Mar 13, 2017

Trump is letting the CIA launch drone strikes

Ismail Coskun, IHA via AP

Trump has granted drone-striking power to the CIA, breaking from an Obama-era policy that separated the CIA's capabilities from the Pentagon's, according to the WSJ. Previously, the CIA would run the operation to locate terrorists, and the DOD would launch strikes.

The CIA has authority to operate in Syria now, lining up with Trump's desire to stomp out ISIS, but the striking region will expand, U.S. officials said. The CIA has been using this strike capability already, killing a senior al-Quaida leader in Syria, Abu al-Khayr al-Masri.

Why it matters: The CIA doesn't have to report the number of terrorists or civilians it kills during a drone strike. The Pentagon had to report that publicly. Now the numbers of strikes might increase without public disclosures.

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Axios

Updated 21 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Global: Total confirmed cases as of 2 p.m. ET: 6,325,303 — Total deaths: 377,460 — Total recoveries — 2,727,679 — Map.
U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 2 p.m. ET: 1,820,523 — Total deaths: 105,644 — Total recoveries: 458,231 — Total tested: 17,340,682 — Map.
Public health: Protests against police brutality threaten coronavirus response — Controlling the virus in nursing homes won't be easy.
Business: More than 1 in 6 black workers lost jobs between February and April.
Climate: The alarm over climate financial risk gets louder because of coronavirus.
Media: Interest in the George Floyd protests has soared past the coronavirus.

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Rebecca Falconer

Updated 56 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Updates: George Floyd protests nationwide

Police officers wearing riot gear push back demonstrators outside of the White House on Monday. Photo: Jose Luis Magana/AFP via Getty Images

Protests over the death of George Floyd and other police-related killings of black people continued across the U.S., inciting a federal response from President Trump, the National Guard, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.

The latest: Immigration agents have been deployed to assist federal, state and local law enforcement. The U.S. Secret Service closed the streets immediately on all four sides of the White House Tuesday, until "riots become peaceful, or stop."

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Miriam Kramer

1 hour ago - Science

NASA passes the torch

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

With the historic crewed SpaceX launch last weekend, NASA passed the torch to private companies that will need to step up to build the economy the space agency envisions in orbit.

Why it matters: This new era of spaceflight will likely be marked by new conflicts — possibly including product placement (like the Tesla that drove the astronauts to the pad on Saturday), safety concerns and cultural differences between companies, the space agencies and people they serve.

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