Armed gangs are rife across Nigeria's northwest where they rob or kidnap for ransom, and violence has been increasing, where thinly stretched security forces often fail to stop the attacks. Cuba slams US funding to “promote democracy” as illegal Cuba slammed U.S. funding for "democracy promotion" programs as interventionist and illegal, aimed at toppling the government just as the island nation faces its worst economic crisis in decades, the country's Vice Foreign Minister said on Friday.