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Security forces in Mexico have discovered an underground tunnel aimed at crossing into the United States.

The unfinished tunnel, in the border city of Tijuana, is believed to have been built by the Sinaloa cartel with the aim of smuggling drugs into the US.

Last month Joaquin « Shorty » Guzman, the leader of the Sinaloa cartel, escaped from a maximum security jail through a 1.5km-long (1 mile) tunnel. Guzman, one of the world’s most wanted drug dealers, is still on the run.

Officials from the federal prosecutor’s office said the tunnel was 123m (404ft) long, but came just short of crossing the border. The Mexican authorities uncovered the tunnel on 30 July, but they only allowed members of the media to access it on Sunday. Members of the security forces said they had received an anonymous tip-off about a warehouse in Tijuana. There, they found the unfinished tunnel, which had rails, lighting and ventilation.

It is the third such tunnel found in and around Tijuana this year. No arrests were made.

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The family of a black woman who died in police custody is suing the arresting officer and other Texas authorities.

Sandra Bland died three days after a physical confrontation with a white police officer during a traffic stop. Police say that Bland hanged herself while being held in the Waller county jail. The family have denied that she was suicidal.

In the last 12 months, the death of black Americans in police custody has caused debate and protests. An official post-mortem examination report found that Bland had hanged herself while in her cell. The wrongful death lawsuit was announced in Houston by the family of the 28-year-old Chicago native.

In it, they name State Trooper Brian Encinia, the Texas Department of Public Safety in Waller County, the county’s sheriff’s department and two jailers as defendants. The lawsuit seeks unspecified punitive damages « for egregious acts and omissions » and alleges Mr Encinia falsified an assault allegation to take Bland into custody. The jail is accused of being « reckless » in disregarding her safety and failing to keep her free from harm.

Dashcam video shows Bland’s car being pulled over on 10 July for failing to signal during a lane change. An argument began after Bland was asked to put out her cigarette and demanding she get out of her car. Mr Encinia, 30, then points his stun gun at Bland, telling her « I will light you up » after she refuses his orders. Bland was arrested for assaulting an officer.

On 13 July she was found dead in her jail cell. The Texas Department of Public Safety had previously said that Trooper Encinia had acted improperly during the stop. Protestors from the « Black Lives Matter » movement have been holding rallies around the US to demand answers from Texas authorities.

Campaign group Amnesty International says Brazil’s military police have been responsible for more than 1,500 deaths in the city of Rio de Janeiro in the last five years.

Amnesty says it has found evidence that police killings were often illegal, with officers shooting suspects who had surrendered or had been wounded. There has been no response so far from Brazil’s military police. Police unions earlier said the number of officers killed was also very high.

In Rio de Janeiro alone, 114 police were killed in 2014, according to the civilian police union Sindpol.
Police officers have in the past denied being « trigger happy », saying they act in self defence when they come under fire from drug dealers in Rio’s sprawling favelas.

In a report published a year before Rio is due to host the 2016 Olympic Games, Amnesty said police were decimating a significant part of a generation of poor, young, black men. According to statistics released by Amnesty, nearly 16% of the total homicides registered in the city in the last five years took place at the hands of on-duty police officers.

In 2012 more than 50% of homicide victims were aged between 15 and 29, and 77% of them were black, the figures suggest.

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Pro-government forces in Yemen have retaken the country’s largest airbase in a battle with Houthi rebels, government officials say.

Heavy casualties have been reported at al-Anad airbase, north of Aden, after intense fighting there in recent days. It comes after pro-government forces, backed by air strikes from a Saudi-led coalition, retook Aden two weeks ago. The Saudis are leading a campaign to defeat the rebels, who control much of Yemen, and restore the government.

Troops and armoured vehicles from the United Arab Emirates – a key member of the coalition – are also said to have arrived in Aden in recent days.
Military officials quoted by the AP news agency say the foreign troops are helping the pro-government forces operate sophisticated weapons, including tanks. The New York Times said the troops had been involved in the fighting at al-Anad. However, local journalists told  that Emirati troops had recently disembarked in Aden and were deployed as advisers, rather than in combat, while a Yemeni military official denied foreign troops had landed in Yemen.

The reported deployment of tanks and other armoured vehicles from the United Arab Emirates, which have been seen unloading in Aden over recent days, represents the first major ground involvement by the Arab coalition ranged against the Houthi rebels. It is a signal that the air campaign launched in March has its limits and it is a sign too that the Saudi-led coalition is willing now to become more engaged in the fighting. The reinforcements may already have had a hand in the recapture of al-Anad airbase: an important asset that could provide a launch-pad for more extensive operations against the rebels.

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Rick Perry, the former governor of Texas, is not among the 10 Republicans running for president who will take part in the first primetime TV debate.

Donald Trump, Jeb Bush and Scott Walker will take the stage in Cleveland on Thursday night with seven rivals. Fox News selected the 10 most popular Republicans based on five national polls, excluding Mr Perry and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham. Those two and five other candidates will take part in an earlier debate.

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum reacted angrily to his omission. « The idea that they have left out the runner-up for the 2012 nomination [Santorum], the former four-term governor of Texas [Perry], the governor of Louisiana [Bobby Jindal], the first female Fortune 50 CEO [Carly Fiorina], and the 3-term Senator from South Carolina [Graham] due to polling seven months before a single vote is cast is preposterous, » his spokesman said.

In contrast, Mr Perry tweeted that he was looking forward to being on Fox at 5pm for « a serious exchange of ideas and positive solutions to get America back on track ». The main debate takes place four hours later at 9pm local time (01:00 GMT). All eyes will be on hotel tycoon Mr Trump, who leads the polls and has made headlines with outspoken remarks about many of his rivals.

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