Dispatches

Aug. 14

Under FBI scrutiny over her use of private, unsecured email while secretary of state, presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton agreed to hand over a personal email server to the law enforcement agency. The FBI is investigating whether Clinton’s use of unsecured emails exposed sensitive information to foreign governments like China or Russia. Separately, the intelligence agencies’ inspector general reported that he found “top secret” information in two emails among a random sampling of the unsecured emails Clinton had already turned over to the State Department. Breaking with State Department policy, Clinton used personal email addresses for official business, potentially allowing her to avoid public records requests. She also said she deleted 31,000 personal emails. The FBI may be able to recover from the server some of the deleted emails, according to The New York Times, which broke the story of the investigation.

EPA Spill

Aug. 12

An Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cleanup crew investigating a leak provoked an environmental disaster when the crew breached a debris dam inside an abandoned Colorado mine. The dam released 3 million gallons of toxic sludge into the pristine Animas River, and the sludge flowed on into the San Juan River going into New Mexico. Authorities were still investigating the effects of the heavy metal contamination on drinking water, fish, and recreation.

Kurds take a stand

Aug. 3

The Kurdish region of Iraq quit sending oil to the Iraqi government after a pricing disagreement, instead selling its vast crude oil resources on its own. The sales violated a 2014 agreement with the government in Baghdad, but the Kurds argue they are footing most of the expenses for fighting the Islamic State and receiving little financial support from Baghdad. The deal’s breakdown is a sign of fraying relations between the independent-minded Kurds and the Iraqi government.