Iran holds meeting with North Korea after US reimposes sanctions, and the Chinese family may soon get bigger.
Premier Japan medical college altered marks to admit more men
One of Japan’s most prestigious medical schools has admitted that it deliberately altered entrance exam scores for over a decade to restrict the number of female students, The Guardian reported, days after the revelation created global uproar.
“Tokyo Medical University manipulated the results of all entrance examinations starting in 2006, possibly earlier, according to findings released by lawyers involved in the investigation, confirming recent reports in Japanese media,” the report added.
An investigation “found that in this year’s entrance exams the school reduced all applicants’ first-stage test scores by 20 per cent and then added at least 20 points for male applicants, except those who had previously failed the test at least four times”, the report stated, adding that the idea was to have more male doctors since it expected women to drop out of the field after motherhood. The administration at Tokyo Medical University has vowed to prevent it from happening again.
According to studies, the number of women who clear the national medical exam has averaged 30 per cent, which has reportedly led experts t suspect similar discrimination at other institutes.
Stamp with cheerful piglet trio a nod for bigger families in China?
A new “pig family” postal stamp in China is being viewed as a precursor to further loosening of the country’s family-planning policy after decades of a strict one-child rule began to take a toll on its labour force, Reuters reported.
“China allowed urban couples to have two children in 2016, replacing a decades-long one-child policy in place since 1979. The policy change was preceded by a stamp design with a zodiac theme four months earlier that portrayed a monkey family with two baby monkeys,” the report added.
The new stamp shows two smiling pigs with three “cheerful” piglets, which has led social media users to comment that China may allow couples to have three children by next year.
The proportion of population aged above 60 accounted for 16.2 per cent of China’s population in 2017, as compared to 7.4 per cent in 1950, according to the UN Population Division.
Iran and North Korea, both under US sanctions, hold meet
Iran foreign minister Javad Zarif held a meeting with his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong-ho in Tehran Tuesday, Al Jazeera reported. The meeting was meant to be a show of defiance against Washington after the Trump administration reimposed sanctions on Tehran, the report added.
The timing of the meeting, the report added, “was likely no coincidence” as North Korea faces US sanctions too.
Expressing displeasure over the Trump administration’s move, Zarif tweeted, “The world is sick & tired of US unilateralism”. Emphasing that Iran had friends, the minister continued, “Just ask EU, Russia, China & dozens of our other trading partners.”
Tantrums & CAPPED TWEETS won't change the fact that the world is sick & tired of US unilateralism. Stopping US trade and killing 100K US jobs is fine with us, but the world won't follow impulsive tweeted diktats. Just ask EU, Russia, China & dozens of our other trading partners.
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) August 7, 2018
Earlier in the week, Trump had announced that Washington will not do business with anyone engaged with Iran.
European governments do not seem to be too happy with Trump’s actions, the report added. On Tuesday, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini encouraged companies to do more business with Iran despite the US sanctions, saying Tehran had upheld its commitments under the 2015 deal to limit its nuclear programme.
British foreign office minister Alistair Burt told the BBC, “Americans have really not got this right.”
While Russia expressed disappointment with the US, China said it will not abide by Washington’s sanctions, Al Jazeera added.
Israel constructing a sea wall to hold back ‘terrorism from Gaza’
Israel’s ministry of defence released the first images of a sea wall being built around the Gaza strip, which will “further isolate the Israel-occupied Palestinian territory from the global community”, RT News reported.
The barrier, which is located on the Zikim beach, is about 3.8 kilometres from the northern frontier of Gaza. The project will cost $6.7 million and will be completed by the end of 2018.
Israel defence minister Avigdor Lieberman said the barrier was meant to “check terrorist attacks from Gaza and further debilitate Hamas’ capabilities”.
The blockade of Gaza by Israel and Egypt, since 2007, has been justified on the pretext of growing terrorism and fundamentalism in the Palestinian territory under the Hamas group. It has had a devastating impact on its economy with rising unemployment, energy and supply shortages.
China’s trade up 8.6% in 2018
China registered an 8.6 per cent growth in goods trade in the first seven months of the current year, Xinhua reported, amounting to $2.45 trillion.
In the period between January and July, imports grew by 12.9 per cent, while exports grew by 5 per cent, leading to a trade surplus in China. In the same period, trade of commodities under the general trade category made a gain of 12.7 per cent, accounting for 58.9 per cent of the total foreign trade.
China’s volume of trade with major trading partners increased as well. Its trade rose by 5.9 per cent with the European Union. With the United States and ASEAN, the volume of trade increased by 5.2 and 11.6 per cent, respectively.
‘Parents turning a blind eye to ADHD, depriving kids of treatment’
As many as half a million children suffering from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in the UK are reportedly being deprived of treatment simply because parents refuse to believe their children possess the medical condition, The Telegraph quoted a study as saying.
The Oxford University-led study found that while five per cent of the children in the UK suffered from the disorder, only one in 10 were being given drugs for the condition.
ADHD is a brain disorder characterised by hyperactivity, impulsivity, and an inability to maintain attention that affects both children and an estimated 2.5 per cent of adults worldwide.
China’s bullet trains become faster
China’s high-speed bullet trains can now run at a maximum speed of 350 kph, Xinhua reported, adding that the 120 kilometres between Beijing and Tianjin would entail just a 30-minute commute.
High-speed trains go even faster! Bullet trains on China's first #highspeedrailway start to run at speeds of up to 350 kph pic.twitter.com/pNQbcTE7Gl
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) August 8, 2018
Contributed by Sankalita Dey, Avishek Jha and Aastha Singh.