Cheat Sheet - The CIA’s Stealth Syria Mission

Today: Colorado Shooting: 12 Dead at Batman Screening , Mitt Romney’s Top Strategist Calls President Obama a Bully , Scientists Lay Out Map to Curing AIDS July 20, 2012 BLACK OPS 1. The CIA’s Stealth Syria Mission With the rebels moving deeper into Damascus and the regime’s days seemingly numbered, the CIA is racing to find Syria’s chemical and biological weapons before it’s too late, reports The Daily Beast’s Eli Lake. Read it at The Daily Beast HORRIFIC 2. 12 Dead in Colorado Shooting At least 12 people are dead after a shooting at a movie theater in suburban Denver, police said early Friday morning. The gunfire reportedly broke out during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises. Police had 24-year-old James Holmes in custody on Friday morning. Read it at The Daily Beast MEANIE 3. Romney Aide: Obama’s a Bully Trying to seize the offensive, Mitt’s campaign strategist Stuart Stevens tells The Daily Beast’s Howard Kurtz that the attacks on Romney’s finances are hurting the president—and that voters just don’t care about the issue. Read it at The Daily Beast PROGRESS 4. Scientists Lay Out Map to Curing AIDS International AIDS specialists signaled hope that a cure for HIV may be within grasp, decades after the search began. Researchers announced Thursday that they’ve laid out a strategy to investigate a number of leads they think might lead to a cure. “Today’s the first step,” said Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, the French Nobel laureate who was codiscoverer of the virus and co-chair of the research initiative. Sunday marks the start of the international AIDS conference, which will draw more than 20,000 scientists, activists, and lawmakers to Washington, D.C., to discuss how to stop the spread of the virus, which affects more than 34 million people worldwide. While making better drugs available to more people will do much for containing HIV, Barré-Sinoussi said that isn’t enough and thinks finding a cure “could be a realistic possibility.” Read it at The Associated Press DISSIDENT 5. Ai Weiwei Appeal Rejected Ai Weiwei’s appeal of a fine for tax evasion has been rejected—and the activist and artist has been barred from attending court to even hear his verdict announced. The controversial Chinese dissident and his supporters argue that the fine is motivated by politics rather than by law. “We will keep appealing, until the day comes when we have nothing to lose,” he tweeted. And his lawyer, who was allowed to hear the verdict, called it “totally without reason.” After being released from nearly three months of detention without a charge last year, Ai was accused of tax evasion. Read it at BBC AFTERMATH Penn State Trustee Chair Resigns Steve Garban is former senior VP of university. PYONGYANG N. Korean Purge May Mean Change Taking economy out of military’s hands. Tax-Return Burn Ann Romney Defends Mitt’s Finances Says "we've given all you people asked for." Middle East Syrian Rebels Take Border Posts Amidst reports that Bashar al-Assad has fled to the coast. PRESIDENTIAL QUARTERS Obama’s N.Y.C. Apartment Available For just $2,400 a month. GET The Cheat Sheet A speedy, smart summary of news and must-reads from across the Web. You'll love the featured original stories on politics, entertainment, and more from The Daily Beast's diverse group of contributors. GET Culture Beast Weekly cultural recommendations from The Daily Beast. Why Romney Invests Overseas by Alex Klein Downfall of a Web Pioneer by Matthew DeLuca Fred Willard’s Gone Wild by Christine Pelisek

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