Watching the World
Italy Recognizes Jehovah’s Witnesses
In October 1986, with a presidential decree, Jehovah’s Witnesses in Italy became a legally recognized religion. “Italy has one more ‘official’ religious confession, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, who have become by right the second religion of the land,” reports La Stampa. Prior to that, under Italy’s “friendship treaty” with the United States, Jehovah’s Witnesses enjoyed a legal standing, but this did not give them the same status as will official recognition. In 1908 the first congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses was formed in Pinerolo, a town in Piedmont, Italy. Ten years ago Italy had 60,000 active Jehovah’s Witnesses. Today they number more than 141,000.
Drugs in the U.S.S.R.
“Drug-taking has contributed to the death of dozens of people in Krivoj Rog, an industrial city of 600,000 inhabitants in the Ukraine,” states the French daily La Croix. Based on a report published in the Soviet weekly Sobessednik, the article noted that “this upsurge in drug-taking is a result of idleness of youths, extreme industrialization in Krivoj Rog, and the fact that it is impossible for people to spend all their pay in view of the scarcity and poor quality of available goods. Most drug victims are not rich adolescents but working-class youths.”
Topaz Record?
After digging a tunnel over 260 feet (80 m) long, workers in Brazil were able to bring to the surface what may well be the world’s largest topaz, reports the Daily Express of Scotland. The stone weighs approximately eight tons, stands over six feet (1.8 m) tall, and is nearly that wide. White in color, its value is estimated at $4.5 million.
Smart Oldsters
A ten-year study by a University of Florida psychologist has revealed that, contrary to popular opinion, people do remain intellectually sharp in advanced age. The researcher tested 1,100 people between the ages of 51 and 92 in 30 Florida cities. Of that number, 450 were still available ten years later for retesting to determine if there were any changes in their intellectual abilities. While the study revealed that there was some decline of intellectual abilities among these older people, the decline was minimal. No significant reduction in verbal comprehension was observed, although there was a modest decline noted in basic arithmetic skills as well as in the ability to recognize incomplete or scrambled words. Researcher Walter Cunningham observed that “the exercise of intellectual abilities helps preserve them.”—AARP News Bulletin, a publication of the American Association of Retired Persons.
Rapists Speak
How can a potential victim perhaps prevent being raped? Rapists themselves recently answered this question in Japan. The answer was found in the 1985 Crime White Paper published by the government, which included results of a psychological survey on criminals. “Seventy-two percent of the rapists surveyed said that they raped victims who happened to be near them. However, 45.1 percent of them also said that they would have stopped immediately if the victims had made any resistance,” reports Yomiuri Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper. A surprising 71.1 percent said they would have stopped their assaults had they been faced with “strong resistance.”
Sudden Infant Death
Hundreds of babies die suddenly for no apparent reason. However, research carried out by British doctors seems to provide a partial explanation for this phenomenon. Notes L’Express, a French weekly: “Autopsy findings from 200 babies revealed that 14 died because their bodies did not digest dietary fat. An enzyme . . . is chiefly to blame. This enzyme is normally useful for turning fatty acids into energy. Because of a malfunction, the child’s brain is deprived of its ‘nutrients’: sugars and acetone bodies. Muscles and the heart also suffer as a result.” Commenting on the benefits of this discovery, the article explains: “Enzyme-deficiency detection could save nearly 100 children a year in France.”
Ending “Dream Weddings”
Japanese couples are disappointed. A tropical island in the Pacific no longer will be their haven for Western-style “dream weddings.” The Catholic Church of Guam decided to bring such ceremonies to a halt. Why? For 15 years the church hoped to spread the Catholic faith by performing Western-style weddings for Japanese visitors but has never “successfully produced results to date,” states a letter from the archdiocese of Agana, the island’s capital. The Daily Yomiuri, commenting on the decision of the church, says: “Most Japanese appear to merely savor the ceremony or want to save money.” Weddings in Japan can cost from ¥1,500,000 to ¥3,000,000 (from about $10,000 to $20,000, U.S.), while in Guam a Western-style wedding would cost a Japanese couple only from $600 to $700, of which $50 goes to the church.
Tuna Migration
In August of 1968 a 2 1/2-year-old southern bluefin tuna weighing 13 pounds (6 kg) was tagged and put back into the sea at Bermagui on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia. In June of 1985, nearly 17 years later, the same fish, now weighing 150 pounds (68 kg), was netted off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa. The Sydney Sun-Herald reports that the Japanese fishermen who made the catch recovered the two dated tag disks that gave proof of the fish’s epic swim—a distance of 8,125 miles (13,000 km)!
Lifesavers Punished
During a strike among medical professionals in Brazil, a doctor performed an urgent, life-or-death cesarean section. Since none of the medical staff were available to provide needed assistance, she enlisted the aid of a hospital janitor to hold surgical instruments during the operation. Though the life of a baby was saved, the doctor was punished with a suspension. It was annulled by a court order. However, when similar punishment was given by the hospital administration to the janitor, his suspension was not revoked. Regarding the incident, the Latin America Daily Post ironically stated: “He helped save a life without being employed expressly for this purpose, which is a crime incompatible with medical professional interests.”
Religion and War
Last October an interfaith call against war was issued at Assisi, Italy, by Pope John Paul II. But what do people think about religion and war? The results of polls carried out in six different countries were published in the French daily La Croix. In France “nearly half the French people (47 percent) consider religions in general to be a war factor, whereas barely a third of them think religions are a peace factor (31 percent).” Interestingly, in Catholic countries Islam and Judaism are held by many to be war factors, but in Israel nearly a quarter of the population feel that Catholicism is a war factor.
Teachers’ Example?
“Teachers themselves smoked in the staff room” was the pointed response of schoolchildren being taught the harm of direct and indirect smoking. This student reaction was aired at a meeting of teachers to promote antismoking education in Japan last summer. Stressing the importance of nonsmoking education from an early age, Takaharu Hayashi of the Tokyo Sanitarium Hospital explained: “Once people have formed the habit of smoking, it is very difficult to get rid of it.” Still, some teachers who smoke do not fully understand the importance of nonsmoking education at schools. Physical-education teachers, who teach health, were cited among those who use tobacco. Their view was: “Why should we have to listen to students and quit smoking?”