All posts tagged: population and demographics

Israeli military veterans, a backbone of protest movement, vow to keep demonstrating

Israeli military veterans, a backbone of protest movement, vow to keep demonstrating

Published by Sam Flores

Tel Aviv CNN  —  In a sea of Israeli flags, Yiftach Golov holds one that looks a little different. Among the hundreds of thousands of protesters who took to the streets for the 13th week in a row on Saturday, Golov hoists a brown flag that represents a group called “Brother and Sisters in Arms.” They are veterans – many, like Golov, from elite forces – who now feel they are fighting on a new battlefield: To save Israeli democracy. “We believe this is our responsibility to go once again called to the flag of the nation to stop this madness to defend Israel,” Golov said, as he weaved his way through the protesters on Tel Aviv’s Kaplan street, between the high-rises that house many of Israel’s high tech companies. During the second intifada, in the early 2000s, Golov served in a special forces reconnaissance unit. He was never before particularly political, focusing more on getting his PhD in biophysics from Tel Aviv University. But when the protest movement against the Israeli government’s judicial overhaul …

Marlene Schiappa: French minister under fire for appearing on front cover of Playboy magazine

Marlene Schiappa: French minister under fire for appearing on front cover of Playboy magazine

Published by Sam Flores

CNN  —  French government minister Marlene Schiappa has come under fire from members of her own party after appearing on the front cover of Playboy magazine. Schiappa, who has been a government minister since 2017, appeared on the cover of the magazine to accompany a 12-page interview she did on women’s and LGBT rights. Schiappa, who is the current Minister for the Social Economy and French Associations, was photographed for the cover wearing a white dress. Schiappa has been a long-time advocate for women’s rights and was appointed as the country’s first ever Gender Equality Minister in 2017. In this role, she successfully spearheaded a new sexual harassment law which allows for on the spot fines to be issued to men who catcall, harass or follow women on the street. Her appearance has drawn criticism from political colleagues including French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. Borne pulled up Schiappa over the cover, telling her it “wasn’t appropriate, especially during this period,” CNN affiliate BFMTV reported Saturday, citing a source close to the prime minister. France is …

Girls to design Africa’s first private space satellite

Girls to design Africa’s first private space satellite

Published by skeptic

Story highlights Africa will launch its first private satellite into space It’s been built by schoolgirls CNN  —  They may be teenagers, but 17-year-old Brittany Bull and 16-year-old Sesam Mngqengqiswa have grand ambitions – to launch Africa’s first private satellite into space in 2019. They are part of a team of high school girls from Cape Town, South Africa, who have designed and built payloads for a satellite that will orbit over the earth’s poles scanning Africa’s surface. Once in space, the satellite will collect information on agriculture, and food security within the continent. Using the data transmitted, “we can try to determine and predict the problems Africa will be facing in the future”, explains Bull, a student at Pelican Park High School. “Where our food is growing, where we can plant more trees and vegetation and also how we can monitor remote areas,” she says. “We have a lot of forest fires and floods but we don’t always get out there in time.” Information received twice a day will go towards disaster prevention. It’s …

Cell phones and screens are keeping your kid awake

Cell phones and screens are keeping your kid awake

Published by skeptic

Story highlights Devices in the bedroom are associated with children losing sleep time and quality, new research says Even children and teens who don’t stay up late online are losing sleep CNN  —  These days, teachers often face classrooms filled with yawning students who stayed up late snapping selfies or playing online games. For children and teens, using cell phones, tablets and computers at night is associated with losing sleep time and sleep quality, new research finds. Even children who don’t use their phones or the other technologies littering their bedrooms at night are losing shut-eye and becoming prone to daylight sleepiness, the analysis published today in JAMA Pediatrics finds. The analysis found “a consistent pattern of effect across a wide range of countries and settings,” said Dr. Ben Carter, lead author and a senior lecturer in biostatistics at King’s College London. Carter and his colleagues weeded through the medical literature to identify hundreds of applicable studies conducted between January 1, 2011, and June 15, 2015. They chose 20 research reports involving a total of …