Category

Society

Home » Society

6654 posts

Graffiti artwork of drowned Aylan highlights refugees’ plight

A huge graffiti image of toddler Aylan Kurdi, pictures of whose dead body stirred global sympathy for migrants fleeing war and poverty, confronts motorists, pedestrians and river traveler in Frankfurt. Thousands of weekday commuters using the Main river footpa... More »

For U.S. seniors, healthcare quality is all over the map

CHICAGO Seniors living in Manhattan spend an average of nearly 25 days a year at doctor visits or at a hospital. But in Lebanon, New Hampshire, contact with the healthcare system is far lower – just 10 days on average. New Yorkers probably are not that much si... More »

Invest and chill: Why millennials are such cool investors

NEW YORK Ian Wishingrad may only be 30 years old, but he already considers himself an investing veteran. So when the market began to swoon in early 2016, he kept his cool. It certainly helped that Wishingrad had someone to hold his hand. He works with a financ... More »

U.S. millennials in college defy money stereotypes: study

NEW YORK While millennials have a lot to learn about managing money, a new survey shows a rosy picture of college students who are working, paying their bills on time without their parents’ help, avoiding debt and hungry for more knowledge. The survey released... More »

Yemen war generates widespread suffering, but few refugees

Amid Yemen’s misery, two young women living in the war-damaged cities of Aden and Sanaa know they are among the relatively fortunate. They are not starving, their homes have not been destroyed and they have survived bombs and bullets unscathed. But both long t... More »

Twice lucky: Michigan family welcomes second leap year daughter

A southeast Michigan couple is twice lucky after the birth of their daughter on Feb. 29, the second time the mother has given birth to a baby girl on that day in a leap year. Chad and Melissa Croff, from Columbus Michigan, welcomed Evelyn Joy into the world at... More »

Factbox: Key Oscar winners at the 88th Academy Awards

LOS ANGELES The 88th Academy Awards, the highest honors in the movie industry, were handed out a ceremony in Hollywood on Sunday hosted by comedian Chris Rock. Following is a list of winners in key categories for the awards, also known as the Oscars. BEST PICT... More »

Chris Rock transforms Oscars into biting racial commentary

LOS ANGELES Comedian Chris Rock launched his return stint as Oscar host on Sunday by immediately and unabashedly confronting the racially charged elephant in the room – the furor over the all-white field of performers nominated for Hollywood’s highest honors. ... More »

Dognapping on the rise in petloving Brazil

SAO PAULO While Brazil’s economy is in the doghouse, one underground business is bucking the trend — dognapping. Bosco, a black and white Boston Terrier stolen in November from outside a grocery store in Sao Paulo’s posh Jardins neighborhood, became the poster... More »

Victims of 1993 World Trade Center attack remembered in New York

NEW YORK First responders and the families of victims of the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center gathered in New York on Friday to remember “the country’s first glimpse of terrorism,” a prelude to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that destroyed the Twin Towers. ... More »

Ousted Thai PM Thaksin’s influence shows signs of waning

BANGKOK Sitting in her busy Bangkok noodle shop, Bunruen Klinnak professes “love” for Thailand’s former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was toppled in a 2006 military coup and later fled abroad. But Klinnak, 55, also fears Thaksin’s return to politics c... More »

Brazil will make Olympics safe from Zika virus: WHO official

BRASILIA World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Margaret Chan said on Tuesday Brazil is doing a good job tackling the Zika virus and ensuring that the Olympic games it will host in August will be safe for athletes and visitors. Chan said Brazil’s gov... More »

Timeline: Zika’s origin and global spread

The following timeline charts the origin and spread of the Zika virus from its discovery nearly 70 years ago: 1947 – Scientists researching yellow fever in Uganda’s Zika Forest identify the virus in a rhesus monkey 1948 – Virus recovered from Aedes africanus m... More »

Factbox: Why the Zika virus is causing alarm

Global health officials are racing to better understand the Zika virus behind a major outbreak that began in Brazil last year and has since spread to many countries in the Americas. The following are some questions and answers about the virus and current outbr... More »

For same-sex couples, marriage can complicate taxes

NEW YORK Before the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage across the United States last June, couples in 13 states still had to perform a complicated dance of filing separate tax returns, even if they had been legally married in another state. This year wi... More »

EU refines UK offer, up to Cameron now to clinch deal

BRUSSELS British and EU negotiators agreed much of a reform package on Thursday to help keep Britain in the European Union, leaving Prime Minister David Cameron to settle tricky final issues, notably on migration, at a summit next week, diplomats said. After t... More »

Wild elephant rampage in West Bengal caught on video

A wild elephant went on a rampage in a village in West Bengal on Wednesday, damaging around 100 structures, villagers said. Video taken in the village of Ektiasal showed the beast wandering around and knocking over flimsy huts. The elephant strayed into the vi... More »

Doctors puzzle over severity of defects in some Brazilian babies

NEW YORK/BRASILIA Experts on microcephaly, the birth defect that has sparked alarm in the current Zika virus outbreak, say they are struck by the severity of a small number of cases they have reviewed from Brazil. Consultations among doctors in Brazil and the ... More »

France restricts blood transfusions over Zika virus

PARIS Travelers coming back from any outbreak zones of the Zika virus will need to wait at least 28 days before giving blood to avoid any risk of transmission, French Health Minister Marisol Touraine said on Sunday. Zika, which is rapidly spreading through the... More »

Australia to step up Zika testing as two new cases reported

PERTH – Australia will intensify testing for the Zika virus in Queensland state where Aedes mosquitoes are found, authorities said on Saturday, adding that two new cases among local residents were the result of travel to affected countries. Queensland’s govern... More »

Watch the birdie! Photo booth snaps mugshot of thief in the act

CHICAGO If you are going to rob a photo booth, a mask might be a good idea. A photo booth snapped several photos of a man who allegedly stole $75 out of the booth at the Funway Amusements arcade and bowling alley in Batavia, Illinois, a town west of Chicago. P... More »

The frequent-flyer U.S. Congress: lawmakers work less in DC

WASHINGTON Anyone seeking a table at Carmine’s Italian restaurant near Capitol Hill on a Tuesday or Wednesday needs to battle a mid-week crush of Congress members and their staff. But Mondays are far quieter — just like the floor of Congress. There are usually... More »

Odds are against dismissal of Cosby’s sex assault case: experts

NEW YORK – Bill Cosby’s lawyers may face difficulty in convincing a Pennsylvania judge this week to throw out sexual assault charges in light of what the disgraced comedian’s defense team characterizes as a decade-old non-prosecution deal, legal experts said. ... More »

Race for Zika vaccine gathers momentum as virus spreads

Companies and scientists are racing to create a Zika vaccine as concern grows over the mosquito-borne virus that has been linked to severe birth defects and is spreading quickly through the Americas. Zika is now present in 23 countries and territories in the A... More »

Why millennials want to quit their jobs

NEW YORK Twenty-eight year old Margaret Davis was making nice money as a writer in the legal department of a big pharmaceutical company in New York. She liked her coworkers and enjoyed the job on a day-to-day basis – except it was not going anywhere. The compa... More »

Travel industry faces growing concern over Zika virus

Airlines, hotels and cruise operators serving Latin America and the Caribbean are facing growing concern among travelers spooked by the mosquito-borne Zika virus. The outbreak of the virus, linked to brain damage in thousands of babies in Brazil, comes as a re... More »

Lizard lounging in New Jersey pupil’s salad is now class pet

NEW YORK A tiny green lizard found by a New Jersey kindergarten student in a bundle of chilled salad greens at home has wriggled its way into the hearts of an entire elementary school class, which has adopted it as a mascot. The three-inch (7.5-cm) critter wen... More »

Al Jazeera America to lay off 197 employees

Al Jazeera America, the cable television news outlet controlled by Qatar’s royal family, has issued a WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act) notice, stating that it will lay off 197 employees with the shut down of its operations in America. T... More »

French drug trial volunteer dies: hospital

RENNES, France A man left brain dead after a drug trial in northwest France died on Sunday, said the hospital where he was being treated. The Rennes hospital said in a statement that five other volunteers were in stable condition after they were admitted last ... More »

More than 100 people quarantined after Sierra Leone Ebola death

FREETOWN More than 100 people have been quarantined in Sierra Leone after coming in contact with a woman who died of Ebola last week, highlighting the potential for the disease to spread, just as the deadliest outbreak on record appeared to be over. The World ... More »

Ohio man who sent selfie to police arrested in Florida

An Ohio man wanted for drunk driving who sent police a more flattering photo of himself because he did not like his mug shot has been arrested in Florida, police said. “How’s this photo Donald Pugh?” asked the Escambia County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office on its ... More »

Ohio suspect hates mug shot, sends selfie to police

CLEVELAND An Ohio man wanted for drunk driving, unsatisfied with his police mug shot, sent them a photo he felt was more flattering. Donald “Chip” Pugh, 45, posted a photo of himself wearing sunglasses in a car after he saw the two mug shots the Lima, Ohio, po... More »

Aid convoys depart for besieged Syrian town, villages: Red Cross

BEIRUT Aid convoys headed for a besieged Syrian town where thousands are trapped and the United Nations says people are reported to have died of starvation. Trucks headed for Madaya, near the Lebanese border, and two villages in the northwest of the country on... More »

German minister warns against general suspicion toward refugees

BERLIN The fact that people of foreign descent were behind much of the violence in Cologne on New Year’s Eve should not be kept quiet but neither should it lead people to general suspicion toward all refugees and migrants, the German interior minister said on ... More »

Two Pakistanis, Syrian man injured in gang attacks in Cologne

BERLIN Two Pakistanis and a Syrian man were injured in attacks by gangs of people in Cologne, German police said late on Sunday, the city where the vast majority of dozens of New Year Eve assaults on women took place. Local newspaper Express reported that the ... More »

European values need not be threatened by migrant influx: pope

VATICAN CITY Pope Francis warned on Monday that the recent influx of migrants risked overwhelming European values and traditions, but said he was confident the continent could successfully integrate the newcomers. In an annual address to diplomats at the Vatic... More »

Puerto Rico government pays Christmas bonuses

Debt-ridden Puerto Rico started paying Christmas bonuses to public employees on Sunday and aims to complete the process within the next three days, the commonwealth government said. It had been unable to confirm for weeks if it could meet the Dec. 20 deadline ... More »

Black presence on U.S. boards shrinks, hedge funds cited by some

BOSTON African-Americans have become a shrinking presence in the boardrooms of the biggest U.S. companies in recent years, setting back a push by pension funds for greater diversity. African-Americans, who make up about 13 percent of the U.S. population, accou... More »

Facebook makes paid time off for baby leave a global benefit

(This story corrects paragraph 3 to add terms for some non-U.S. employees) SAN FRANCISCO Less than a week after Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said he would take two months of paternity leave, the social media company announced it is extending its pa... More »

Trump reframes claim that Muslims cheered 9/11

WASHINGTON Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Saturday reframed his claim that he saw Muslims in Jersey City, New Jersey, cheering the attacks on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001 by asserting the sentiment... More »

Ben Carson meets Syrian refugees, opposes them coming to U.S.

WASHINGTON Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson, who last week compared Syrian refugees to “rabid dogs,” met with refugees in Jordan on Saturday and urged the U.S. government to do more to help but did not endorse bringing them to the United States. Ca... More »

Guinea’s last Ebola case, a baby girl, leaves hospital

DAKAR A one-month-old baby girl who was Guinea’s last reported Ebola case left hospital on Saturday, delighting medical staff and putting the country on course to be declared free of the deadly virus. Guinea will become officially Ebola-free after 42 days if n... More »

Hookah and e-cigarettes popular with high schoolers

(Reuters Health) – Almost 10 percent of 11th and 12th graders are using e-cigarettes, and other alternative tobacco products are increasingly popular, according to a new study. Young people often use multiple tobacco products at once, the researchers found. “F... More »

Preschoolers in daycare need more outdoor time

(Reuters Health) – Many preschoolers in daycare may need more outdoor time to help increase their odds of getting enough physical activity, a small U.S. study suggests. Pediatricians recommend that young children get at least an hour a day of physical activity... More »

Brazil judge denies release of BTG Pactual CEO Esteves

BRASILIA A Brazilian judge on Thursday denied a request for the release of Grupo BTG Pactual SA (BBTG11.SA) top executive, Andre Esteves, who was arrested a day earlier for allegedly obstructing a massive corruption probe at state-run oil company Petrobras. Su... More »

Tales of crime and struggle in Nairobi’s bustling slums

NAIROBI “I have lost a lot of people I knew to crime,” says George Kiru, nursing a drink at 2 in the morning in a bar on the edge of Nairobi’s Korogocho slum. Music blares as he lists childhood friends who joined gangs, many of them now dead or in jail. “Perso... More »

Soldiers patrol streets of Brussels after overnight arrests

BRUSSELS Soldiers patrolled the streets of Brussels on the third day of a security lockdown on Monday and the tenth day of a manhunt for the suspected mastermind of the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris. Belgian national Salah Abdeslam has not been found despite 19 rai... More »

French police extend questioning of suspect after attacks

PARIS Investigators on Sunday extended into a fifth day the detention of a man arrested on Wednesday outside the building where the suspected ringleader of the Paris attacks died, the prosecutor’s office said. Jawad Bendaoud told a French television station he... More »

Procter & Gamble: Time for a split – Barron’s

NEW YORK Executives of consumer-products giant Procter & Gamble Co (PG.N), the maker of Tide detergent and other household goods, should consider breaking up the company to improve its beleaguered performance, Barron’s financial newspaper said. The “radical ac... More »

Baltimore police riot response had major shortcomings: review

BALTIMORE Baltimore’s police response to rioting in April showed major shortcomings, including a lack of planning, murky orders and flimsy protective gear, according to an independent review released on Monday. The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) think ... More »

Euro slips after Paris attacks as yen and Swiss franc sought

LONDON The euro hit a 6 1/2-month low against the yen and was pinned down near 7-month troughs against the dollar on Monday after the deadly attacks in Paris led to a bout of global risk aversion and kept investors cautious on the common currency. The Swiss fr... More »

Guns, God and grievances – Belgium’s Islamist ‘airbase’

BRUSSELS “A breeding ground for violence” the mayor of Molenbeek called her borough on Sunday, speaking of unemployment and overcrowding among Arab immigrant families, of youthful despair finding refuge in radical Islam. But as the Brussels district on the wro... More »

Sent back from Europe, some Afghans prepare to try again

KABUL Last year, Hamid Rostami, a 28-year-old from Wardak in western Afghanistan, was expelled from Denmark after years trying to stay in Europe. Jobless and cut off from his family, he now sits in wintry Kabul wondering how to go back. Jobless and unwilling t... More »

Paris attacks seen causing short-term global markets drop

SYDNEY/TOKYO/PARIS/NEW YORK Stocks in major markets are set for a short-term sell-off on Monday after suspected Islamist militants launched coordinated attacks across Paris that killed more than 130 people, but few strategists expect a prolonged economic impac... More »

Artist Jamal Joseph gets prize for his own third act

CHICAGO The sound of gunshots in Harlem in 1997 was nothing new to Jamal Joseph, who was then a 44-year-old filmmaker living in the New York City neighborhood. “You’d hear gunshots every night,” he recalled. “The crack epidemic was raging- the neighborhood was... More »

Pope says Church should shun obsession with power, money

FLORENCE, Italy Pope Francis called on Tuesday for a Catholic Church that is not cosseted, self-centered and obsessed with power and money, as he faces new challenges to his financial reforms at the Vatican. The Argentine pope, who made his comments during a d... More »

Merkel backs her interior minister after refugee row

BERLINGerman Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere retains the confidence of Chancellor Angela Merkel, a government spokesman said on Monday, after a spat within her cabinet over whether to limit the asylum rights of refugees from Syria. The government was forc... More »

Irish women tweet details of their periods to PM in abortion row

DUBLINIrish women are tweeting details of their periods to Prime Minister Enda Kenny to help publicise a campaign to repeal restrictive abortion laws. Abortion is a divisive issue in Ireland where, after large street protests from both sides of the debate, a c... More »

First bodies delivered to Russia after Egypt plane crash

ST PETERSBURG The first bodies from a plane crash in Egypt in which all 224 passengers, most of them Russians, died over the weekend arrived in St Petersburg early on Monday morning aboard a Russian government plane. The crashed Airbus A321 plane, operated by ... More »

Google sued by express delivery driver seeking wages

SAN FRANCISCO A driver for Google’s same day delivery service filed a proposed class action lawsuit against the company on Friday, alleging it improperly classified her as an independent contractor and owes expenses. The case, filed in a Massachusetts state co... More »