“Only 38 percent of
children below the age of 5 have a birth certificate,” says a report on
sub-Saharan Africa by UNICEF. Yet, in some areas of that part of the world,
“birth registration is essential for children to access health care and
education, as well as for orphans to inherit from their parents,” stated Elke
Wisch, the UNICEF deputy regional director for eastern and southern Africa.
Italy
According to one survey,
the most common fear of Italian adolescents is cyberbullying. Among 12- to
17-year-olds, 72 percent say they dread it. They make up a higher
percentage than those who fear drugs (55 percent), being molested by an
adult (44 percent), or contracting a sexually transmitted disease
(24 percent).
Japan
As reported in The
Japan Times, young Japanese adults increasingly pass up promotions in the
workplace. Forty percent deplore the lack of ethics and the prevalence of
dishonest practices. Many employees feel unable to discuss opinions or talk
freely with superiors. Whereas older generations stuck with their employers,
60 percent of young employees now simply hold on to their job while
waiting for something better to turn up.
Brazil
From 1980 to 2010,
nearly 800,000 people were killed by firearms in Brazil. Over 450,000 victims
were between 15 and 29 years of age. A study of more recent crimes shows that
killings are often the result of domestic quarrels, conflicts with neighbors,
jealousy, or arguments between drivers.
In one study almost one third of pedestrians were found
to be distracted as they crossed busy streets—by listening to music, talking on
the phone, and so on. The most dangerous distraction was texting. Texters took
18 percent longer to cross than the undistracted and were 3.9 times more
likely either to disobey the light, cross at an inappropriate location, or
cross without looking both ways.
Nigeria
Women taken from Nigeria to Europe by human traffickers
are made to take ritual oaths of secrecy at juju witchcraft shrines. To
dominate the women and ensure their obedience as sex slaves, traffickers
exploit deep-seated fear of punishment from the spirit world.
Spain
Between 5 and
10 percent of the long-term unemployed remove university degrees and
professional experience from their résumés because these make job applicants
seem overqualified.
World
Smoke produced by rudimentary fire stoves is considered
to be a major cause of death in developing countries, where four million people
per year die from smoke-related respiratory illnesses. Researchers say that the
noxious chemicals released by wood or coal-burning stoves are as lethal as the
poisons found in cigarette smoke
EUROPEAN
observers have long admired colorful painted lady butterflies (Vanessa
cardui) and have wondered what happened to them at the end of each summer.
Do they simply perish with the onset of cold weather? Fresh research reveals an
extraordinary story. The butterflies make an annual journey between northern
Europe and Africa.
Researchers combined
results from sophisticated radar with thousands of sightings reported by
volunteers across Europe. The results revealed that as the summer ends,
millions of painted lady butterflies migrate south, mostly flying at an
altitude of more than 1,600 feet (500 m)—therefore hardly ever seen
by humans. The butterflies wait for favorable winds, which they ride at an
average speed of 28 miles per hour (45 km/h) on the long trip to
Africa. Their annual migration is up to 9,300 miles (15,000 km) long,
beginning from as far north as the fringes of the Arctic and terminating as far
south as tropical West Africa. The trip is almost double that of the North
American monarch butterfly. It takes six successive generations of painted
ladies to complete the round-trip.
Professor Jane Hill of
the University of York, in England, explains: “The Painted Lady just keeps
going, breeding and moving.” Annually, those steps take the whole population
from northern Europe to Africa and back again.
“This tiny creature weighing
less than a gram [0.04 oz] with a brain the size of a pin head and no
opportunity to learn from older, experienced individuals, undertakes an epic
intercontinental migration,” states Richard Fox, surveys manager at Butterfly
Conservation. This insect was “once thought to be blindly led, at the mercy of
the wind, into an evolutionary dead end in the lethal British winter,” Fox
adds. Yet this study “has shown Painted Ladies to be sophisticated travelers.”
