Border Wall Rethinking | Disrupting the Wildfire Ecosystem | Russia’s New Form of Organized Crime, and more

IPCC Finds the World is Heating Faster Than Previously Thought  (Colm Quinn, Foreign Policy)
The landmark intergovernmental report, the first since 2013, provides an updated assessment on the science of climate change.

The IPCC Delivers Its Starkest Warning About the World’s Climate  (Economist)
Observations of changes now taking place make the science more accurate, but not more reassuring.

North Korea Developing Nuclear, Missile Programs in 2021, UN Says  (Reuters)
North Korea continued developing its nuclear and ballistic missile programs during the first half of 2021 in violation of international sanctions and despite the country’s worsening economic situation, according to an excerpt of a confidential U.N. report seen Friday by Reuters.
The report by a panel of independent sanctions monitors to the U.N. Security Council’s North Korea sanctions committee said Pyongyang “continued to seek material and technology for these programs overseas.”

Disrupting the Wildfire Ecosystem to Solve Our Nation’s Battle with Fire  (Tom Harbour, The Hill)
With 91 major wildfires currently burning across the country — already breaking last year’s records — the urgency of our intensifying wildfire crisis is again thrust into the collective consciousness of all Americans. We are living with the unintended consequences of a century of disconnected choices about how we as a nation prepare for and respond to wildfire.
With over a billion burnable acres in the United States, fire will always be present on our national landscape. In light of worsening environmental conditions, continuing current policies and practices is a mistake. It has become clear that the key question for the future is whether we can become a nation capable of living with fire?

How the Energy Department Can Improve Industry Cybersecurity  (Tasha Jhangiani and Madison Lockett, Defense One)
Practical steps include educating direct actors like electricians or IT professionals on basic cybersecurity priorities, concerns, and best practices

The Colonial Pipeline Ransomware Gang Is Back under a New Name  (Nicolás Rivero, Quartz)
You probably remember the ransomware attack against Colonial Pipeline: On May 7, a Russian cybergang under the name DarkSide hacked the company that operates the largest fuel pipeline in the US. The hackers knocked the pipeline offline, creating temporary gas shortages, and demanded a $5 million ransom in exchange for ending their attack.
By May 14, the hackers announced their servers had been knocked offline, their bitcoin had been stolen from their wallets, and they would be shutting down their operation “due to pressure from the US.” On June 7, the FBI triumphantly announced it had recovered $2.3 million from the Colonial Pipeline ransom.
That victory was short-lived: The DarkSide hackers appear to be back in business under the new moniker “Black Matter.”

If China and the U.S. Claim the Same Moon-Base Site, Who Wins?  (Tara Copp, Defense One)
Relatively few craters are attractive, and there’s no consensus about avoiding conflict over them.

How Trump Stiff-Armed Congress — and Gaslighted the Courts — to Build His Wall  (David Rogers, Politico)
Congress’ power of the purse was ignored, but lawmakers remain divided over how to respond. With Trump gone and a new White House trying to recover the wall funds, many in both parties want to put the episode in the rear-view mirror. But more than $1 billion is not coming back. And left behind in its place is a legacy of distrust and nagging questions as to how Congress can better protect its constitutional power of the purse.