“While F.B.I. officials say they are careful to avoid illegally entrapping suspects, their undercover operatives are far from bystanders. In recent investigations from Florida to California, agents have helped people suspected of being extremists acquire weapons, scope out bombing targets and find the best routes to Syria to join the Islamic State.” The NYT’s Eric Lichtblau on the rise of the FBI’s sting operations.

+ And in the Middle East, fear of informants has created a new paranoia in ISIS. From the AP: Islamic State kills dozens of its own in hunt for spies.