Donald Trump’s campaign rhetoric is heavily focused on improving America’s ability to compete. He promises a better deal for American workers in trade agreements, and a more restrictive border policy in part to prevent competition from immigrants for low-wage jobs. These positions are well-known, but another area of interest for ... Read More »
Charter schools suspend students at a much higher rate than non-charter schools, some of which have suspension rates north of 70 percent. But a disproportionate amount of those suspensions fall on black students, who are four times more likely to be suspended than white students, and students with disabilities, who ... Read More »
Switzerland´s housing cycle appears to be peaking. Switzerland’s economic growth is weak, and the government is trying to cool the overheated property market – with success: Owner-occupied apartment prices were up by only 1.63% (2.98% inflation-adjusted) in 2015, far from the average growth of 5.4% from 2009 to 2012, according ... Read More »
Despite dire predictions from the Federal Aviation Administration that the nation’s air traffic is at peril from unmanned aerial vehicles, a new study claims that the chances of a drone damaging a passenger plane are fairly slim. “Contrary to sensational media headlines, the skies are crowded not by drones, but ... Read More »
He’s 54 years old, just over six feet tall and weighs 175 pounds. His blood pressure is low, cholesterol level enviable and resting heart rate well below average. Did we forget to mention that this man also has a (very, very important) full-time job? The White House just released a ... Read More »
A not-so-surprising new study finds that people don’t like rats. But what may be truly surprising is that rats — more than crime or other signs of urban decay — may make people depressed. Rats eat discarded food. Kirsty Wigglesworth / PA Wire via AP People living in Baltimore’s low-income ... Read More »
The former top lawyer for Turing Pharmaceuticals says he and other executives warned Martin Shkreli against the drastic price hike that triggered a national backlash against the company and its 32-year-old CEO. Turing’s former general counsel will tell Senate lawmakers that the fiftyfold price increase on Daraprim, a drug used ... Read More »
Which operation has the United Nations bungled most badly? The ponderous response to the Ebola epidemic — or the ongoing deployment of 4,500 troops in Haiti? Or was it the dispatch of peacekeepers to the Central African Republic who have ended up accused of raping and abusing the people they’re ... Read More »
German doctors are puzzled by the first outbreak of Lassa fever outside Africa. They say three people have been infected after having contact with an American who died of Lassa fever there last month. “This is now the first documented outbreak of Lassa fever virus outside of Africa,” the Robert ... Read More »
Note to self: Remember that Post-its turn 35 this month. Since it first hit office supply closets across America in the early Eighties, the ubiquitous sticky square has been a life saver for our notes, reminders, and everything in between. Who can forget the iconic “Sex and the City” breakup ... Read More »
A blue diamond ring that child star-turned-diplomat Shirley Temple wore for decades is going up for auction. Sotheby’s says the 9.54 carat ring is among the more than 300 lots in the “Magnificent Jewels” auction scheduled for April 19 in New York. It has a pre-sale estimate of between $25 ... Read More »
Labour peer Joan Bakewell says she is “deeply sorry” for causing “distress” by suggesting the rise of eating disorders among teenagers was a sign of “narcissism” in society. She told The Sunday Times “no one has anorexia in societies where there is not enough food”, and it was a sign ... Read More »
