Rising number of African gay migrants seek asylum in Europe to escape stiff penalties at home

Rising number of African gay migrants seek asylum in Europe to escape stiff penalties at home

No comprehensive data exists about how many migrants seek or win asylum in the EU on LGBTQ+ grounds. Based on estimates reported by NGOs working with would-be refugees, the numbers in individual EU countries ranged from two to three in Poland in 2016 to 500 in Finland from 2015-2017 and 80 in Italy from 2012-2017, according to a 2017 report by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights.

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Crime in grime: To get children hooked to junk, food giants ‘turn their tongues against their brains’

Crime in grime: To get children hooked to junk, food giants ‘turn their tongues against their brains’

Recently, a Goldman Sachs study estimated that by 2028 up to 70 million Americans will be taking the new weight-loss drugs, whose longer-term effects are yet to be known. Their apparent present success in suppressing extra food intake is already worrying the fast-food chains like McDonald’s that thrive on selling huge cheeseburgers.

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How a patient in rural Ugandan village known to be a hot spot for sickle cell disease gives hope to others

How a patient in rural Ugandan village known to be a hot spot for sickle cell disease gives hope to others

Sickle cell disease is a group of inherited disorders in which red blood cells – normally round – become hard, sticky and crescent shaped. The misshapen cells clog the flow of blood, which can lead to infections, excruciating pain, organ damage and other complications.

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Rigidly controlled gun ownership in UK gives rise to ‘knife-enabled’ attacks, stoke public anxiety

Rigidly controlled gun ownership in UK gives rise to ‘knife-enabled’ attacks, stoke public anxiety

“Knife-enabled” crime – in which knives were used to commit crimes or someone was caught illegally possessing one — rose seven per cent in England and Wales last year,” the government said last month, noting some localities were not included. In London, such crimes jumped 20 per cent. The other two UK countries, Scotland and Northern Ireland, keep their own statistics.

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Swept away by floods and brutalised by cruel civil service bureaucrats, poor Kenyans feel harsh impact of weather swings

Swept away by floods and brutalised by cruel civil service bureaucrats, poor Kenyans feel harsh impact of weather swings

In order to save lives in the future, the government last week ordered evacuations and the demolition of structures and buildings that had been built illegally within 30 metres of river banks. Officials say at least 181,000 people have been moved since last week and that measures have been taken to provide temporary shelter, food and other essentials.

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Critics say US’ legalisation of plant-grown meat is a ‘dangerous grand experiment’ that’ll hurt health and environment

Critics say US’ legalisation of plant-grown meat is a ‘dangerous grand experiment’ that’ll hurt health and environment

In the case of Piggy Sooy, “They’re creating a transgenic life form – they’re taking the genes from a totally different species, in this case an animal, and inserting them into existing soy genetics. What could go wrong? We don’t know.” Yet, these products “will eventually be involved in agriculture, because those seeds that they’re genetically modifying will go in soil, will go in the environment,” Kastel said. “The impacts are unknown.”

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Nobody foresaw Borussia Dortmund’s fairy tale run to Euro Champions League final, not even themselves

Nobody foresaw Borussia Dortmund’s fairy tale run to Euro Champions League final, not even themselves

They are heading to Wembley and the symmetry of that escapes nobody. It has been 11 years since Jurgen Klopp led them there for their last Champions League final and the warmth of those days, of the entire Klopp era in fact, has been something the club have been longing for ever since. Dortmund are not back. Nobody would describe them as being the equal of that Klopp side but there lies the sweetness of this anomaly and the charm of their achievement. This is a great story that nobody saw coming.

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Shunned for centuries, Voodoo is mutating into a powerful religion Haitians seek solace in to thwart bloody gang violence

Shunned for centuries, Voodoo is mutating into a powerful religion Haitians seek solace in to thwart bloody gang violence

The syncretic religion that melds Catholicism with animist beliefs has no official leader or creeds. It has a single God known as “Bondye,” Creole for “Good God,” and more than 1,000 spirits known as the lwa — some that aren’t always benevolent.

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China’s faces serious demographic crisis as its rapidly ageing migrant workforce can’t afford to retire

China’s faces serious demographic crisis as its rapidly ageing migrant workforce can’t afford to retire

Pensions in China are based on an internal passport system known as hukou, which divides the population along urban-rural lines, creating vast differences in incomes and access to social services. Monthly urban pensions range from roughly 3,000 yuan in less-developed provinces to about 6,000 yuan in Beijing and Shanghai. Rural pensions, introduced nationwide in 2009, are meagre.

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Barons behind the brands: Money, power, povery and the corruption of America’s food industry

Barons behind the brands: Money, power, povery and the corruption of America’s food industry

Being from rural Iowa and witnessing the 1980s Farm Crisis take hold of my family and neighbours, “Barons” takes a long overdue stand for the farm community of my youth. It’s a painful loss knowing that today’s industrial food system rises from the ashes of America’s family farms. And it is no accident.

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