United States
Some police are using technology to make car
chases less dangerous. One approach being tried involves compressed-air
launchers fitted into the grills of patrol cars. These fire GPS-trackable devices that stick to vehicles being pursued. Suspects can then be tailed at a safe speed.
India
It is estimated that every hour, a woman is killed because of a dispute over dowries. Though
the custom of giving and receiving such payments is officially
prohibited, in 2012 more than 8,200 women were murdered because a groom
or his family believed his bride’s dowry to be insufficient.
Switzerland
Tiny sensors attached to three alpine swifts at
their breeding site have shown that the birds flew nonstop for more
than 200 days while migrating to Africa. Previously, such sustained
activity in motion had been reported only in marine animals.
Horn of Africa
Pirates hijacked 179 ships off
the coast of the Horn of Africa between April 2005 and December 2012.
Those criminal acts yielded up to $413 million (U.S.) in ransom money
for the pirates, estimates a World Bank study