- Even as North Korea escalates its nuclear weapons and missile testing program, the nation is approaching its worst famine in 16 years. A new report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has raised alarm about a spring drought which could slash food production 30 percent this year. (“U.N. Agency Reports Worst Drought in 16 Years in North Korea,” New York Times, July 21, 2017; “N. Korea Ranks No. 1 for Military Spending Relative to GDP: State Department Report,” YONHAP News Agency, Dec. 22, 2016; “North Korea Faces Famine Again,” Japan Times, July 24, 2017)
- After months of threats to send federal officials to Chicago to suppress a wave of gun violence, the Trump administration has deployed 20 agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) to combat the city’s high murder rate. The Guardian newspaper reports that a federal gun task force for Chicago has been in the works since last fall. (“‘It Won’t Stop the Murders’: Why Chicago’s Activists Oppose Trump’s ‘gun Strike Force’,” The Guardian, July 10, 2017; “Chicago Gun Violence Taskforce: Whose Idea Was It – and Will It Work?” The Guardian, July 2, 2017)
- A decade after the U.S. financial meltdown, California’s housing prices are skyrocketing with monthly rents of $3,000 to $4,000 for a two-bedroom apartment in San Francisco. The statewide housing crisis has generated growing pressure on California’s political leaders to create more affordable housing in a state where homeownership rates have fallen to a 70-year low. (“The California Renters’ Revolt,” The American Prospect, July 12, 2017; “California Housing Crisis Spurring Lawmakers into Action,” San Francisco Chronicle, July 14, 2017)
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