• Tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalated on Nov. 25 as Russian coast guard ships seized three Ukrainian military vessels and their crews as they attempted to pass from the Black Sea through the Kerch Strait into the Azov Sea on their way to the Ukrainian port of Mariupol. Six Ukrainian crew members were injured in the clash, and 24 Ukrainian sailors from the captured ships were detained by Russia.
(“Behind Russia-Ukraine Naval Tensions, a More Brutal Economic War,” CS Monitor, Nov. 26, 2018; “Why Ukraine-Russia Sea Clash Is Fraught With Risk,” BBC News, Nov. 27, 2018)
• Generations of immigrants coming to the United States have relied on informal saving circles to get ahead, outside of mainstream banks and financial institutions. Nkem Khumbah arrived from the west African nation of Cameroon in 1990 to get an education. He gave $300 a month to a saving circle, called a njangi. A year later, he got a loan to buy a car. Today, he is a lecturer at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
(“How the Other Half Banks,” In These Times, Nov. 18, 2018)
• An important bipartisan criminal justice reform bill known as the “First Step Act” could die in the U.S. Senate. Although President Trump, along with progressive politicians and national groups, support the bill, in recent days right-wing GOP Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas has lobbied aggressively against the bill, and Florida’s Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said that he has concerns about the sentencing reform provisions.
( “Behind the Surprising Surge of Hope for US Criminal Justice Reform,” Christian Science Monitor, Nov. 15, 2018; “Prison Reform Bill Is Being Held Prisoner by Mitch McConnell,” Mother Jones, Nov. 29, 2018)
This week’s News Summary was narrated by Nigel Victor Rees.
