- Since late August nearly 60,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees have fled growing violence in Myanmar to Bangladesh. The ethnic Rohingya have faced brutal repression in recent years at the hands of Myanmar’s majority Buddhist population. A new wave of violence erupted after a small group of Rohingya insurgents attacked military outposts. Burma’s military quickly counter-attacked burning and clearing out Rohingya villages. (“Myanmar Conflict: Bangladesh Police Allow Rohingya to Flee,” BBC, Sept. 2, 2017; “Ap Explains: How the Insurgency behind Myanmar Attacks Grew,” Washington Post, Aug. 31, 2017; “Aung Sang Suu Kyi’s Office Accuses Aid Workers of Helping ‘terrorists’ in Myanmar,” The Guardian, Aug. 28, 2017)
- Laboratoria, a computer skills training school runs coding programs in Mexico, Chile and Peru and recruits ambitious young women to train for high paying tech jobs that are increasingly in demand across Latin America. The program is now seen as a model for skills training to expand the middle class throughout the Americas. (“The Latin American ‘lab’ Where Women Are Learning to Code across the Employment Gap,”Christian Science Monitor, May 3, 2017)
- Four years ago, President Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder adopted a policy known as “smart on crime” — reforms that directed federal prosecutors to defer using harsh mandatory minimum sentences when dealing with low level, nonviolent drug offenders. (“How Jeff Sessions and Donald Trump Have Restarted the War on Drugs,” The Guardian, Aug. 21, 2017)
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