Monday, February 9, 2015
0211 - Unemployed young people very stressed
A new survey from Britain shows that a third of young, unemployed people regularly "fall apart" emotionally. They are so stressed or unhappy that they cannot control their emotions, so they have problems living a "normal" life. The survey is from a youth charity called the Prince's Trust. Its researchers asked questions to 2,200 people who did not have a job. Almost half of them said they often felt anxious about everyday situations, and that they tried not to meet new people. One in eight of those surveyed said they were too stressed to leave the house. The charity said: "Thousands of young people feel like prisoners in their own homes. Without the right support, these young people become socially isolated."
Many of these young people struggle with day-to-day life, which means they find it more and more difficult to find a job. Britain's Employment Minister Esther McVey said: "Our young people are some of the best and most talented in the world." She said it was important to try and match these people with the right jobs. Researcher David Fass added: "Young people are our future and it is important that we invest in them and provide them with the tools they need to reach their full potential." Jack, 25, explained how hard it was for him to be unemployed. He said: "I would wake up and wouldn't want to leave the house. I stopped speaking to my friends and I had absolutely no confidence speaking to people."
0210 - University students take 'impossible' exam
Final-year students at a university in England are
angry after they took an economics exam. Students from the University of
Sheffield have signed a petition to say the exam questions were
'impossible' to answer. Nearly all of the 100 students who took the exam
complained and signed the online petition. They want the university to
look into this. The students say the exam contained questions on topics
that were not in their course. They also say the questions included a
lot of difficult maths that they had not been taught. One student said a
lecturer told them they would only need 'simple' maths. They are now
worried that they will get low test scores, and that this will affect
what kind of degree they get.
The head of the economics department, professor Andy Dickerson, told the
BBC that the exam was fair. He said not all the questions needed maths.
He said the level of maths in the exams was the same as the level
taught to students on the course. Professor Dickerson also said all the
exam questions were on topics the students had studied. He said: "All
questions were based on topics taught in the course and for which
further reading was provided." He added that one question in the exam
used a term that students may not have seen before. He said this was no
problem because the question explained the meaning of the term. The
university said it would look carefully at the results.
0209 - Britain says yes to 3-parent babies
Lawmakers in the U.K. have voted to allow doctors to
create babies from the DNA of three different people. It will be the
first country in the world to do this. There was a vote in Britain's
parliament, where 382 lawmakers voted for allowing three-person babies
and 128 voted against the idea. The idea behind three-person babies is
to stop diseases being passed from a mother to her newborn baby. Doctors
say that as many as 150 babies a year could be born using the new
technique. The first baby to be born using the DNA from three people
could be as early as next year. The technique will help families with
mitochondrial diseases. These are incurable and affect about one in
6,500 children worldwide.
The technique is quite simple. It combines the DNA of the two parents
with the DNA of another woman. Doctors replace the unhealthy,
disease-carrying DNA in the mother's egg with healthy DNA from the
donor. The result is that the baby receives about 0.1 per cent of its
DNA from the donor woman. Lawmakers said the technique was "light at the
end of a dark tunnel" for many families. Britain's Prime Minister David
Cameron said: "We're not playing God here. We're just making sure that
two parents who want a healthy baby can have one." Critics say the
technique could be dangerous. They say it would open the door to the
genetic modification of children and "designer babies" in the future.
Sunday, February 1, 2015
0206 - Hospital chains toys to beds to stop thieves
Fourteen hospitals in Wales have started chaining
children's toys and other playthings to beds in an attempt to prevent
thieves from stealing them. The Royal Gwent Hospital is using bicycle
locks to keep its toys from being stolen. Dean Beddis, father of a
two-year-old who was a patient in the children's ward, said he was
appalled that anyone would steal toys from a hospital. He told
reporters: "These toys are there for kids who are seriously ill. They're
provided by the hospital and people are stealing them. I was shocked to
see that a children's toy had a bike lock on it." He added: "I was
talking to the nurses about how disgusting it was that they had to do
that because they were saying that people had been stealing them."
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A hospital spokesman said:
"Unfortunately we do get toys and games taken from our hospitals. It is
not a regular occurrence but we do encourage staff to secure and lock
away the more popular and more expensive items. Our hospitals have CCTV
coverage and security on site at all times." He added: "As with any
large buildings open to the public, we advise visitors and our own staff
to be vigilant with valuables." It is not only toys that are being
stolen. The television in the waiting room of the children's ward has
also gone missing. Mr Beddis said: "Stealing toys while the hospital
staff are looking after their children is a sad reflection on society. I
cannot believe this is happening in Britain."
0205 - 90-year-old starts elementary school
A 90-year-old Kenyan grandmother has become the world's
oldest elementary school student. Priscilla Sitienei, also known as
Gogo, is from a small village in Kenya. She is studying at the local
elementary school to learn to read and write. Ms Sitienei has spent most
of her life working as a midwife, helping to deliver babies. She wants
to be able to read and write so she can pass on her midwifery skills and
write down the special herbal remedies she uses when she delivers
babies. She also wants to be able to read the Bible. Sitienei said she
never had a chance to go to school when she was younger. She said she
knows she is old but hopes she will set an example to younger people.
She wants all the children in her village to study.
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When Ms Sitienei first tried to enroll
at the school, the head teacher David Kinyanjui did not think it was a
good idea. Now he is very happy that Gogo is at the school. Mr Kinyanjui
said Gogo is a "blessing and a motivator". He added: "I'm very proud of
her. She is loved by every pupil. They all want to learn and play with
her." He also said: "She is doing well considering her age. I can say I
have seen a big difference in this school since she came." Gogo had a
message for children everywhere, saying: "I want to say to the children
of the world, especially girls, that education will be your wealth." She
added: "With education, you can be whatever you want - a doctor, lawyer
or a pilot."
0204 - Man sues women's university
A man has filed a lawsuit against an all-women's
university in Japan after they rejected his application to join the
university because he is male. The unnamed man claims Fukuoka Women's
University is discriminating against him based on his gender. He also
claims the university's policy of admitting female-only students is
unconstitutional. The Japanese constitution states that all citizens
have an equal right to education. He wants the university to accept his
application to study and pay him 660,000 yen in damages for the anguish
caused by the rejection. It is the first time in Japan that someone is
suing a national or public women's university over its
constitutionality.
The man believes he has a good case. He
said the women's university was one of his only options to pursue a
career as a dietician. He said: "If my application is rejected, the path
to become a dietitian would be narrow as I will be forced to go to a
university [far away]." The man's lawyer said women-only universities
are anachronistic in today's world. He said: "In the past, women's
universities had the role of giving preferential treatment to women who
had fewer opportunities for education, but that role is no longer
necessary." A university official said: "We have a 91-year history of
promoting women's education. We are determined to continue to provide
education to prepare women for leadership roles."
0203 - Tech giants woo 15-year-old whizzkid
Tech giants Facebook and Google are in competition to
attract the talents of a 15-year-old app developer. Australian teenager
Ben Pasternak sparked the interest of the companies after he designed an
app for a game called Impossible Rush. The app has been downloaded more
than 500,000 times since its launch in October. The addictive game
managed to climb higher than Vine and Twitter on the App Store charts.
Pasternak has been invited by Facebook's internship department for a
tour of the company's headquarters in California. He is also being wooed
by Google, whose vice president has asked him to come to visit its
campus. Both companies hope Ben could be one of their future developers.
Mr Pasternak is one of 450
high-school-aged entrepreneurs accepted on a Google and MIT sponsored
event called Hack Generation Y. The high-schoolers have been invited
from ten countries across the world. They will collaborate on a 36-hour
project to create a sellable product. They will also listen to featured
speakers from the technology and hacking world. Michael Matias, the
organiser of the event, said: "Pasternak is a young entrepreneur and
clearly ambitious. He has shown the world that age is just a number." He
added that: "[Pasternak's] iPhone app was extremely impressive and if
we were to guess, we would never imagine it was run by a 15-year-old."
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