Penny Hill Press

Benin is a stable constitutional parliamentary democracy (republic). On March 20, voters elected Patrice Talon to a five-year term in a multiparty election, replacing former president Thomas Boni Yayi, who served two consecutive five-year terms. In April 2015 authorities held legislative elections in which former president Yayi's supporting coalition, Cowry Force for an Emerging Benin, won 33 of 83 seats in the National Assembly, and the coalition allied with four independent candidates held 37 seats (a decrease from 41 in the prior legislature). International observers viewed both the March presidential and 2015 legislative elections as generally free, fair, and transparent. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective control over the security forces. The major human rights problems included police use of excessive force, harsh prison conditions, and vigilante violence. Other human rights problems included: arbitrary arrest and detention; prolonged pretrial detention; abuse of women and children, including sexual harassment, child sexual exploitation, early and forced marriage, and infanticide; trafficking in persons; discrimination against persons with disabilities; violence and discrimination against women and girls, including female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C); and child labor.

"Everything Zika" is a collection of 14 Congressional Reports which includes the following CRS reports, InFocus Reports and Insight Reports from Dec. 2015 to August 17, 2016: 1. U. S. Global Health Assistance: FY2014-FY2016 Appropriations2. Zika Virus: CRS Experts3. Mosquitoes, Zika Virus, and Transmission Ecology4. Dominican Republic5. Pesticide Use and Water Quality: Are the Laws Complementary orin Conflict?6. Zika Response Funding: Request and Congressional Action7. Panama: Political and Economic Situation and U. S. Relations8. Zika Virus in Latin America and the Caribbean: U. S. Policy Considerations9. Supplemental Appropriations for Zika Response: The FY2016Conference Agreement in Brief10. Mosquito Control in the United States11. Zika Poses New Challenges for Blood Centers12. Stafford Act Assistance for Public Health Incidents.13. The Zika Outbreak Is Declared a Public Health Emergency in Puerto Rico.14. Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes: A Vector Control Technologyfor Reducing Zika Virus Transmission.

The most significant human rights problems included slow and opaque investigations into alleged security force human rights abuses, delays in prosecuting cases involving human rights abuses, and violence against journalists. Other human rights problems included physical abuse of prisoners in detention centers and prisons, poor prison and detention center conditions, arbitrary arrest and detention, lack of judicial independence, lax prosecutorial environment with poor transparency, corruption, infringement of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) rights, gender-based violence, and societal obstacles to the full economic and political participation of women. The government took steps to investigate officials who committed abuses, but investigations into police, security force, and detention center abuses lacked transparency, and frequently encountered long delays and procedural obstacles.

This monthly report contains descriptions of research performed by the U. S. Congress' Congressional Research Services (CRS) during the past month. Descriptions are arranged alphabetically by broad topics ranging from "Abortion" to "Zimbabwe." Following each description is the order number.

Recent improvised explosive device (IED) and active shooter incidents reveal that some traditional practices of first responders need to be realigned and enhanced-with an emphasis on early hemorrhage control and a more integrated response by first responders (i.e., emergency medical services EMS], fire, law enforcement, and rescue personnel)-to improve survivability of victims and the safety of first responders caring for them. At the request of first responders and first receivers (e.g., medical technicians, nurses, and physicians) who have encountered mass casualties from IEDs and/or active shooter incidents, this document was developed to provide guidance on how to better approach these incidents. Responders should also consider the combination of both IEDs and active shooter incidents in an organized, complex attack (such as the Mumbai attacks in 2008) that requires both treatment and extraction of the injured from a still-hostile environment. The conditions during such tactical assaults in a civilian setting speak to the need for first responders and first receivers to adopt evidence-based hemorrhage control, risk evaluation, and casualty management measures in a potentially dangerous environment. As a result of these developments, the Department of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Justice, Department of Transportation, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the National Security Staff, has developed recommendations for individuals who provide emergent and immediate medical management of casualties resulting from IEDs and/or active shooter incidents. Based on best practices and lessons learned, this document focuses on the medical response to IEDs and/or active shooter incidents with recommendations for hemorrhage control, protective equipment (which includes ballistic vests, helmets, and eyewear), and response and incident management.

The Civil War was and still is a controversial period in our nation's history. Reasons for the war and policies of the opposing governments continue to stir interest and debate among scholars even today, 135 years after the issue was "resolved". During the war, newspapers carried headlines of atrocities, especially in the Union, after the exchange of prisoners halted and misery multiplied in Confederate prisons not equipped to handle increasing populations. Emotions and tempers flared, then, resulted in retribution on both sides.