Understanding poverty

Why the war on poverty in the US isn't over, in 4 charts [Click here to view this message in your web-browser](. Edition: US 20 July 2018 [The Conversation]( Academic rigor, journalistic flair Editor's note The White House Council of Economic Advisers recently announced the U.S. war on poverty is largely over. But, while poverty among seniors has declined, the rates of child and adult poverty haven’t changed much over the last 40 years. Case Western’s Robert Fischer takes us through [the latest data to provide the bigger picture on American poverty](. In recent decades, most Central American migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. have been from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, where rampant violence has forced residents to flee. [Scholar José Miguel Cruz predicts]( that as a bloody political crisis escalates in neighboring Nicaragua, many more citizens of that once-safe nation will join other Central Americans in their long trek northward to seek refuge over U.S. border. And finally, Americans planted a flag on the moon 49 years ago today. So does that make it U.S. territory? A space lawyer explains the implications of flag planting, the treaties outlining lunar law and [what it all means]( for entrepreneurs hoping to mine the moon and asteroids for private gain. Aviva Rutkin Big Data + Applied Mathematics Editor Top stories About 12.7 percent of Americans lived below the poverty line in 2016. StanislauV/shutterstock.com [Why the war on poverty in the US isn't over, in 4 charts]( Robert L. Fischer, Case Western Reserve University A White House Council concluded that the war on poverty is "largely over." But, while poverty among seniors has declined, poverty among adults and children as changed little over the last 40 years. Militias guard a barricade after police and pro-government militias stormed a rebel-held neighborhood in Masaya, Nicaragua, on July 17, 2018. AP Photo/Cristibal Venegas [Bloody uprising in Nicaragua could trigger the next Central American refugee crisis]( Jose Miguel Cruz, Florida International University Nicaragua has exploded in violence since mass protests began against President Daniel Ortega in April, with hundreds dead and thousands wounded. Amid such chaos, criminal violence is likely to follow. Edwin E. ‘Buzz’ Aldrin Jr. poses for a photograph beside the U.S. flag deployed on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission on July 20, 1969. Neil A. Armstrong/NASA/AP Photo [Who owns the moon? A space lawyer answers]( Frans von der Dunk, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Forty-nine years ago, on July 20, 1969, American astronauts planted a US flag on the moon. A space lawyer explains the implications, who owns the moon, and what it means for lunar mining. Environment + Energy - [How virtual worlds can recreate the geographic history of life]( Robert K. Colwell, University of Connecticut; Thiago F. 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Amin, University of Dayton Cameroon is facing daunting challenges and the president and his team must mobilise the country to find solutions. - [What peace will mean for Eritrea -- Africa's 'North Korea']( Martin Plaut, School of Advanced Study The Eritrean ports of Massawa and Assab will hum with life once more as trade flows through them. - [Curious Kids: how do the clouds stay up in the sky?]( Jim McQuaid, University of Leeds Even a small cloud can weigh as much as four tonnes – but gravity, chemistry and temperature keep them floating in the sky. Today’s quote [Through our simulations, we followed and mapped the entire ‘lifetime trajectory’ of each virtual species, from cradle to grave, in space and in time.]( [How virtual worlds can recreate the geographic history of life]( Robert K. Colwell University of Connecticut [Robert K. Colwell] Thiago F. Rangel Universidade Federal de Goias [Thiago F. 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