Nigeria

Women taken from Nigeria to Europe by human traffickers are made to take ritual oaths of secrecy at juju witchcraft shrines. To dominate the women and ensure their obedience as sex slaves, traffickers exploit deep-seated fear of punishment from the spirit world.

United States

A number of schools and universities are replacing textbooks with electronic tablets that are loaded with the necessary reading material, software, apps, and other media. Whether this is more cost-effective, however, has been questioned.

Bolivia

In late 2012, Bolivia conducted a national census. So that the census would be accurate, Bolivians were required to remain at home on the day in question. Additionally, private traffic was forbidden, borders were closed, and alcohol consumption was banned.

United States

In one study almost one third of pedestrians were found to be distracted as they crossed busy streets—by listening to music, talking on the phone, and so on. The most dangerous distraction was texting. Texters took 18 percent longer to cross than the undistracted and were 3.9 times more likely either to disobey the light, cross at an inappropriate location, or cross without looking both ways.

How Much Does Facebook Retain?

An Austrian law student wanted to know how much data about him had been stored by the world’s largest social network during his three-year membership, so he requested a copy. Facebook sent him a CD containing 1,222 pages of data. As reported by the German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel, the student said: “Everything had been stored—every message, every chat, including sensitive information about friends.” Included was information that he was sure he had deleted!

A study of the world’s religions revealed that people who profess “no religious affiliation,” although not necessarily atheists, now number 1.1 billion. They were third in number after Christianity with 2.2 billion and Islam with 1.6 billion. Hinduism was fourth, with about 1 billion.

World

Despite huge investments in clean-energy technologies, such as wind and solar power, “the average unit of energy produced today is basically as dirty as it was 20 years ago,” says Maria van der Hoeven, executive director of the International Energy Agency.

“Nearly half of cancers diagnosed in the [United Kingdom] each year—over 130,000 in total—are caused by avoidable life choices including smoking, drinking and eating the wrong things.”—BBC NEWS, BRITAIN.

Multitaskers Perform Poorly
Technology often obliges employees to work on two or more complex tasks simultaneously and answer queries immediately. Yet, “workers who are doing multiple things at one time are doing them poorly,” says Clifford Nass, director of the Communication Between Humans and Interactive Media Laboratory, at Stanford University, U.S.A. Reportedly, multitaskers are often stressed, are more easily distracted by irrelevant stimuli, do not think deeply and, as a result, miss important details. Nass suggests: “When you start to do something, do it and nothing else for 20 minutes. This trains you to focus, to think deeply.”

“Over the last 20 years, about 800,000 Russians have committed suicide.”—ROSSIISKAYA GAZETA, RUSSIA.

Australia
In Australia, 8 out of 10 couples live together before getting married.

United States

Almost 40 percent of food nationwide is wasted, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. It is estimated, for example, that 7 percent of food crops are never harvested, that 17 percent of meals served in restaurants and cafeterias remain uneaten, and that families throw out some 25 percent of the food they purchase.

Lalasticlala, r231, Freiburger and mynd44 I am through.

Educating.