Incomes in Japan in Decline

"The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said in a report that 61.5 percent of households indicated they were struggling to earn a living, a record high, Kyodo News reported Friday."

Japan Tops List of Countries Deepest in Debt

"In addition to Greece, several European Union member countries now face overwhelming government debt."

Study Abroad? Why American Students Head North

"Almost 10,000 American students are heading to Canada for higher education every year for the past five years, according to the Canadian Embassy in Washington, up from just 2,300 15 years ago."

Japan's Population to Drop by 1 Million Each Year

"Japan's rapid aging means the national population of 128 million will shrink by one-third by 2060 and seniors will account for 40 percent of people, placing a greater burden on the shrinking work force population to support the social security and tax systems."

India's Education Dream Risks Remaining Just That

"According to a government report published last year, a massive expansion in higher education combined with a poor supply of Ph.D.’s, delays in recruitment and the lack of incentives to attract and nurture talent has led to a situation in which 40 percent of existing faculty positions remain vacant. The report’s authors, mostly academics, found that if the shortfall is calculated using the class size recommended by the government, this figure jumps to 54 percent."

Some Countries Are More Social Than Others, Survey Finds

"In the big cities of India and China, it seems, people can't help being social. Nearly everyone who uses the Internet there is also active on social networks, according to a global survey by Forrester Research, and three out of four write blog posts or upload pictures and music."

Social Networking Booming in Egypt, Russia, Survey Finds

"People in poorer countries send text messages more often than those in wealthier countries. Men in Spain and Germany access the Internet on their phones twice as much as women do. . ."

International Comparison Of Teacher Quality

"Not only does our public-education system rank 26th out of 34 nations when it comes to graduation rates, but the U.S. also fails at treating teachers as professionals."

More Foreign Students Studying in USA

"International students and their dependents contributed more than $20 billion to the U.S. economy last year as record numbers of foreigners enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities, reports to be released today show. The numbers of U.S. students earning college credit abroad also is on the rise."

Corporal Punishment Article

"In 1979 . . .Sweden became the first country to ban physical punishment of children. Since then, 30 more countries have passed bans on corporal punishment at home, and even more have banned it in schools, according to the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children."

Study: World is Getting Fatter, Needs to Stop

"The problem of obesity is spreading around the world and poses serious health threats. The finding is part of a new special report on obesity, and how to combat it in the medical journal the Lancet."

China's Great Swindle: How Public Officials Stole $120 Billion

"The report quotes statistics based on research by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: 18,000 Communist Party and government officials, public-security members, judicial cadres, agents of state institutions and senior-management individuals of state-owned enterprises have fled China since 1990. Also missing is about $120 billion."

U.S. Colleges' Appeal Fading for Foreign Students

"From 2000 to 2008, the number of students enrolled in a college outside their home country soared 85% to 3.3 million. During that time the U.S. share shrank, from 24% to 19%, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operative Development."

Obesity Rates By Country

Obesity Rates By Country (Map)

21st Century Evangelicals in the UK

Interesting report on Evangelicals in the United Kingdom

Why Happiness Isn't Always Good: Asians vs. Americans

"In a new paper in the journal Emotion, a team of psychologists at the University of Washington finds that not everyone sees positive emotions such as joviality and self-assurance as unequivocally good. Depending on your ethnic background, you may find such emotions suspicious and even dangerous."

Inequality Rising Across the Developed World

"A new report attributes the increase in inequality across rich countries to globalization, technological improvements and changing marriage patterns."

British Households to See Income Loss

"The typical British household will see its disposable income drop by 2 percent this year, one of the country's leading economists said."

U.S. Obesity Stigma Spreads Worldwide

"Obesity has been stigmatized for several decades in the United States and the stigma has spread worldwide, U.S. researchers say."

Why Academics Suffer Burnout

"Survey finds high stress levels for those who work in higher education, and especially for younger scholars -- all over the world."