Brazil's October 2014 Presidential Election (open access)

Brazil's October 2014 Presidential Election

This report briefly discusses the results of Brazil's recent elections and potential policy shifts.
Date: October 22, 2014
Creator: Meyer, Peter J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Renewed Crypto Wars? (open access)

Renewed Crypto Wars?

This report briefly examines renewed tensions between tech companies and the government regarding encryption "back doors" and how quickly-advancing technologies could impact law enforcement investigations.
Date: February 9, 2016
Creator: Finklea, Kristin
System: The UNT Digital Library
North Korea's January 6, 2016, Nuclear Test (open access)

North Korea's January 6, 2016, Nuclear Test

This report provides a brief background about North Korea's announcement that it successfully tested a "hydrogen bomb" (its fourth nuclear test) on January 6, 2016. The official statement also called the device an experimental or "pilot H-bomb."
Date: January 7, 2016
Creator: Nikitin, Mary Beth D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
President Obama's $1 Billion Foreign Aid Request for Central America (open access)

President Obama's $1 Billion Foreign Aid Request for Central America

This report discusses the Obama Administration's recent request for over $1 billion in foreign assistance during FY2016 to support a whole-of-government "U.S. Strategy for Engagement in Central America."
Date: January 5, 2016
Creator: Ribando Seelke, Clare & Meyer, Peter J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Zika Virus: Global Health Considerations (open access)

Zika Virus: Global Health Considerations

This report gives a brief overview of the Zika Vvrus, which typically causes mild symptoms, including fever, rash, and conjunctivitis. Health experts are uncertain whether Zika causes microcephaly, a potentially-severe birth defect involving brain damage.
Date: February 9, 2016
Creator: Salaam-Blyther, Tiaji
System: The UNT Digital Library
China's Recent Stock Market Volatility: What Are the Implications? (open access)

China's Recent Stock Market Volatility: What Are the Implications?

This report briefly discusses the background and implications of the rapid price increases experienced in China's two main stock markets, the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE), from about mid-2014 to mid-2015.
Date: January 9, 2016
Creator: Morrison, Wayne M. & Nelson, Gabriel M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Additional U.S. Ground Troops to Counter the Islamic State? Five Questions (open access)

Additional U.S. Ground Troops to Counter the Islamic State? Five Questions

This report briefly discusses various arguments regarding the introduction of additional ground forces to secure territory once it has been taken back from the Islamic State.
Date: February 17, 2016
Creator: McInnis, Kathleen J. & Feickert, Andrew
System: The UNT Digital Library
Taiwan's January 2016 Elections: A Preview (open access)

Taiwan's January 2016 Elections: A Preview

This report briefly provides context for the January 16, 2016 presidential and legislative elections in Taiwan. The elections may determine whether an eight-year period of relative calm in relations between Taiwan (whose formal name is the Republic of China or ROC) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) continues, or comes to an end.
Date: January 12, 2016
Creator: Lawrence, Susan V. & Morrison, Wayne M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Federal Reserve Issues Final Rule on Emergency Lending (open access)

Federal Reserve Issues Final Rule on Emergency Lending

This report briefly discusses major provisions of the Federal Reserve's (Fed's) Final Rule, governing emergency lending under Section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act and implementing Section 1101 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank).
Date: January 6, 2016
Creator: Labonte, Marc & Murphy, M. M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Aung San Suu Kyi's Party Takes Control of Parliament in Burma (open access)

Aung San Suu Kyi's Party Takes Control of Parliament in Burma

This report discusses politics and government in Burma following elections in November 2015. Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) has now assumed control of Burma's Union Parliament. The lower chamber (People's Assembly) and the upper chamber (National Assembly) took office on February 1 and 3, 2016, respectively.
Date: February 9, 2016
Creator: Martin, Michael F.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Guatemala: One President Resigns; Another Elected, to Be Inaugurated January 14 (open access)

Guatemala: One President Resigns; Another Elected, to Be Inaugurated January 14

This report discusses the transfer of power to the newly-elected president of Guatemala and its context, following the resignation of the former president and vice-president, their arrest for government corruption, and the succeeding interim government.
Date: January 11, 2016
Creator: Taft-Morales, Maureen
System: The UNT Digital Library
Appointment of African American U.S. Circuit and District Court Judges: Historical Overview and Current Data (open access)

Appointment of African American U.S. Circuit and District Court Judges: Historical Overview and Current Data

This report briefly provides historical and statistical information related to the appointment of African Americans as U.S. circuit and district court judges. Such information addresses ongoing congressional interest in the demographic characteristics of lower federal court judges.
Date: February 12, 2016
Creator: McMillion, Barry J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Zika Virus: Global Health Considerations (open access)

Zika Virus: Global Health Considerations

This report gives a brief overview of the Zika virus, which typically causes mild symptoms, including fever, rash, and conjunctivitis. Health experts are uncertain whether Zika causes microcephaly, a potentially-severe birth defect involving brain damage.
Date: February 6, 2016
Creator: Salaam-Blyther, Tiaji
System: The UNT Digital Library
Iran-U.S. Air Service Not Imminent (open access)

Iran-U.S. Air Service Not Imminent

This report discusses the prospect of air travel between Iran and the U.S., which last operated during 1979, when the U.S. government imposed an embargo on flights following the Iran hostage crisis. Since then, travel and air cargo shipments between the two countries have been routed through third countries, and their extent has been limited by U.S. sanctions.
Date: January 21, 2016
Creator: Tang, Rachel Y.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Congress and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2016 (open access)

Congress and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2016

This report briefly discusses authorization legislation for the water resources activities of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) in 2016, which the 114th Congress is anticipated to consider. These issues span the agency's role in new and existing navigation improvements, coastal and riverine flood risk reduction, and environmental restoration and protection efforts.
Date: January 5, 2016
Creator: Carter, Nicole T.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Electric Grid Physical Security: Recent Legislation (open access)

Electric Grid Physical Security: Recent Legislation

This report briefly discusses legislative initiatives to address the physical safety of electrical transformers and 0other parts of the U.S. electric grid which are vulnerable to damage from theft, vandalism, or terrorist attacks.
Date: January 6, 2016
Creator: Parfomak, Paul W.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Shutdown of the Joint North/South Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex (open access)

The Shutdown of the Joint North/South Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex

This report briefly discusses the South Korean government's decision to shut down the Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC), which is an 11-year-old industrial park located in North Korea just across the demilitarized zone where more than 120 South Korean manufacturers employed over 50,000 North Korean workers.
Date: February 11, 2016
Creator: Manyin, Mark E.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Conflict and History at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge (open access)

Conflict and History at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge

This report briefly discusses the conflict at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge (MNWR) in January of 2016.
Date: January 28, 2016
Creator: Corn, M. L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Escalating Violence in El Salvador (open access)

Escalating Violence in El Salvador

This report briefly discusses gangs and violence in El Salvador, and examines the U.S. policy response.
Date: January 7, 2016
Creator: Ribando Seelke, Clare
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016: Effects on Budgetary Trends (open access)

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016: Effects on Budgetary Trends

This report discusses recent changes to the federal budget outlook and the effects of these amendments on recent budgetary trends using the CBO and JCT cost estimates for the legislation, the CBO budget forecast released in August 2015, and OMB historical data.
Date: January 11, 2016
Creator: Driessen, Grant A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Is Broadband Deployment Reasonable and Timely? (open access)

Is Broadband Deployment Reasonable and Timely?

This report briefly discusses the state of broadband Internet in America as determined by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in its latest Broadband Progress Report.
Date: February 6, 2016
Creator: Kruger, Lennard G.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Lead in Flint, Michigan's Drinking Water: Federal Regulatory Role (open access)

Lead in Flint, Michigan's Drinking Water: Federal Regulatory Role

This report discusses the federal regulatory role in regards to drinking water, more specifically in the context of the Flint water crisis. Lead exposure is a major public health concern, particularly because low-level exposures can impair the neurodevelopment of children. The main source of lead in drinking water is the corrosion of plumbing materials in the distribution system.
Date: February 16, 2016
Creator: Tiemann, Mary
System: The UNT Digital Library
China's Recent Stock Market Volatility: What Are the Implications? (open access)

China's Recent Stock Market Volatility: What Are the Implications?

This report briefly discusses the consequences of rapid price increases from about mid-2014 to mid-2015 in China's two main stock markets, the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE).
Date: February 11, 2016
Creator: Morrison, Wayne M. & Nelson, Gabriel M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Military Maternity and Parental Leave Policies (open access)

Military Maternity and Parental Leave Policies

This report briefly discusses the U.S. Department of Defense's (DOD) new policies for maternity and parental leave as part of the department's "Force of the Future" initiative.
Date: February 3, 2016
Creator: Kamarck, Kristy N.
System: The UNT Digital Library