Stars and Stripes

An annual training exercise the U.S. Army conducts with east African armies Called Eastern Accord is designed to foster regional cooperation to deal with security threats and humanitarian crises, train U.S. troops to work in austere environments with their African counterparts, and provide U.S. and east African military officials the opportunity to develop friendly relationships.

The Flintlock exercise, the largest conducted by Special Operations Command Africa, brought together troops from several countries to work on a range of tactics to be deployed in fighting Boko Haram, which is based in Nigeria but threatens the stability of neighboring states.

President Barack Obama’s recent move to restore official diplomatic ties with Cuba has renewed calls for the return of fugitives, but Cuba has asserted its right to offer political asylum to certain individuals and has yet to return a single fugitive. The two countries do not regularly cooperate on police matters or honor an extradition treaty signed more than 100 years ago.

In 2014, more than 100 government-affiliated bodyguards were killed in Caracas, according to a tally kept by a major newspaper. The dead included at least six members of Venezuela's presidential guard, most slain in apparent robberies gone wrong. The bodyguard of Venezuela's first lady was among them. Many more bodyguards already have been killed in 2015, including the men guarding a governor, a minister and a mayor.