- Under growing criticism for the brutal ethnic cleansing targeting Myanmar’s Muslim minority, the country’s leader and Nobel Prize winner, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi cancelled plans to go to the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York City. Since late August, Suu Kyi has remained silent on the military offensive against the Muslim Rohingya minority, who have no citizenship rights in Myanmar, a majority Buddhist nation. (“Myanmar Leader Cancels U.N. Trip Amid Outcry Over Rohingya Slaughter,” New York Times, Sept. 13, 2017; “Aung San Suu Kyi: What Has Happened to Myanmar’s Icon of Morality?” The Guardian, Sept. 13, 2017)
- The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico escaped the full brunt of Hurricane Irma as it tore through the Caribbean. Still the island’s antiquated electric grid collapsed during the storm, leaving 70 percent of the island’s people without power. It was the culmination of years of neglect and dis-investment owing to Puerto Rico’s extended debt crisis. The government-run Electric Power Authority declared bankruptcy in July and defaulted on $9 billion dollars in bonds. Now, electric workers are resisting demands from wealthy bond investors to privatize the power utility. (“Rma Threatens Puerto Rico’s Hopes to Emerge from Debt Crisis,” Politico, Sept. 6, 2017; “Irma Portends New Woes For Debt-Stricken Puerto Rico,” NPR, Sept. 6, 2017)
- Amid the ongoing debate over the future of the U.S. health care system, which included Bernie Sander’s proposing his “Medicare for All” bill, a new battle is brewing in the courts over drug prices. An important set of lawsuits target one of the biggest reasons for high prices—the middlemen that manipulate the pharmaceutical supply chain by extracting profits from practically every player. Eventually, the price gouging gets passed down to consumers. (“Want to Bring Down Drug Prices? Go After the Middleman,” The American Prospect, Aug. 11, 2017)
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