What is the worst way to die? There are a lot of potential answers to that question: getting eaten alive by a shark, say, or being burned at the stake. But now a group of researchers have a theory that, if true, would take the cake: That the helpless residents of Pompeii and Herculaneum died when their blood boiled and their skulls exploded during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
How old is too old to go trick-or-treating? As Halloween approaches, Chesapeake, Virginia says the answer to that question is anyone over the age of 12.
The world is failing to tackle a mental health crisis that has resulted in a “monumental loss of human capabilities and avoidable suffering,” according to a new report. The review, by a team of 28 global experts, was published in the Lancet medical journal yesterday, and estimates the cost of the crisis will hit $16 trillion by 2030.
Americans will head to the polls next mont to decide the makeup of the entire US House of Representatives and 35 seats in the Senate. If past voting patterns are anything to go by, only four in 10 voters will make their voices heard in the Nov. 6 midterm elections.
Every year, according to the World Health Organization, an estimated 15 million babies are born too early. This number is rising, a worrying trend given that preterm birth complications are the leading cause of death among children under five.
The results of the first round of Brazil’s presidential election are in—and while far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro fell short of the necessary majority with 48% of the vote, he’d heading into the second round on Oct. 28 with a strong advantage. On Sunday’s Last Week Tonight, John Oliver explained why the world should be worried about the prospect of a Bolsonaro presidency.
This has been a bad month for press freedom around the world.
In the wake of the #MeToo movement, it’s become clear that non-disclosure agreements are a powerful silencing tool. The binding legal contracts allowed abusers like Harvey Weinstein, Roger Ailes, and Bill O’Reilly to prevent their victims from coming forward.
This has been a bad year for French drivers. Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris, announced a ban on diesel cars registered between 2001 and 2005, which represents about 6.4 million vehicles in France, as well as traffic restrictions to combat pollution. And the government of president Emmanuel Macron passed a controversial law reducing the speed limit on undivided rural roads from 90 kilometers per hour to 80 kph (about 50 miles per hour).
It was a like a scene out of Prison Break. Rédoine Faïd, a French gangster who had been serving a 25-year sentence, escaped from the Réau prison in northern France in a hijacked helicopter. Now, after three months on the run, French police say they have finally caught him.
Kyrie Irving doesn’t believe the Earth is flat…anymore.
Charles Aznavour, often described as “France’s Frank Sinatra,” famously said, “If I stop singing, I will die.” He kept that promise: The 94-year-old died on Oct. 1 after returning home from a world tour, forced by his doctors to cancel several planned appearances after a fall in his home left him with broken bones. AFP reports that the singer passed away peacefully in his home in southern France.
British kids desperately need more sleep.
Peace on the Korean peninsula is a lofty goal. Now, the parties at the negotiating table will have the help of two heavyweights: a pair of white North Korean Pungsan dogs that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has sent South Korean president Moon Jae-in.
The United Nations General Assembly, a yearly gathering of the UN’s 193 Member States in New York City to discuss international issues, can often feel rehearsed and stilted. But, once in a while, it has the power to surprise us. US president Donald Trump learned this lesson when the representatives of UN nations laughed at him during his opening statement. And yesterday (Sept. 29), Karin Kneissl, Austria’s minister for Europe, integration and foreign affairs surprised the crowd by addressing the general assembly in Arabic.
On the eve of the UK conservative party’s annual conference, a security breach in the event’s official app revealed the personal data of high-profile attendees, including politicians, activists, and journalists.
What would an optimal 24-hour day look like for children? According to the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Children and Youth, for kids between the ages of eight and 11, it should include at least 60 minutes of physical activity, two hours or less of recreational screen time, and nine to 11 hours of sleep. Yet, in a new study, only one in 20 US children met all three of these recommendations.
The cold open of Saturday Night Live’s 44th season premiered yesterday (Sept. 29) and waded right into current events with a sketch about this week’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearings of US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
“The worst thing you can do with words is to surrender to them,” George Orwell memorably wrote in Politics and the English Language. The Senate Judiciary Committee would do well to heed that lesson heading into today’s hearings on the sexual assault allegations against Brett Kavanaugh.
Federal officials are investigating whether Yale University illegally discriminates against Asian-American applicants in its admissions process, according to The Wall Street Journal (paywall).
Faced with two bad choices, people often go for the lesser of two evils. But Brazil’s voters are so unhappy with their options in this year’s presidential election that they may opt out entirely.
If you want to understand the future of the European Union, look no further than former French prime minister Manuel Valls. After a long political career in France, the center-left politician wants to become the next mayor of Barcelona. In Spain.
France has tried several controversial tactics to stop the rise of Islamism in the country, thus far with little success. Now, a former French government official has a novel suggestion: To prevent young people from becoming radicalized, start teaching Arabic in public schools.
In 2015, the Canadian province of Ontario decided to take a bold approach to sexual education—one that went way beyond the birds and the bees. The new curriculum didn’t shy away from sensitive topics like consent and sexuality. Kids as young as eight learned about same-sex families and the concept of gender identity. Twelve-year-old kids talked about how anal sex could lead to contracting a sexually transmitted infection, while 14-year-olds learned about sexting.
