Watching the World
World AIDS Toll Rises
During the first quarter of this year, the worldwide tally of cases of the deadly disease AIDS stood at 345,533 in 162 countries, reports WHO (World Health Organization). This represents an increase of 9.8 percent compared with the previous quarter. Since it is not uncommon for nations to underreport their AIDS statistics, WHO believes that the real total of cases for the first three months of this year would be about 1.3 million.
Religion in America
An opinion poll on religious affiliation in the United States found that 86.5 percent of the population, or 214 million people, claim to be Christians. Surprisingly for a high-tech, affluent nation, an extraordinary 90 percent said they are religious. “If such a poll were done in Western Europe, the ancestral home of many Americans, you would run at least a third or lower on every indicator,” said Dr. Martin Marty, a religion scholar at the University of Chicago. Adherents of the Roman Catholic faith lead with 26 percent of Americans, followed by Baptists, Methodists, and Lutherans, respectively. The largest non-Christian faith is the Jewish, comprising 1.8 percent of the population; Muslims make up one half of 1 percent.
“A More Violent Italy”
The data on crime in Italy has been collected for 1990, and according to the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, it “speaks very clearly. And it gives reason for alarm.” Crime escalated 21.8 percent over the previous year. During 1990, based on figures supplied by the Italian statistics institution ISTAT, 2,501,640 crimes were reported to the judicial authorities. Thus, on the average, 6,854 crimes were committed every day, with robbery increasing at a terrifying pace. Any improvement seems uncertain, since 24,817 minors were reported to have committed crimes in 1990, an increase of 17.9 percent in comparison with 1989. It is “a more violent Italy” that is entering the 1990’s, says the daily La Repubblica.
Protecting Africa’s Giants
A team of German experts recently announced that Africa’s elephant population has risen for the first time in a decade, reports The Star, a South African newspaper. The team estimates that there are currently 609,000 elephants in Africa. That is less than half the number alive in 1979, but the team believes that the downward trend has at last been halted. They credit the widespread ban on ivory, which has led to plummeting ivory prices and a collapse in the trade. Meanwhile, urgent efforts are also under way to protect the African rhinoceros. In Namibia, conservationists are removing the rhino’s horns so that poachers will have no reason to kill the animals. However, according to The Star, Swaziland conservationist Ted Reilly predicts that this desperate measure won’t work. He has seen poachers slaughter even young rhino for their tiny horns.
Satanic Cults in Hungary
Satan worship has become so widespread among young people in Hungary that it has stunned the nation. “Investigations into the ritualistic killings by teenagers have uncovered hundreds of cases of youngsters being tempted to dabble in satanism after reading recently-available magazines on the black arts,” reports The European, a weekly published in London. One such ritual killing involved a 17-year-old boy who stabbed his 13-year-old sister, then dismembered her and distributed her organs around the room. It is no wonder that Bela Csepe, deputy of the Christian Democratic People’s Party, has appealed for a ban on the advertising of horror literature, films, and videos.
Great Barrier Reef—Not So Old
The world’s largest coral formation—the Great Barrier Reef—may not be as old as once thought. The vast system of coral reefs stretching some 1,250 miles [2,000 km] along the northeast coast of Australia has been estimated to be about 20 million years old. However, geologists studying the reef have recently bored through the coral formations. Their findings have prompted scientists to reexamine the question of the reef’s age, which they now believe may be only between 500 thousand and one million years. Terre Sauvage, a French magazine, says that the discovery is likely to cause a stir in the scientific community because it seems to run contrary to the traditional evolutionary theory that different life-forms appeared gradually over millions of years. The evidence from the reef seems to indicate that life appeared in what Terre Sauvage describes as “a gigantic genetic explosion.”
Plastic Forests
“If we planted artificial forests, in ten years the deserts could be cultivated,” claims inventor Antonio Ibáñez Alba. Despite sounding farfetched, the idea has been well received by several North African countries, reports Madrid’s daily Diario 16. The plan is for millions of plastic trees to duplicate the forest’s natural role of trapping the moisture in the night air and then releasing the humidity during the day. Over a ten-year period, these artificial trees could theoretically stimulate enough rainfall to enable natural trees to take over the job. What do the polyurethane trees look like? “Since Nature’s designs are the best, they resemble palm trees, the ideal form to trap dew and facilitate evaporation,” explains their designer. Their main advantages? They need no irrigation and are unlikely to be chopped down for firewood.
Adieu Brown Bears?
The Paris newspaper Le Figaro reports that France may soon lose its last population of brown bears. Europe’s brown bear, whose habitat once ranged from the British Isles to Spain, has almost completely disappeared from western Europe. Officially, these bears have been a protected species in France since 1962. But environmentalists fear that poaching, poisoning, and the loss of the bear’s natural habitat in the Pyrenees Mountains between France and Spain have reduced the number of surviving bears to about ten—too few to perpetuate the species. Lamenting the apparent failure of efforts to save the bears, environmentalist Georges Érome observes: “It demonstrates our total incompetence in managing the environment. Today, however, we realize that the environment is life itself.”
Peaceful Coexistence
In a battle between crows and men, the crows have won—at least in Ota City, Japan. For years crows have used discarded bits of steel and copper wire to build nests on electric transmission towers. It mattered little to the crows that their metallic nests might cause power failures. Fed up with constantly removing such nests, the Tokyo Electric Power Company finally decided instead to help the crows with their nest-building. Tokyo’s Asahi Evening News reports that during the first year of the electric company’s new policy, hundreds of basketlike nests have been attached to transmission towers in such a way as to prevent electrical problems. The crows seem pleased with the new baskets. Now, at last, the crows and the electric company in Ota are living in peaceful coexistence.
Church Halts Collective Masses
With the decree issued by the Congregation for the Clergy on February 22, 1991, and published in the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican has tried to bring a halt to the so-called “market of accumulative Masses.” What are “collective” or “accumulative Masses”? The Catholic Church allows a priest to accept donations of either money, produce, or commodities for celebrating a Mass for a specific “intention,” or purpose, such as a requiem. However, according to a rather recent practice, some priests, unbeknownst to the donors, are also accepting donations from other faithfuls but are celebrating only one “collective” or “accumulative” Mass for all the requested “intentions.” According to the decree, from now on this practice will no longer be permitted, unless the donators give their explicit consent. This decision has been made because, explains the decree, “even the slightest appearance of profit or simony would cause scandal.”
Office ‘Drive Through’
Visitors to Osaka City, Japan, are surprised to see an expressway run straight into a cylindrical-shaped building and out the other side. “The road structure will not touch the building so no vibration should be felt. We will also set up a wall to cover the highway to prevent noise and exhaust gas from disturbing office workers,” explained an official of the Hanshin Expressway Public Corporation, according to the Mainichi Daily News. The main reason for this construction is that land costs 7,600 dollars per square foot [75,000 dollars per square meter] in the area, and by taking the elevated expressway through the fifth to the seventh floors of the 16-story building, the Hanshin Corporation makes a hefty saving of almost 12,000,000 dollars. This is the first of three highways-via-buildings slated for construction in Osaka, and it is due to open next year.
Who Decides?
Advertisers have long known how to appeal to children in order to get parents to buy. Le Figaro Magazine reports that a survey carried out by the Children’s Institute of France reveals that “a child’s opinion is decisive in the following categories: food (70%), planning a vacation (51%), hygiene and cosmetics (43%), household appliances (40%), TV-hi-fi (33%), and cars (30%).” But an executive of a large advertising agency gave this simple reminder: “Adults should not allow their children to rule them.”