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Day: July 3, 2018

Yes, We Can End the Military Use of Schools

Bridge Agents

(HRW) – First the bad news: the United Nations secretary-general’s annual report on children and armed conflict found a 35 percent increase in violence against children compared to the year before. But there’s good news too: incidents of armed groups – be they government forces or rebel groups – using schools for military purposes are down 14 percent from the previous year, with 188 schools affected. That’s important for students who have safer schools to learn in, and raises hopes that new generations will be equipped with the knowledge and…

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Mexico Elects a Leftist President Who Welcomes Migrants

Bridge Agents

Mexico (Conversation) – Mexico’s next president will be Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a former Mexico City mayor and outspoken critic of the political establishment both in Mexico and the United States. The 64-year-old leftist, who had for months led a crowded presidential field, beat three competitors on July 1 to triumph in his third presidential bid. López Obrador won 53 percent of the vote, according to the latest official count. His closest contender, Ricardo Anaya – who formed an unusual right-left alliance late last year in a futile attempt to…

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For Texas ranchers living along border fence, talk of an illegal crossing crisis is exaggerated

Bridge Agents

Brownsville, TX (TT) – Crisis. Siege. Chaos. These are words the president and some of his supporters have used to describe the situation at the United States’ southern border, where every day migrants illegally cross into the country from Mexico. Jaime Portillo, one of the ranchers who farm the land near the U.S.-Mexico border, uses a different word to characterize the last few months in the Rio Grande Valley: “igual” — the same as ever. To the people living on the Old Military Highway, which stretches for 100 miles along the…

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