The first study to rank countries around the world according to their peacefulness and the drivers that
create and sustain their peace was launched today. The Global Peace Index studied 121 countries from Algeria to Zimbabwe and its publication comes one week before the leaders of the world’s richest countries gather for the G8 summit in Germany to discuss issues of global concern. Read more>
Archive for May, 2007
Norway tops first ever peace index
May 31, 2007Irish eagle chick is first in century
May 30, 2007Two Golden eagle chicks were hatched in a remote area of the Glenveagh National Park in County Donegal for the first time since 1910. Read more>
Design for the world’s poor
May 30, 2007The Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum is honoring inventors dedicated to “the other 90 percent,” particularly the billions of people living on less than $2 a day. For example, one of the simplest and yet most elegant designs tackles a job that millions of women and girls spend many hours doing each year — fetching water. Balancing heavy jerry cans on the head may lead to elegant posture, but it is backbreaking work and sometimes causes crippling injuries. The Q-Drum, a circular jerry can, holds 20 gallons, and it rolls smoothly enough for a child to tow it on a rope. Read more>
Jordan names first woman to head court
May 30, 2007A woman has been appointed as court chief for the first time in Jordan to lead a team of judges, in a move which she termed a step forward for Arab women. Read more>
Brazil government to subsidize contraception
May 30, 2007The world’s largest Roman Catholic country is helping to make birth-control pills more affordable, subsidizing a program that will allow people to buy a year’s supply for $2.40. Weeks after Pope Benedict XVI used a five-day visit to Brazil to denounce government- backed contraception efforts, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced a program to give masses of poor people access to birth-control pills that other citizens take for granted. Read more>
Mexico City abortion law goes into effect
May 30, 2007Women’s groups have praised city officials for moving quickly to put the law into effect after its April 24 approval by the Mexico City legislature. Abortion remains illegal in the rest of Mexico. This capital city, along with Puerto Rico, Cuba and Guyana, are the only places in Latin America where abortion is legal. Read more>
U.S. stops breeding chimps for research
May 25, 2007The U.S. National Institutes of Health, which supports a variety of biomedical studies using animals, will stop breeding government-owned chimpanzees for research — a step animal rights advocates lauded on Thursday. Read more>
Immigration bill provisions gain wide support in poll
May 25, 2007Taking a pragmatic view on a divisive issue, a large majority of Americans want to change the immigration laws to allow illegal immigrants to gain legal status. Read more>
More U.S. households forbid smoking
May 25, 2007Smoking is forbidden in nearly three out of four U.S. households, a dramatic increase from the 43 percent of homes that prohibited smoking a decade ago, the federal government reported Thursday. Read more>
Having gay friends spurs tolerance
May 24, 2007People with gay friends or family members are far more likely to accept their sexual orientation than those who don’t, according to a U.S. survey released on Wednesday by the Pew Research Center. Read more>
