Human Geography

Population of Israel: 8.8 million

Data released ahead of 2018 finds 75% of Israeli population is Jewish. 73.8% of babies born last year Jewish, 23.3% Arab.

Israel

Driving in Rural America? It May Be Riskier Than You Think

Country driving may seem safer and less stressful than city driving, but higher speeds, curvier roads and less illumination at night are among the factors thought to be behind a higher road death toll in rural areas compared to urban ones. In a recent year, an estimated 19 percent of the U.S. …

U.S. Census

You're Probably Taking Social Security for Granted

Social Security does a lot more than you realize.<p>Social Security is arguably the most important retirement program in the country, but chances are …

Social Security

Married Miao women go back to parents' home with New Year gifts

Married women of Miao ethnic group carrying gifts walk back to their parents' houses together in Wangjia Village, Danzhai County, southwest China's …

News (China)

DVD reviews: Princess Cyd; Logan Lucky; American Made and more

Coming-of-age story Princess Cyd is a last-minute addition to best-of-the-year lists, while even Daniel Craig enjoys himself in Steven Soderbergh’s crime caper<p>It’s the last day of 2017, all the “best of the year” lists have been compiled, read and discarded, yet a few hours remain for me to …

Logan Lucky

Duncan Jones Launches Online-Only 'Bowie Book Club'

Follow along on Twitter as Jones, son of the late glam-rock superstar David Bowie, reads through some of his father's favorite works of …

Psychogeography

Hans Rosling On Why Rich Countries Need To Tackle Climate Change Differently

2017 saw the death of the statistician and educator Hans Rosling at 68 years old. Rosling thrived on challenging complacent and often widely held views. With his son Ola, Rosling created Gapminder the interactive statistical website, in 1998, but it was his TED talks that helped to make him famous …

Population

Only half of all Latino students graduate from college. So what are Texas schools doing to help?

More Latinos are going to college than ever, but only about half of them earn a bachelor’s degree.<p>Angelica Sanjuan Bermudez, a junior at the …

Cal State Fullerton

Phoenix sees uptick in homicides for 2nd straight year; most killings in a decade

The uptick comes on the heels of a sharp increase in 2016, when homicides rose 29 percent from a historic low of 113 in 2015.

Crime

10 ways America is falling behind

If 2017 has seemed to you like a long and terrible year filled with bad news, then here's some good news to close things out: you were right! On a …

U.S. Politics

Why the hot housing market could cool in 2018

For several years, home sellers have had the upper hand as they haggled with buyers over price. In 2018, it might at least be more of a fair …

Real Estate

Season ticket sales slide as passengers rebel against cost of rail travel

Latest figures suggest fed-up commuters are abandoning the train as fares are set to rise again<p>The number of rail journeys made using season tickets has fallen to a seven-year low, as passenger groups warn that fare rises are forcing commuters to abandon the train.<p>Figures slipped out by the …

Keir Starmer

The 7 most important polling trends of 2017

<b>Washington (CNN) —</b> 2017 is almost in the books — and so are another 12 months of public opinion polling.<p>The calendar year that President Donald Trump spent settling into the White House has been marked by consistently low ratings from a majority of the American public.<p>But this year also has seen …

Elections

These Are the 10 Fastest-Growing States in the U.S.

The U.S. population has grown over the past year.<p>The U.S. population, now 325.7 million, increased by 0.72 percent over the past year with more than …

Geography

David Bowie Book Club launched by his son, Duncan Jones

Earlier this year, we shared a list of David Bowie’s 100 “must-read” books, yet another symbol of the late music icon’s voracious thirst for …

Literature

DOJ wants 2020 census to ask about citizenship status

Advocates say this could keep undocumented Americans from participating.<p>The Department of Justice is asking for a citizenship question on the 2020 …

Liberal View

San Jose leads array of California cities with spiking violent crime

In an unwelcome role reversal, San Jose, which has long touted itself as one of the country’s safest big cities, saw street violence continue a …

Justice

UK economy: the year in numbers

Gemma Tetlow in London<p>December 30, 2017<p>What difference does a year make? The Financial Times looks back on the UK economy in 2017 in numbers.<p>1.7 per …

Economics

David Bowie’s son launches book club in honor of his father

The first book is Peter Ackroyd’s Hawksmoor.<p>David Bowie was known to be a voracious reader, famously charting his top 100 books for the public in …

Psychogeography

What “chain migration” really means — and why Donald Trump hates it so much

“Family-based immigration” doesn’t sound as scary — or get at the fear of losing control.<p>Over the course of President Donald Trump’s first year in office, his administration’s top immigration priority has subtly shifted. He’s talking less about deporting “bad hombres” and talking more — a lot more …

Immigration

Trump Justice Department Pushes for Citizenship Question on Census, Alarming Experts — ProPublica

The Justice Department is pushing for a question on citizenship to be added to the 2020 census, a move that observers say could depress participation …

U.S. Census

David Brooks Actually Said It: Distrust of Media Comes from Hiring No Republicans

On the last Friday night of 2017, the <i>PBS NewsHour</i> analyzed the year in review, which included a look at public attitudes toward the national media. …

Republicans

Raising the minimum wage in Britain has been a huge benefit to workers — and employers are largely unharmed

• <b>Minimum wage increases in Britain have delivered pay increases of 10% to retail workers in the last 18 months, since the "National Living Wage" policy was implemented.</b>• <b><br>The increases have "had a minimal impact to date on most big retailers' profits," according to a note from Morgan Stanley.</b>• <b><br>The cost</b> …

Economy

The Side You Never See: Trump Shows Off His Playful Side and Photobombs a Picture with Grandchildren

President Donald Trump is often portrayed as a villain by the media, as it has been reported that a whopping 90 percent of Trump coverage on the Big …

Conservative View

DOJ Trying to Add Citizenship Question to Census: Report

The Department of Justice is trying to add a 2020 census question asking respondents to identify their citizenship status, according to a letter …

U.S. Census

The Plea for LGBTQ+ Rights in 2018

Many of you should know that the Trump Administration is not so gay friendly despite what Trump has to say and here are the reasons why he is lying to protect us.<p><b>2017 Look Back</b><p>On January 21, 2017 - Trumps first day in office and removes LGBT+ page from White House website.<p>On February 22, 2017 - the …

LGBTQ

Pakistan ranked lowest in ‘global infrastructure ranking’

Pakistan is among lowest ranked countries in ‘global infrastructure ranking’ though the country has invested heavily in public infrastructure …

Economics

She Broke Japan’s Silence on Rape

TOKYO — It was a spring Friday night when one of Japan’s best-known television journalists invited Shiori Ito out for a drink. Her internship at a news service in Tokyo was ending, and she had inquired about another internship with his network.<p>They met at a bar in central Tokyo for grilled chicken …

World News

Trump tweets a white nationalist ransom note to immigrants

So much for a deal to protect DREAMers.<p>As recently as last week, a deal appeared possible that would restore or even expand protections for DREAMers …

Liberal View

The U.S. Population Is Growing by One Person Every 18 Seconds

The U.S. Census Bureau projects world population on Jan. 1, 2018, at 7,444,443,881. This represents an increase of 78,521,283, or 1.07 percent, from …

Business