was originally published by The Daily Beast.

Authors

Publication: The Daily Beast
Image Source: © Mukesh Gupta / Reuters
       




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What wave of suicide attacks means for Riyadh’s anti-terror efforts

King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud has a long-established record of leading popular campaigns to raise funds for Islamic causes, writes Bruce Riedel. Saudi Arabia has been accused of poor oversight of such funding with some money ending up in terrorist hands. While it has made considerable progress on this issue, more still needs to be done. The three bomb attacks July 4 should encourage the king to take tougher measures to combat terrorism funding at home, Riedel argues.

      
 
 




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Cyber runs: How a cyber attack could affect U.S. financial institutions

Cyber risks to financial stability have received significant attention from policy makers. These risks are worsened by the increasing diversity of perpetrators—including state and non-state actors, cyber terrorists, and “hacktivists”—who are not necessarily motivated by financial gain. In fact, for some actors, the potential of exploiting a cyber event to inject systemic risk into our…

       




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Inspectors general will drain the swamp, if Trump stops attacking them

Over the past month, President Trump has fired one inspector general, removed an acting inspector general set to oversee the pandemic response and its more than $2 trillion dollars in new funding, and publicly criticized another from the White House briefing room. These sustained attacks against the federal government’s watchdogs fly in the face of…

       




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IMF Special Drawing Rights: A key tool for attacking a COVID-19 financial fallout in developing countries

When the world economy was starting to face financial fragility, the external shock of the COVID-19 pandemic put it into freefall. In response, the United States Federal Reserve launched a series of facilities, including extending its swap lines to a number of other advanced economy central banks and to two emerging economies. Outside of the…

       




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New al-Qaida message urges attacks on Israel


Hamzah bin Laden issued a new video message this week, only his second ever, calling for all Muslims to support the Palestinian intifada. The 17-minute message coincided with a longer message from al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri urging support for the Syrian branch of al-Qaida, the Nusra Front.

Hamzah's message says recovering Jerusalem and the al Aqsa mosque is the most important responsibility of every Muslim. He quotes his father Osama bin Laden, stressing that fighting Israel is the fundamental basis of al-Qaida's ideology and narrative. The video shows images of Palestinians clashing with Israeli soldiers. In the message, Hamzah says: "knives are our weapon; you should have no trouble finding your own knives."


Israeli border police run in front of Dome of the Rock during a protest after Friday prayers at a compound known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City February 22, 2013. Photo credit: Reuters/ Muammar Awad.

Hamzah also urges all Muslims to kill Jews and "their interests worldwide." The United States should be attacked, he says, for providing Israel with $3 billion a year in assistance—which Hamzah predicts will rise to $5 billion a year soon. He says American-Israeli "security collaboration is at its highest level" and Americans "have to pay their bill with blood." Every Muslim "has to personally take part in defending the al Aqsa mosque by waging jihad to avenge our pure sisters who were killed in cold blood" by Israel.

Both Hamzah and Zawahiri laud the Syrian revolution for bringing al-Qaida to the border of Israel. The two messages were released by al-Qaida's media arm, al Sahab, a day apart. Their release ends a seven-month silence by both—they had not released any messages since last summer. Zawahiri has already released a second message lauding the late leader of the Afghan Taliban Mullah Omar and castigating the self-proclaimed caliph of the Islamic State Abu Bakr al Baghdadi.

Hamzah's message may be an indication that he is being groomed to be Zawahiri's successor. The 25 year-old favorite son of bin Laden is a charismatic face for the organization, which has been eclipsed in the global media by the Islamic State. By associating himself with Palestinian attacks in Jerusalem, Hamzah is trying to appeal to the widespread support in the jihadist movement for them.


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Why are Yemen’s Houthis attacking Riyadh now?

On Saturday night, March 28, two missiles were fired at the Saudi capital of Riyadh. They were intercepted by Saudi defenses, but two Saudis were injured in the falling debris. Another missile was fired at the city of Jazan. This is the first attack on the Saudi capital since last September’s devastating attacks by Iran on the Abqaiq…

       




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Why are Yemen’s Houthis attacking Riyadh now?

On Saturday night, March 28, two missiles were fired at the Saudi capital of Riyadh. They were intercepted by Saudi defenses, but two Saudis were injured in the falling debris. Another missile was fired at the city of Jazan. This is the first attack on the Saudi capital since last September’s devastating attacks by Iran on the Abqaiq…

       




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Inspectors general will drain the swamp, if Trump stops attacking them

Over the past month, President Trump has fired one inspector general, removed an acting inspector general set to oversee the pandemic response and its more than $2 trillion dollars in new funding, and publicly criticized another from the White House briefing room. These sustained attacks against the federal government’s watchdogs fly in the face of…

       




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Why are Yemen’s Houthis attacking Riyadh now?

On Saturday night, March 28, two missiles were fired at the Saudi capital of Riyadh. They were intercepted by Saudi defenses, but two Saudis were injured in the falling debris. Another missile was fired at the city of Jazan. This is the first attack on the Saudi capital since last September’s devastating attacks by Iran on the Abqaiq…

       




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How Trump’s attacks on the intelligence community will come back to haunt him

Donald Trump’s wild, swinging attacks against the intelligence community have been so far off the charts of traditional behavior for a president-elect that it is hard to wrap one’s mind around—and impossible not to wonder what lies behind it. That Trump is trying to throw everyone off the track of his ties to Russia and…

       




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What comes after the next terrorist attack

Sometime soon jihadists will likely carry out a terrorist attack against the U.S. How the Trump administration reacts will have a profound effect not just on national security but on the national psyche. Much will depend on the nature of the attack. It may occur in the U.S. and involve one or two operators inspired by…

       




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Inspectors general will drain the swamp, if Trump stops attacking them

Over the past month, President Trump has fired one inspector general, removed an acting inspector general set to oversee the pandemic response and its more than $2 trillion dollars in new funding, and publicly criticized another from the White House briefing room. These sustained attacks against the federal government’s watchdogs fly in the face of…

       




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How elephant poaching helped fund Kenya terrorist attack

Al-Shabaab, the al-Qaeda-backed Somali terror group responsible for Saturday's attack in a Nairobi mall, receives significant funding from the illegal poaching. This is why the US sees wildlife trafficking as a national security issue.




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Greenwash Action fights back against the attacks on LEED green building certification

It's about time that someone did, too.




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Why wasps attack and how to avoid them

The mob mentality of social wasps can create a furious swarm when even just a single insect is aggravated, here’s the reason and why it matters.




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Rick Fedrizzi Defends LEED, Attacks The Naysayers and Delivers Barn-Burner Defense of Green Building

The CEO of the USGBC brings it on and fights back against the Plastic People their poodles in Congress




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Why are young women having more heart attacks?

In a disturbing new trend, researchers find that heart attacks are on the rise for young women.




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Women's not-so-obvious heart attack symptoms

Although heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the US, many don't recognize the symptoms of a heart attack.




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Masters of Beef Advocacy Grads Take On Sustainable Food Supporters, Attacking The Wrong Target

If you don't subscribe to the print version of Mother Jones you may have missed what seems to be a really sort of creepy story about how the US beef industry is not so subtly waging war against sustainable and slow




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Sleeping this much reduces heart attack risk

Even when accounting for other factors, the right amount of sleep has been shown to have a big impact on heart attack risk.




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How to nap for lower heart attack and stroke risk?

A new study suggests a sweet spot for daytime snoozes.




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Sharks under attack: These animals are overfished and underprotected

An alarming case study in the North Atlantic bolsters Greenpeace's call for a Global Ocean Treaty.




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Why Alaska hasn't had a polar bear attack since 1993

Polar bear attacks are on the rise thanks to diminishing sea ice, but Alaska's Polar Bear Patrol is doing an incredible job of keeping the peace.