RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Foreign keyboard criminals with scant fear of repercussions have paralyzed U.S. schools and hospitals, leaked highly sensitive police files, triggered fuel shortages and, most recently, threatened global food supply chains.

The escalating havoc caused by ransomware gangs raises an obvious question: Why has the United States, believed to have the world’s greatest cyber capabilities, looked so powerless to protect its citizens from these kind of criminals operating with near impunity out of Russia and allied countries?

The answer is that there are numerous technological, legal and diplomatic hurdles to going after ransomware gangs. Until recently, it just hasn’t been a high priority for the U.S. government.

That has changed as the problem has grown well beyond an economic nuisance. President Joe Biden intends to confront Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin, about Moscow's harboring of ransomware criminals when the two men meet in Europe later this month. The Biden administration has also promised to boost defenses against attacks, improve efforts to prosecute those responsible and build diplomatic alliances to pressure countries that harbor ransomware gangs.

Calls are growing for the administration to direct U.S. intelligence agencies and the military to attack ransomware gangs' technical infrastructure used for hacking, posting sensitive victim data on the dark web and storing digital currency payouts.

Fighting ransomware requires the nonlethal equivalent of the “global war on terrorism” launched after the Sept. 11 attacks, said John Riggi, a former FBI agent and senior adviser for cybersecurity and risk for the America Hospital Association. Its members have been hard hit by ransomware gangs during the coronavirus pandemic.

“It should include a combination of diplomatic, financial, law enforcement, intelligence operations, of course, and military operations,” Riggi said.

A public-private task force including Microsoft and Amazon made similar suggestions in an 81-page report that called for intelligence agencies and the Pentagon’s U.S. Cyber Command to work with other agencies to “prioritize ransomware disruption operations.”

“Take their infrastructure away, go after their wallets, their ability to cash out,” said Philip Reiner, a lead author of the report. He worked at the National Security Council during the Obama presidency and is now CEO at The Institute for Security and Technology.

But the difficulties of taking down ransomware gangs and other cybercriminals have long been clear. The FBI’s list of most-wanted cyber fugitives has grown at a rapid clip and now has more than 100 entries, many of whom are not exactly hiding. Evgeniy Bogachev, indicted nearly a decade ago for what prosecutors say was a wave of cyber bank thefts, lives in a Russian resort town and “is known to enjoy boating” on the Black Sea, according to the FBI’s wanted listing.

Ransomware gangs can move around, do not need much infrastructure to operate and can shield their identities. They also operate in a decentralized network. For instance, DarkSide, the group responsible for the Colonial Pipeline attack that led to fuel shortages in the South, rents out its ransomware software to partners to carry out attacks.

Katie Nickels, director of intelligence at the cybersecurity firm Red Canary, said identifying and disrupting ransomware criminals takes time and serious effort.

“A lot of people misunderstand that the government can’t just willy-nilly go out and press a button and say, well, nuke that computer,” she said. “Trying to attribute to a person in cyberspace is not an easy task, even for intelligence communities.”

Reiner said those limits do not mean the United States cannot still make progress against defeating ransomware, comparing it with America's ability to degrade the terrorist group al-Qaida while not capturing its leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, who took over after U.S. troops killed Osama bin Laden.

“We can fairly easily make the argument that al-Qaida no longer poses a threat to the homeland,” Reiner said. “So short of getting al-Zawahiri, you destroy his ability to actually operate. That’s what you can do to these (ransomware) guys.”

The White House has been vague about whether it plans to use offensive cyber measures against ransomware gangs. Press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday that “we’re not going to take options off the table,” but she did not elaborate. Her comments followed a ransomware attack by a Russian gang that caused outages at Brazil’s JBS SA, the second-largest producer of beef, pork and chicken in the United States.

Gen. Paul Nakasone, who leads U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency, said at a recent symposium that he believes the U.S. will be “bringing the weight of our nation,” including the Defense Department, “to take down this (ransomware) infrastructure outside the United States.”

Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine who is a legislative leader on cybersecurity issues, said the debate in Congress over how aggressive the U.S. needs to be against ransomware gangs, as well as state adversaries, will be “front and center of the next month or two.”

“To be honest, it’s complicated because you’re talking about using government agencies, government capabilities to go after private citizens in another country,” he said.

The U.S. is widely believed to have the best offensive cyber capabilities in the world, though details about such highly classified activities are scant. Documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden show the U.S. conducted 231 offensive cyber operations in 2011. More than a decade ago a virus called Stuxnet attacked control units for centrifuges in an underground site in Iran, causing the sensitive devices to spin out of control and destroy themselves. The cyberattack was attributed to America and Israel.

U.S. policy called “persistent engagement” already authorizes cyberwarriors to engage hostile hackers in cyberspace and disrupt their operations with code. U.S. Cyber Command has launched offensive operations related to election security, including against Russian misinformation officials during U.S. midterm elections in 2018.

After the Colonial Pipeline attack, Biden promised that his administration was committed to bringing foreign cybercriminals to justice. Yet even as he was speaking from the White House, a different Russian-linked ransomware gang was leaking thousands of highly sensitive internal files — including deeply personal background checks — belonging to the police department in the nation’s capital. Experts believe it’s the worst ransomware attack against a U.S.-based law enforcement agency.

“We are not afraid of anyone,” the hackers wrote in a follow-up post.

BEIJING (Reuters) -China's imports grew at their fastest pace in 10 years in May, fueled by surging commodity prices, while export growth missed expectations, likely weighed by disruptions caused by COVID-19 cases at major ports in the country's south.

Exports in dollar terms grew 27.9% in May from a year earlier, slower than the 32.3% growth reported in April and missing analysts' forecast of 32.1%.

"Export surprised a bit on the downside, maybe due to the COVID cases in Guangdong province which slowed down the turnover in Shenzhen and Guangzhou ports," said Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, adding that turnover at ports in Guangdong will likely remain slow in June.

Major shipping companies have warned clients of worsening congestion at Shenzhen's Yantian port in Guangdong province after the recent outbreak.

Zhang expects this shock to be transitory and the current outbreak in Guangdong to be brought under control in a few weeks.

In the meantime, Chinese exporters are grappling with higher raw material and freight costs, logistics bottlenecks and a strengthening yuan, which diminishes trade competitiveness.

However, a brisk recovery in developed market demand and disruptions caused by COVID-19 in other manufacturing nations are likely to bolster China's exports in coming quarters, analysts say.

Zhang Yi, chief economist at Zhonghai Shengrong Capital Management, said the recent pick-up in imports of semiconductors, which have been in short supply, suggests China's exports of relevant products would likely stay high in the second half of the year.

Imports increased 51.1% year-on-year last month, the fastest growth since January 2011 and picking up from a 43.1% rise in April, but slower than the 51.5% rise tipped by the Reuters poll.

China posted a trade surplus of $45.53 billion for the month, wider than the $42.86 billion surplus in April but less than the $50.5 billion expected.

Prices for commodities such as coal, steel, iron ore and copper have surged this year, driven by easing pandemic lockdowns in many countries and ample global liquidity.

The currency extended its rally in recent weeks to near three-year highs against the dollar, which could further saddle U.S. consumers with higher prices.

The Biden administration is conducting a review of U.S.-China trade policy, ahead of the expiry of the Trump-era "Phase 1" deal at the end of 2021, which called for China to increase purchases of U.S. agricultural goods, manufactured products.

Since President Joe Biden took office in January, China has increased engagement with U.S. trade and economic chiefs. China's Vice Premier Liu He spoke with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen last week, just days after talks with U.S. Trade chief Katherine Tai.

Donald Trump returned to the GOP political scene Saturday with a speech at the North Carolina Republican Convention, where he called on China to pay "reparations" to the U.S. for coronavirus-related damages.

"All nations should work together to present China a bill for a minimum of $10 trillion to compensate for the damage," Trump said, adding that the figure was lower than it should be. "As a first step, all countries should collectively cancel any debt they owe to China as a down payment on reparations," he said.

Trump said he also thought the U.S. should put a 100% tariff on any goods imported from China.

In a lengthy speech Saturday night, the former president echoed sentiments from Republicans on the Hill and went after infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci for reversing his stance on the importance of wearing masks early in the pandemic.

"Fauci said powerfully at the beginning, no masks," Trump chided Saturday. "Then he became a radical masker," he said.

"Get a pair of goggles," he added as the conservative crowd laughed.

Trump, widely known for his own personal branding, mocked Fauci for his.

"He’s a nice guy, not a great doctor, but a great promoter," Trump said to more laughs. "He’s been wrong on almost every issue."

"Generally speaking I went the opposite way of Dr. Fauci," Trump added.

Emails released earlier this week through several Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests revealed that at the onset of the pandemic, Fauci advised people not to wear masks. It turned out he had hoped to save them for first responders to prevent a shortage.

But as the virus escalated across the nation, he and other top officials reversed their guidance and advised all Americans to wear masks when in public spaces.

Trump also reiterated unproven claims regarding the integrity of the 2020 election – comments that resulted in Trump’s two-year ban from Facebook.

The former president claimed Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg "broke the law spending millions of dollars" on encouraging voting in Democratic-led areas in the country, he said.

Trump expressed his frustration at what he believes is a systematic attack against the right done by blocking posts and accounts of those who suggest the election was "rigged."

"They say they may allow me back in two years," Trump said. Adding, "I’m not too interested in that."

Despite hitting some of the biggest issues facing the nation, Trump kept his speech jovial at times, commenting on the spike in growth of his youngest son.

Baron is 6’7" and still only 15, Trump told his supporters, joking that his son older Eric "is short."

"He’s only 6’6", but we love our Eric," Trump added to laughs.

Clumpy lead paint and plaster curl off the walls of some inner-city Philadelphia schools. Staff members at a Florida school haul sandbags and clear drains manually during heavy storms. A 1930s-era boiler is still used to heat a Rhode Island school.

The snapshots are in a report last year from the Government Accountability Office, the first comprehensive picture of the dilapidated state of school facilities since Congress tried to call attention to the problem nearly 25 years ago after finding that a third of schools were in severely deficient condition.

The situation has only worsened since then in many inner-city and poor rural schools, environmental engineering experts and local officials say. And some worry that even an influx of cash from the federal government won't be enough to remedy the issue.

"When I became superintendent, the most glaring example of disparity was the infrastructure," said Nikolai Vitti, who was appointed superintendent of the Detroit Public Schools Community District in 2017. The poor conditions included water-stained, decaying ceiling tiles and repeated school closings because of "oven"-like conditions in warmer months and no heat in the winter, Vitti said.

"That's a Third World country infrastructure issue, not something that we should be thinking about in America," he said.

Nationwide, the backlog in school maintenance and repair projects is at least $500 billion, the nonprofit 21st Century School Fund estimates.

The Biden administration's American Rescue Plan would inject $193 billion into the country's crumbling schools. In guidance it issued last month, the Education Department said schools can use the money on "school facility repairs and improvements to reduce the risk of virus transmission and exposure to environmental health hazards, as well as inspection, testing, maintenance, repair, replacement, and upgrade projects to improve the indoor air quality in school facilities."

But it cautions against new construction projects that could suck money from "essential needs and initiatives" and warns that major remodeling, renovation and new construction projects might be time-consuming and, therefore, unfeasible, because relief funds must be obligated by September 2024.

What's more, much of the money is expected to go to remedy learning loss and to hire teachers and support staff members. Some districts are also under pressure to add security features, such as bulletproof windows and door barricades, after numerous school shootings.

In short, the funding isn't nearly enough to overcome decades of neglect compounding health and safety risks, primarily in minority, underserved communities, local officials say.

In Detroit, where school buildings are 66 years old on average, the money will cover half of an infrastructure backlog estimated at $1.5 billion, Vitti said.

 The disrepair in many inner-city schools is one of the starkest illustrations of inequality in America. Most school funding is tied to local tax bases, not formulas for equitable distribution.

"It really is a national tragedy when you start looking at these schools and understand what kids are subjected to," said Jerry Roseman, an environmental engineer for the Philadelphia teachers union. In many buildings, conditions have deteriorated so badly that districts are plowing everything they have into maintenance to prevent schools from "failing catastrophically," Roseman said.

Daniel Peou, principal of Horace Furness High School in Philadelphia, said he no longer feels safe in the school building. He said he and others have developed unexplained rashes after spending time inside.

"The truth is, no, I don't feel comfortable being in there, and I spend most of my days in there," Peou said. "But at the same time, I don't want [students] to be home. I want them to be here. This is where they get their education."

Maria Tobing, a student at the school, remembers one time when "the whole ceiling just went down," almost hitting a teacher.

"We were all shocked, and I couldn't concentrate during my test," Tobing said.

Schools in Philadelphia need $3.5 billion in immediate upgrades, said Roseman, who produced a report last month describing "toxic" conditions in schools that he said have already had a "real impact on health." Eighty percent of district buildings are more than 70 years old, and schools contain hundreds of thousands of square and linear feet of asbestos-containing material, the report found.

"Districts know they cannot fund what they need to fund. So you have to start misrepresenting the truth of that, because no one wants to compromise [faith in] public education. As these problems grow, you are less and less likely to be truthful and fully disclose reports," he said.

The union said the superintendent has stopped sharing information about mold, lead paint and other hazardous materials that it used to share. Monica Lewis, a spokeswoman for the Philadelphia superintendent, said the office hadn't received Roseman's report, which is public.

Lewis said that an environmental advisory group is already in place and that issues from last year "have already been addressed." She didn't respond directly to Roseman's claim that the superintendent has stopped sharing information.

Image: Peeling paint inside the auditorium at Horace H. Furness High School in Philadelphia. (Philadelphia Federation of Teachers Health and Welfare Fund)

While there have been significant associated health risks for decades, the Covid-19 pandemic has shed new light on the scale of the problem. For example, last summer the GAO estimated that 36,000 schools nationwide needed heating and air-conditioning repairs or updates for problems that, if left unaddressed, could lead to poor air quality and mold.

Other hazards the GAO has recently documented: 51 percent of the 100 largest school districts found lead-based paint in schools, and fewer than half of school districts have tested for lead in drinking water.

No federal law requires testing of drinking water for lead in schools that get their water from public systems. Furthermore, most states don't conduct statewide assessments, leaving it to individual districts.

"There's a weird regulatory gap when it comes to lead in the water," said Anisa Heming, director of the Center for Green Schools, which advocates for greener and healthier school buildings. "A lot of schools are scared to test, because they don't have the money to fix it."

Turkish security forces nabbed a suspected YPG/PKK terrorist trying to cross into the country from Syria, said the National Defense Ministry on Saturday.

The ministry said on Twitter that the suspect was caught by border guards in the Suruc district of southeastern Sanliurfa province.

The suspect was later found to be a YPG/PKK terrorist and was handed over to gendarmerie forces, it added.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is its Syrian offshoot./aa