Holiday homicides point to disturbing trend – National & International News – MON 27Dec2021

Holiday homicides part of overall rise in domestic violence. Why freak storms may be good news for California. Myanmar: 2 children’s aid workers missing after Christmas Eve massacre.

NATIONAL NEWS

Holiday homicides point to disturbing trend

Christmas is a time of joyful togetherness for many, but the last two years have taken a toll on domestic bliss. Research shows rates of domestic violence are up 8% overall across the country. And in some places, the news is even worse. In Philadelphia, the domestic homicide rate has doubled in the past year. In Ohio, it’s up 62%. Indiana saw a 181% rise in domestic homicides between July 2020 and July 2021.

While the statistics are staggering, it’s difficult to quantify the human toll. But a spate of homicides between partners and family members over the holiday weekend goes some way towards illustrating it. In California, a 21-year-old man tortured his 24-year-old girlfriend to death. Elsewhere in the state, a disturbed young man fatally shot his grandmother and his father’s girlfriend as the family were opening presents on Christmas Eve. In Texas, a 45-year-old man fatally struck his 42-year-old wife in the head before turning a gun on himself, orphaning their five children, aged 7 to 16. A 32-year-old woman in Missouri stabbed her boyfriend, 34, to death with a sword in a drug-fueled frenzy.

The other pandemic

These are just a few stories that have made headlines recently. Other less sensational stories will no doubt have passed unnoticed by the media.

The causes of each of these intimate tragedies will come to light through investigations. But the overall picture is alarming. While it’s always true that holiday gatherings can cause old buried tensions to bubble up, the pandemic has brought other aggravating factors into play. New financial stressors are increasing conflicts. Opioid abuse is at an all time high. COVID isolation, work-from-home and increased childcare demands are keeping more people in the home, and often at the mercy of abusers.

If you or someone you know is suffering domestic abuse, call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or visit https://www.thehotline.org/ .

Why freak storms may be good news for California

California and other western states have been hit with blizzards and torrential rain this weekend. The storms brought white-out conditions, flooding, road closures, power outages and high winds. It’s also compounded the travel chaos caused by hundreds of flight cancelations. But there is at least one silver lining.

California has been plagued by persistent droughts for over a decade, and it’s only gotten worse in the last few years. The dry weather has driven heatwaves and exacerbated wildfires. It’s also led to numerous disputes over distribution and rationing of water. One of the big contributors to the dry conditions is the low snowpack in California’s mountains. Now, the heavy snows have increased the snowpack in the Sierra Nevadas to between 114% and 136% of normal. Snowmelt from the Sierras contributes about 30% of the state’s water supply in a normal year.

This isn’t an end to California’s water troubles, but it might provide at least a brief and partial reprieve.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Myanmar: Christmas Eve massacre leaves 30+ dead, two Save the Children workers missing

Last week, a campaign of mass killings in rural villages in Myanmar came to light. The UN is investigating those possible war crimes which took place over the summer. Now a new massacre has earned international condemnation for the country’s brutal military junta, known as the Tatmadaw.

Since February this year when the military overthrew the country’s democratically-elected government, an initially peaceful protest movement has morphed into an armed resistance in some parts of the country. In Kayah state, the military has been fighting the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) in recent weeks. The Karen are an ethnic minority which has long experience fighting the military.

On Christmas Eve, the Tatmadaw attacked a convoy of vehicles carrying civilians fleeing the combat zone. The soldiers arrested several people and killed at least 30 before setting their vehicles set alight. The victims’ bodies were left to burn with the wreckage. The international charity Save the Children reports that two of their in-country aid workers were apparently with the convoy and are now missing. It’s not clear whether they were arrested or if they are among the dead. It will take some time to identify the bodies, if such an investigation is even possible under the circumstances.

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