For the past month, the news cycle has been full of dramatic, exciting stories: Hillary Clinton’s emails, the Rio Olympics, Trump’s plummeting poll numbers, the earthquake in Italy, et cetera, et cetera. But outside of the regular coverage, what else happened in the past month?
1. Over 400 shootings occurred in Chicago, making it the most violent month in 20 years
Chicago has faced an unusually violent month, with 78 recorded homicides – the highest the city has seen since 1997. Both the city’s homicide rate and number of gun violence victims have surpassed New York City and Los Angeles combined. Law enforcement increasingly cites social media disputes, the constant flow of illegal firearms, and an ‘intractable gang problem’ as a dangerous combination.
- About 30 civilians were killed in a massacre in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
On August 13, suspected rebels of the terrorist group ‘Allied Democratic Forces’ (ADF) killed approximately 30 people in the Rwangoma neighborhood, allegedly targeting the civilian population as ‘revenge’ for military operations. An unstable region near the Virunga National Park, the Beni area has faced massacres leaving over 600 civilians dead since October 2014, and the attacks occurred only days after the DRC’s president Joseph Kabila personally promised to bring stability to the region.
- Over 70,000 South Sudanese refugees fled into neighbouring Uganda, Sudan, and Kenya
While the vast majority of coverage relating to refugees focuses on Syria, South Sudan teeters on the brink of a civil war. In July of this year, a recent outburst of fighting occurred between Dinka SPLA fighters and other tribes in the country’s capital of Juba. Since then, thousands of refugees have escaped into Uganda, Kenya, and Sudan, bringing the total number of South Sudanese refugees to almost 900,000. Not only violence and political instability drive these refugees to leave: the United Nations reported that 4.8 million residents are in critical need of food, nutrition, and/or livelihood assistance.
- The United States decided to phase out use of private prisons on a federal level
The Obama administration announced a decision to phase out of the use of for-profit prisons, which were previously used to ease overcrowding during a period of high incarceration in the early 2010s. The Justice Department describes such prisons as lacking in rehabilitative services such as educational and vocational programs, and a report by the JD’s inspector general found private prisons to be more violent and problematic on many counts. Advocates of prisoner rights support the White House’s shift, hopeful that this policy is a result of the administration’s goal of overhauling the criminal justice system in the United States.
And, on a less serious note….
- A Sheep in South Canterbury, New Zealand gave birth to four lambs
Theresa Hart, a sheep owner in New Zealand countryside, was shocked to discover that one of her ewes had given birth to quadruplets, an extremely rare occurrence. All of the lambs appear to be in decent health, and according to Stuff news reporter Philip McSweeney, “[Hart’s] friends are flocking to see the anomalies”.
By Rosie Bradbury