A federal judge is questioning whether a new exam for aspiring teachers in New York is discriminatory against minorities, a case that could derail the state’s efforts to create a more rigorous set of tests for entry into the profession

Black and Hispanic applicants have been passing one of the exams, intended to measure reading and writing skills, at lower rates than white candidates, prompting concerns of decreased diversity in the teaching ranks. The judge, Kimba M. Wood of Federal District Court in Manhattan, has asked the state for extensive documentation on the development of the test, which was first given during the 2013-14 school year. The request came as part of a long-running case brought in 1996 by black and Hispanic teachers against New York City. In 2012, Judge Wood ruled that an older state-certification test, which was intended to measure teachers’ knowledge of the liberal arts and science, was racially discriminatory. Although compensation has not yet been awarded, the city is expected to have to pay back wages to several thousand teachers who were demoted to being substitutes from the early 1990s to 2004, or were never hired as full-time teachers because they did not pass the older test. The lawyer for the plaintiffs, Joshua Sohn, a partner at Mishcon de Reya New York, said that he did not know if the new test, the Academic Literacy Skills Test, was discriminatory. But, he said, given the fact that blacks and Hispanics are passing the test at lower levels than whites, “the court has an obligation to ensure that the historical discrimination is not continuing.” The literacy test is the most challenging of four exams introduced in the 2013-14 school year, as part of an effort to raise the caliber of teachers and teacher training programs. Over all, the number of aspiring teachers passing the four required tests dropped by 20% from previous years. Students may retake tests that they failed. Under a provision in the new state budget, any graduate-level teacher training program that has fewer than 50% of its students pass each certification exam for three consecutive years will not be able to admit new students. The earlier test that Judge Wood ruled was discriminatory, the Liberal Arts and Sciences Test, was used until 2004. She said that because the minority candidates were failing that test in greater numbers, the burden was on public officials to prove that the test served a valid purpose. In similar rulings, judges around the country have thrown out written exams for firefighters and police officers, ruling that they were not relevant to the tasks that they would be performing. Judge Wood ruled that officials had not shown that the material on the test “accurately measured the minimum knowledge about the liberal arts and sciences that teachers need to be competent.” She is also expected to rule soon on whether a replacement test with the same name, which was in use from 2004 to 2013, was also discriminatory. If she decides that it was, thousands of additional people who failed the test during that time and thus were barred from full-time teaching positions could make claims against the city for back pay and other benefits. A testing expert appointed by the court submitted a report in February 2015 that concluded the state had not proved that the test was relevant. The new literacy test that is now under scrutiny by Judge Wood “requires the teacher to demonstrate an understanding of evidence found in texts and uses cogent reasoning to analyze and synthesize ideas,” according to the State Education Department. “The teacher produces complex and nuanced writing by choosing words, information, and structure deliberately for a given task, purpose, and audience.” Sample questions provided by the state include a passage about Gertrude Stein’s life in Paris, followed by questions about the passage, and two passages about federal energy policy that the test-taker is asked to analyze in short written responses. Kate Walsh, the president of the National Council on Teacher Quality, which advocates tougher certification requirements, said that the judge’s questioning of the test was troubling. “I want to ask Judge Wood,” Walsh said, “would she be willing to have any of these teachers teach her own children or grandchildren, and I would bet my life she’d say no. They’re saying, at the risk of not appearing racist, or at the risk of having to make a hard call against adults, I’m going to sacrifice the best needs of kids.” The State Education Department has not released statistics showing passing rates by ethnicity, but officials have acknowledged that minority teaching candidates have not done as well as white candidates on the new test. While 41% of students in public schools are Hispanic and 25% are black, 60% of teachers are white, according to the city’s Education Department. Eighteen percent of teachers are black, and 15% are Hispanic.

Israel and Rwanda are discussing a deal in which the East African nation would take in illegal migrants from the Jewish state in exchange for favorable contracts

Under the proposed agreement, which has come under scrutiny by human rights organizations, Israel would send hundreds of Eritrean and Sudanese nationals, many of them asylum-seekers, to Rwanda in return for favorable deals that include millions of dollars in grants. The information is based on statements made by Rwandan President Paul Kagame during a press conference in Kigali. In addition to Rwanda, Israel is rumored to have reached a similar arrangement with Uganda, though neither Kampala nor Jerusalem confirmed this. Israel’s Interior Ministry has confirmed in a statement that it will “expel immigrants from the detention centers” and encourage migrants “to leave Israel in a safe and respectable way” for specific African countries that would grant them legal immigration rights. Approximately 50,000 Africans who entered Israel through Egypt live in Israel, which is bound by international treaties to let them stay while they have United Nations refugee status. However, they can be relocated to a third country willing to accept them. Many asylum-seekers are held in southern Israel’s Holot detention facility. In recent years, a new barrier along the Egypt-Israel border has stopped additional newcomers from arriving. Israel’s Interior Minister Gilad Erdan confirmed the report during an interview, offering some initial details: “We give them a package that includes a flight and $3,500 – no small sum in these countries. They will be given visas and will be allowed to work,” he said.

The older brother of comedienne Mindy Kaling has controversially claimed that he was only accepted into medical school in the late 1990s because he posed as a black man

Writing on his blog, Almost Black, Vijay Chokal-Ingam says that he felt he had to change his appearance to get into the St. Louis University School of Medicine and heavily attacks affirmative action policies in the United States. "I was determined to become a doctor and I knew that admission standards for certain minorities under affirmative action were, let's say… less stringent?" wrote Chokal-Ingam. "I got into medical school because I said I was black. The funny thing is I'm not." Chokal-Ingam admits that his sister did not support him during his social experiment and specifically asked him not to do it. He claims that in 1998 he shaved his head, trimmed his long Indian eyelashes and joined the Organization of Black Students during the process. His change in appearance was so startling that his own fraternity brothers didn't recognize him. "Vijay the Indian-American frat boy became Jojo the African American Affirmative Action applicant to medical school," he said, claiming that Jojo was the middle name he was born with. As an Indian-American with a GPA of 3.1, MCAT of 31 and a member of the South Asian Student Association, he didn't think that he'd get into medical school, but with a change of appearance and switch of student organization, he thought he could get in to some of the top schools in the nation. "I became a serious contender at some of the greatest medical schools in America, including Harvard, Wash U, UPenn, Case Western, and Columbia," he said about the application process. "In all, I interviewed at eleven prestigious medical schools in 9 major cities across America, while posing a black man," he added.

As the economy picks up across Minnesota, the state's Somali-born population continues to battle higher than average unemployment

The most recent figures, for 2011-2013, put Somalis' unemployment at 21%t, about three times the rate for the general population during the same period of time. Census numbers show that of Minnesota's five largest immigrant groups, Somali unemployment is the highest. More than half of the state's Somalis live in poverty.

Why does one child learn easily, whereas another has difficulty keeping up at school?

Why does the one child find it so difficult to remain sitting on a chair whereas another can work independently without any problems? Researcher Eveline de Zeeuw from VU University Amsterdam investigated the causes of differences in school performances and behavior between primary school children. She discovered that the differences between children are largely caused by genetic disposition. Eveline de Zeeuw investigated the influence of genetics on the results of the Cito pupil monitoring system tests (for ages 6 to 11) and the Cito final test (age 12). Her research revealed that genetic disposition has more influence than the environment on the results for arithmetic (60-74%), reading (72-82%), reading comprehension (54-63%) and spelling (33-70%). Genetic disposition was also largely responsible (74%) for differences between children in the Cito final score. For ADHD behaviour the genetic disposition is also important for differences between children. Different class environments, teachers and classmates do influence the degree to which genes exert an influence on ADHD behavior. In a group of identical twins the child that exhibits the most ADHD behavior performs worse at school than his or her genetically identical twin brother or sister. The negative effect of ADHD on school performances therefore persists if this is corrected for genetic disposition. The negative correlation between ADHD and school performances seems to be the consequence of a causal effect of ADHD on school performances. If a behavioral intervention or the use of medicines results in reduced ADHD, this will also indirectly improve school performances. This effect was found to be even greater among children with predominantly attention problems than among children who mainly exhibited hyperactive behavior. This research made use of data about 7-, 9- and 12-year-old twins and their brothers and sisters, which the Netherlands Twin Register (NTR) of the VU University Amsterdam collected as part of a project for the National Initiative Brain and Cognition (an NWO temporary taskforce). Parents and teachers completed questionnaires about problem behavior and school performances, report marks and test results (Cito) for these children. Some of the families also gave tissue samples from which DNA was isolated for genetic research.

The District of Columbia produces the largest reading and math proficiency gaps in the nation, in regards to white fourth graders and their non-white Hispanic and black counterparts, while the opposite is true of states like Louisiana

The Hispanic-white gap is narrower than the black-white gap, but disparities persist for Latinos. Among U.S. Latinos students, advancements in reading can be attributed to increased English language proficiency among ESL students. The Hispanic-white gap has improved in grades four and eight in 32 out of 47 states, according to a recently published report. Nonetheless, reading proficiency gaps persist in areas such as the District of Columbia, where 22.8% of Hispanic fourth-grade students versus 76.6% of white students are reading proficient. Math proficiency gaps also continue to exist in the District of Columbia, where only 14.7% of African-American fourth graders, 23.3% of Hispanic fourth graders and 87.7% of white fourth graders are reading proficient. In Kentucky, the Hispanic-white reading proficiency gaps are narrower, where 29.4% of Hispanics and 39.2% of whites proved to be proficient in reading. When it comes to math proficiency, the Hispanic-white gap improved in just 13 of 47 states, compare that to only nine of 45 states for the black-white math proficiency gap. Louisiana presents the narrowest math proficiency gap among fourth graders, with 28.9% of Hispanics versus 40% of white students testing at or above proficient in math. At the same time, the District of Columbia shows 23.3% of Hispanics and 87.7% of whites tested at or above proficient in math. The median household incomes of Latinos are closest to whites in areas in Florida, such as Deltona, where Hispanic household make 97 cent for each dollar. And the widest gaps exist in Hartford, Connecticut, where there's a difference of 40 cents. The lowest Hispanic median household income is in Springfield, Massachusetts, ($24,781) and the highest is in Washington, D.C. ($65,736). Nationally, unemployment and income disparities between Latinos and whites have narrowed more than it has between black and whites during economic recovery, but there are pronounced Latino unemployment rates in some areas. Consistent with the findings present about the widest Hispanic-white immigration gaps, the largest Hispanic-white immigration gap is in the District of Columbia. Just 58.5% of Hispanics freshmen graduate compared to 87.8% of whites. The smallest gap exists in Maine, where 96.1% of Hispanic freshmen graduate, compared to 84.4% of whites. Higher graduation rates also exist in Louisiana, New Hampshire, Hawaii and Arkansas. The smallest gaps tend to exist in states where the non-white population is small and where the test scores are also fairly low for the white student population. And the larger gaps are generally present in large urban areas with large non-white populations.

A new study shows that pale skin, as well as other traits such as tallness and the ability to digest milk as adults, arrived in most of Europe relatively recently

The work offers dramatic evidence of recent evolution in Europe and shows that most modern Europeans don’t look much like those of 8000 years ago. The origins of Europeans have come into sharp focus recently as researchers have sequenced the genomes of ancient populations, rather than only a few individuals. By comparing key parts of the DNA across the genomes of 83 ancient individuals from archaeological sites throughout Europe, the international team of researchers reported earlier in 2015 that modern Europeans are a mix of the blending of at least three ancient populations of hunter-gatherers and farmers who moved into Europe in separate migrations over the past 8000 years. The study revealed that a massive migration of Yamnaya herders from the steppes north of the Black Sea may have brought Indo-European languages to Europe about 4500 years ago. Now, a new study from the same team drills down further into that remarkable data to search for genes that were under strong natural selection — including traits so favorable that they spread rapidly throughout Europe in the past 8000 years. By comparing the ancient European genomes with those of recent ones from the 1000 Genomes Project, population geneticist Iain Mathieson, a postdoc in the Harvard University lab of population geneticist David Reich, found five genes associated with changes in diet and skin pigmentation that underwent strong natural selection. First, the scientists confirmed an earlier report that the hunter-gatherers in Europe could not digest the sugars in milk 8000 years ago. They also noted an interesting twist: The first farmers also couldn’t digest milk. The farmers who came from the Near East about 7800 years ago and the Yamnaya pastoralists who came from the steppes 4800 years ago lacked the version of the LCT gene that allows adults to digest sugars in milk. It wasn’t until about 4300 years ago that lactose tolerance swept through Europe. When it comes to skin color, the team found a patchwork of evolution in different places, and three separate genes that produce light skin, telling a complex story for how European’s skin evolved to be much lighter during the past 8000 years. The modern humans who came out of Africa to originally settle Europe about 40,000 years are presumed to have had dark skin, which is advantageous in sunny latitudes. And the new data confirm that about 8500 years ago, early hunter-gatherers in Spain, Luxembourg, and Hungary also had darker skin: They lacked versions of two genes — SLC24A5 and SLC45A2 — that lead to depigmentation and, therefore, pale skin in modern Europeans. But in the far north — where low light levels would favor pale skin — the team found a different picture in hunter-gatherers: Seven people from the 7700-year-old Motala archaeological site in southern Sweden had both light skin gene variants, SLC24A5 and SLC45A2. They also had a third gene, HERC2/OCA2, which causes blue eyes and may also contribute to light skin and blond hair. Thus ancient hunter-gatherers of the far north were already pale and blue-eyed, but those of central and southern Europe had darker skin. Then, the first farmers from the Near East arrived in Europe; they carried both genes for light skin. As they interbred with the indigenous hunter-gatherers, one of their light-skin genes swept through Europe, so that central and southern Europeans also began to have lighter skin. The other gene variant, SLC45A2, was at low levels until about 5800 years ago when it swept up to high frequency. The team also tracked complex traits, such as height, which are the result of the interaction of many genes. They found that selection strongly favored several gene variants for tallness in northern and central Europeans, starting 8000 years ago, with a boost coming from the Yamnaya migration, starting 4800 years ago. The Yamnaya have the greatest genetic potential for being tall of any of the populations, which is consistent with measurements of their ancient skeletons. In contrast, selection favored shorter people in Italy and Spain starting 8000 years ago. Spaniards, in particular, shrank in stature 6000 years ago, perhaps as a result of adapting to colder temperatures and a poor diet. Surprisingly, the team found no immune genes under intense selection, which is counter to hypotheses that diseases would have increased after the development of agriculture. The paper doesn’t specify why these genes might have been under such strong selection. But the likely explanation for the pigmentation genes is to maximize vitamin D synthesis, said paleoanthropologist Nina Jablonski of Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), University Park. People living in northern latitudes often don’t get enough UV to synthesize vitamin D in their skin so natural selection has favored two genetic solutions to that problem — evolving pale skin that absorbs UV more efficiently or favoring lactose tolerance to be able to digest the sugars and vitamin D naturally found in milk. “What we thought was a fairly simple picture of the emergence of depigmented skin in Europe is an exciting patchwork of selection as populations disperse into northern latitudes,” Jablonski says. “This data is fun because it shows how much recent evolution has taken place.” Anthropological geneticist George Perry, also of Penn State, notes that the work reveals how an individual’s genetic potential is shaped by their diet and adaptation to their habitat. “We’re getting a much more detailed picture now of how selection works.”

Shifts in the world’s major religions will see Islam growing faster than any other faith, with the number of Muslims nearly equaling that of Christians by 2050

A new Pew Research Center study finds that with the exception of Buddhists, the world’s major religions will all see an increase in numbers by 2050, although some will make up a smaller percentage from today. Muslims are the only major religious group projected to increase faster than the world’s population as a whole. Over the coming four decades, Christianity will remain the world’s largest religious affiliation, but Islam will see a major increase that will make the two religions nearly equal in numbers by 2050. In 2010, Christianity was by far the world’s largest religion, with 2.2 billion followers of the faith and composing nearly one-third (31%) of the Earth’s 6.9 billion people. Islam was second, with 1.6 billion adherents, or 23% of the world’s population. If current fertility rates and youth populations continue to grow at their current rate, Muslims will make up 10% of Europe’s overall population by 2050. Islam is expected to nearly match Christianity in the coming four decades as a result of a “comparatively youthful” population with high fertility rates. If current trends continue, Muslims will outnumber Christians worldwide around 2070. Muslims worldwide are projected to see a 73% increase while Christians will rise about half that fast (35%). The world’s overall population is predicted to rise to 9.3 billion by 2050, also with a 35% rate of increase over the same time period. In the United States, Christians will decline from more than three-quarters (78%) of the population to about two-thirds (66%) by 2050. Muslims, “other religions” and those unaffiliated with religion will see the largest increases in North America. The religiously unaffiliated are expected to rise from 16% to more than one-quarter of the population, 26%. And by 2050, the United States will have more Muslims (2.1% of the general population) than people who identify as Jewish (1.4%). Europe is predicted to be the only region with a decline in its total population. Europe’s Christian population will see a loss of about 100 million people in the coming decades, falling from 553 million to 454 million people. Although Christians will remain Europe’s largest religious group, they are expected to decrease similarly to U.S. Christians, dropping from nearly three-quarters to less than two-thirds of the overall population. Worldwide, Muslims have the highest fertility rate with an average of 3.1 children per woman – far exceeding the replacement level needed to maintain a stable population. Christians are second, with an average 2.7 children per woman. In 2010, more than one-quarter (27%) of the world’s total population was under the age of 15. And Muslims comprised an even higher percentage of this youthful group at more than one-third (34%), compared to 27% of Christians under age 15. Pew’s “The Future of World Religions: Population Growth and Projections, 2010-2050” analysis estimates that four out of every 10 Christians in the world will live in sub-Saharan Africa by the middle of this century.

One of the world's most influential black-led church coalitions has broken with the US Presbyterian Church over its endorsement of gay marriage

The National Black Church Initiative, a coalition of 34,000 African-American and Latino churches representing nearly 16 million Americans, and which work to eradicate racial disparities in healthcare, technology, education, housing and the environment said that it had split with the Presbyterians because of their "arbitrary change of Holy Scripture." The Presbyterian Church recently decided to redefine marriage as a "commitment between two people" to take into account same-sex marriage. Anthony Evans, president of the National Black Church Initiative, called on the Presbyterians to "repent and be restored to fellowship." He said that the change in doctrine was a "sin" and represented a break with 2,000 years of tradition. "No church has the right to change the word of God. By voting to redefine marriage PCUSA automatically forfeits Christ's saving grace," Evans wrote. Bishop Janice Hollis, presiding prelate of the Covenant International Fellowship, said that she agreed with Evans. Too many members of the clergy were "preoccupied" with secular values, she said. "God has the final say, but we all have to say something about what we believe and not live in hiding. We must share our faith and when we don't, we lose ground to our spiritual enemy that comes to devour and destroy." Conservative Christians in America's African-American community are among the critics of US President Barack Obama's liberal attitudes on issues such as same-sex marriage.

A recent survey by the YouGov-Cambridge Program shows that 55% of British voters currently think that there is a fundamental clash between Islam and the values of British society, compared with just 22% – little over one in five – who say that Islam and British values are generally compatible

Among Tory supporters, this gap increases to 68% who say “clash” versus 17% who think “compatible”. Ukip supporters look almost unanimous on the issue (89% “clash” versus 4% “compatible”) while roughly half of Labor supporters take the negative view (48% “clash” versus 27% “compatible”) and Lib Dems are divided (38% “clash” versus 39% “compatible).

Black South African comedian does not understand Jewish power

In the United States, it is alright for Jews to make fun of gentiles but gentiles must never make fun of Jews.

Steve Sailer explains why Jews tend to be so pro-immigration

It increases the number of victims available for Jewish swindlers to exploit.

Israel will begin deporting asylum seekers from Eritrea and Sudan to unnamed third countries in Africa even if against their will, the immigration authority has announced

The assumption is that the third countries are Rwanda and Uganda, although Israel has not revealed details. According to the interior minister, Gilad Erdan, the move will “encourage infiltrators to leave the borders of the state of Israel in an honorable and safe way, and serve as an effective tool for fulfilling our obligations towards Israeli citizens and restoring the fabric of life to the residents of south Tel Aviv”. Until now, the state exerted pressure and provided a one-off monetary incentive for asylum seekers to leave voluntarily, but only if they signed written consent. Now the state will give them 30 days to leave; those who refuse will face a hearing to determine their indefinite imprisonment. People in Holot, a detention facility in the Negev, currently requesting asylum will not be immediately affected by the new measure. Mutasim Ali, a detainee in Holot who fled Darfur and is a leading activist in Israel’s African asylum seeker community, said that the new policy was not that different from the current grim reality. “This is just another technique Israel is using to make our lives miserable and force people to leave,” he said. “There is not a big difference between being detained in Holot and being imprisoned in Saharonim [a prison in the Negev desert]. If we had other options we wouldn’t be in Israel.” According to Asaf Weitzen, the head of the legal department at the Hotline for Refugees and Migrant Workers, the new policy is the state’s way of circumventing a recent supreme court ruling that limits detention to 20 months. “Determining that someone who does not leave ‘voluntarily’ will be incarcerated for an indefinite amount of time is a blatant violation of the principles of international law,” said Weitzen, adding that there was no guarantee that they would have any rights once they reach the third country. Eritreans and Sudanese are entitled to collective protection under the 1951 UN refugee convention, to which Israel is a signatory, because their lives would be in danger if they were sent back to their countries of origin. An estimated 42,000 Eritrean and Sudanese nationals currently reside in Israel, of whom about 2,000 are being held in Holot. According to the immigration authorities, 1,500 left with consent to a third country in 2014 and 7,000 returned to their home countries.

Black criminal shoots white cop: Police Commissioner William Evans has said that Boston police officer John Moynihan remains in critical condition after he was shot without provocation in Roxbury

Evans said at a press conference from the Boston Police Department headquarters that officers approached 41-year-old Hyde Park resident Angelo West’s vehicle without guns drawn and the black man opened fire. West has a violent criminal history with several gun convictions. Investigators say that authorities were in the area because of a previous shooting that took place. Six officers approached West’s car, but they did not have their guns drawn. At that point, West began shooting, hitting Moynihan from point blank range in the face. As West ran away, police say that he continued to shoot at officers and emptied the chamber of his gun before they shot and killed him. Two other people inside the vehicle were taken out by police. Evans said that there were other unrelated charges pending against them. During the shootout, Moynihan, 34, was shot just below the right eye. He remains in critical condition and Evans said the bullet remains lodged near Moynihan’s ear. The six-year officer is currently in a medically-induced coma at Boston Medical Center. Moynihan is a member of the department’s Youth Violence Task Force and is a former Army Ranger who served in Iraq. He was also honored at a White House ceremony where he received the Top Cops Award. “When the bombs went off on Boylston Street, he was one of the first ones there,” Evans said, referring to the Boston Marathon bombings. “When Dic Donohue got shot at Watertown, he was one of the first officers to render aid."

Scottish Referendum: A majority of voters born in Scotland said yes to independence

But nearly three-quarters of people from elsewhere in Britain voted no. The biggest study yet of how Scotland made its historic decision on September 18, 2014 has found that the votes of people born outside Scotland were crucial to the result. While 52.7% of native-born Scots voted yes, a massive 72.1% of voters from England, Wales or Northern Ireland backed the Union. There were more than 420,000 Britons from elsewhere in Britain living in Scotland when the last census was taken. And if they cast their ballots in line with the findings of the Edinburgh University study, more than 300,000 of them would have voted no. That’s a significant number in a contest that ended with 2,001,926 votes for no and 1,617,989 for yes. Voters born outside Britain also rejected independence, with 57.1% voting no. Political scientist Professor Ailsa Henderson, who wrote the study, said that it showed the importance of “Britishness” among voters born elsewhere in Britain in deciding the result. She said: “Scottish-born people were more likely to vote yes and those born outside Scotland were more likely to vote no." Ailsa said that the trend she found was similar to those seen in other independence votes in places such as Quebec in Canada. The study, which recorded the attitudes of several thousand voters in a series of surveys, also confirmed that women and older people were more likely to vote no while men and the young were more in favor of yes. Researchers found that 56.6% of women voted no while 53.2% of men voted yes. The divide was even wider when it came to age. More than 62% of voters aged 16 to 19 backed independence. The yes side also had a majority among voters aged 20 to 24, 25 to 29 and 30-39, while voters aged 40 to 49 were split almost exactly down the middle. But 50 to 59-year-olds, 60 to 69-year-olds and voters aged 70 or older were all in the no camp, with the pro-Union majority getting bigger the older they were. Nearly two thirds of 70-something Scots voted no.

The UK National Union of Students has passed a policy which means that white gay men must stop appropriating black female culture

It is being reported that delegates at the Women's Conference have passed a motion making it against policy for white male gay students to snap, click or sashay away, or generally act in anyway that can be attributed to black women. In a second motion they passed the banning of cross-dressing or drag due the offense it could cause trans women.

Kidney transplantation outcomes from deceased African-American donors may improve through rapid testing for apolipoprotein L1 gene (APOL1) renal risk variants at the time of organ recovery, according to a new study led by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center

Variation in the APOL1 gene is associated with up to 40% of all kidney diseases in African-Americans who undergo dialysis or kidney transplantation, and APOL1 kidney disease risk variants are only present on the chromosomes of individuals who possess recent African ancestry, such as African-Americans, according to the researchers. The study found that renal risk variants in the APOL1 gene in deceased African-American kidney donors were linked with shorter survival of transplanted kidneys.

A black man is facing a charge of attempted manslaughter after he confessed to shooting his 18-year-old son during an argument over orange juice

Police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, say that 58-year-old Eldridge Dukes is facing a charge of attempted manslaughter after he confessed to shooting his 18-year-old son during the argument. Investigators say that the squabble escalated when the victim broke a vase, and Dukes grabbed his handgun. They say that Dukes chased the victim out of the house and down the street, firing at least three times. Police say that the son was hit in the buttocks and suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Dukes was booked into the parish prison on counts of attempted manslaughter and illegal use of a dangerous weapon. Dukes is being held on $60,000 bail.

As thousands gathered to bury a woman who was beaten and burned by an angry mob, Afghan officials said that they had found no proof that she had burned pages of the Koran as her assailants had claimed

“We have reviewed all the evidence and have been unable to find any single iota of evidence to support claims that she had burned a Koran,” Gen. Mohammad Zahir, head of the Interior Ministry’s criminal investigation directorate, said at the woman’s funeral. “She is completely innocent.” Zahir’s comments followed the results of an investigation by the Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs that said that charred papers found at the shrine where she was attacked Thursday were from a Persian-language prayer book - not the Koran, the Muslim scripture, which is written in Arabic. The murdered woman was just 28-years-old and has been identified only by her first name, Farkhunda. Police had been criticized for not doing enough to control the mob of several hundred men who surrounded Farkhunda at the Shah-Do Shamshira shrine in Kabul and killed her. Hundreds more people gathered along the banks of the Kabul River to take pictures and videos of Farkhunda’s burning body, which was left in a dirt patch of the shallow river. When Farkhunda’s body was taken from her family’s house to the funeral, young men cried out, “Allahu Akbar!” - God is great - the same words her attackers used before beating her and running her body over with a car before setting it on fire. Sediq Sediqqi, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, said that 13 police officials had been suspended. Thirteen suspects in the crime have been arrested, officials said. The mullah of the shrine, whom Farkhunda’s family has accused of burning the pages, has also been taken into custody, officials said. Mourners at the funeral also demanded that another religious leader, who praised the attackers during a sermon, be removed from his post at a mosque. Farkhunda’s relatives, who said that she suffered from mental illness, described their daughter as a devout Muslim who graduated from a local religious school and was preparing to begin classes in the Islamic Studies department of Kabul University.

Celtic News: Religion and genetic diversity in Northern Ireland

A DNA study shows that there are two genetic groupings in Northern Ireland: one of which also contains individuals across the sea in western Scotland and the Highlands; the other contains individuals in southern Scotland and southern England. The former appears to reflect the kingdom of Dalriada approximately 1,500 years ago; the other group probably represents the settlers of the 17th century Ulster Plantations.

Jewish student admits to swastika hoax In Jewish frat dorm at George Washington University

Another minority-perpetrated "hate crime" hoax. You would think that the blacks and the Jews would get tired of this sort of nonsense by now but apparently they don't.

British genetic study shows that white English people share about 40% of their DNA with the French, approximately 26% with the Germans, 11% with the Danes and around 9% with the Belgians

The study also shows that the Celtic people of North Wales are probably descended from some of the oldest inhabitants of Britain. The research also shows that Northern Ireland can be divided into two genetic groups but the researchers don't seem to indicate whether these groups represent Catholics and Protestants.

Don't party too much!

A quarter of children born in Britain each year now had a mother who was herself from overseas

In 2001, prior to Labour presiding over a decade of wide-scale immigration, only 16% of births in Britain were to foreign mothers. At the end of December 2013, there were an estimated 7.8 million people born overseas living in Britain. Currently, there are 300,000 more people arriving in Britain every year than leaving.

Changes to immigration law in the 1960s triggered a decades-long surge in arrivals, taking the Hispanic population from just 7 million in 1970 to 57 million today, a number that is set to double by mid-century

At that point one in four Americans will be of Latino descent. America is entering an era of white decline. For almost two centuries, from the time of George Washington's presidency to the election of Ronald Reagan, whites of European descent made up at least 80% of the population. That share is below two-thirds now, and the white majority is set to become a minority by 2044. Today's Hispanics lag behind whites when it comes to education and wealth. Why should we expect it to be any different in the future?

According to a latest study, listening to classical music enhanced the activity of genes involved in dopamine secretion and transport, synaptic neurotransmission, learning and memory, and down-regulated the genes mediating neurodegeneration

Several of the up-regulated genes were known to be responsible for song learning and singing in songbirds, suggesting a common evolutionary background of sound perception across species. Listening to music represents a complex cognitive function of the human brain, which is known to induce several neuronal and physiological changes. However, the molecular background underlying the effects of listening to music is largely unknown. A Finnish study group has investigated how listening to classical music affected the gene expression profiles of both musically experienced and inexperienced participants. All the participants listened to W.A. Mozart's violin concert Nr 3, G-major, K.216 that lasts 20 minutes. Listening to music enhanced the activity of genes involved in dopamine secretion and transport, synaptic function, learning and memory. One of the most up-regulated genes, synuclein-alpha (SNCA) is a known risk gene for Parkinson's disease that is located in the strongest linkage region of musical aptitude. SNCA is also known to contribute to song learning in songbirds. "The up-regulation of several genes that are known to be responsible for song learning and singing in songbirds suggest a shared evolutionary background of sound perception between vocalizing birds and humans", says Dr. Irma Järvelä, the leader of the study. In contrast, listening to music down-regulated genes that are associated with neurodegeneration, referring to a neuroprotective role of music. "The effect was only detectable in musically experienced participants, suggesting the importance of familiarity and experience in mediating music-induced effects", researchers remark. The findings give new information about the molecular genetic background of music perception and evolution, and may give further insights about the molecular mechanisms underlying music therapy.

The latest victim in India's epidemic of gang rape is a 71-year-old nun who was trying to thwart a group of men from robbing the missionary school where she worked

Six men stormed the Convent of Jesus and Mary school in West Bengal state and after overcoming guards there, raped the nun when she tried to stop them. The woman required surgery. "Christians in Bengal are deeply anguished by the shameful act of violence on an elderly and ailing religious sister," said the local archbishop in a statement. "We would like to register our horror and shock at this barbaric act which has occurred in our tolerant and inclusive state of West Bengal." The faces of four of the six attackers were captured on surveillance video and five people are reported to be in custody. "At least two of them were armed and the rest were carrying burglary tools," says a police official. "In the chapel, a holy scripture was found torn and... a bust of Jesus was broken." They made off with money, a cell phone, and a laptop.

Britain: An angry Christian mother fears that her daughter will become a religious minority after she was allocated a place at a Sikh school

Kirsty Jarvis said that 11-year-old Freya has been looking forward to moving up to secondary school in September 2015. But they have been left shocked and upset by the decision by council admissions officers to give her a place at the Khalsa Secondary Academy, despite it not being named as one of her preferred choices. The Sikh faith school opened in the village of Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire, in September 2014 despite protests from residents. Jarvis, who lives in the nearby village of Farnham Royal, said that most of Freya’s friends have been allocated places at a school in the town of Beaconsfield. "We’re a practicing Christian family and while we aren’t wanting her to go to a Christian school, my daughter should not be expected to attend a Sikh school," said Jarvis. "We knew we were ever so slightly out of the catchment for a number of our first choices but we never thought we would be given Khalsa. In this day and age I could not imagine ever sending my child to a school where she would become a minority. Although it’s open to all, each day they take students off for morning prayers and my daughter would not be doing that, and she would, therefore, be taken out and isolated. I’m not sure she would be able to cope with that." Khalsa Secondary Academy opened with 180 pupils, and aims to build up to 850. The school intends to cater for students from all backgrounds, with 50% of places prioritised for non-Sikh students. Plans to open the school were put forward by Slough Sikh Education Trust in 2013. Khalsa Primary School was already open in Slough, which is just across the border in Berkshire and has a large Sikh population.

An Asian firefighter wannabe is suing the FDNY over its physical exam, saying that it discriminates against minorities — because their lungs aren’t as big as those of white people

Rickey Lall, 32, who is of Indian ancestry and lives in The Bronx, claims in his Manhattan Supreme Court suit that he passed all the city Fire Department’s entrance exams in 2013 with flying colors except for a pulmonary-function test administered to detect lung disease. Lall says that the test’s metrics are unfair because studies show “there are differences in normal lung volumes among various ethnic or racial groups." Blacks and Asians, for example, have a 12% lower volume, his suit states.

Black sex crimes in England: A black man who repeatedly raped a two-year-old girl, filming himself abusing her, has been jailed

Jeremy Oketch had pleaded guilty to rape at an earlier hearing. He has now been sentenced to 15 years in prison and a further eight years on licence at Manchester Crown Court. He was also ordered to sign the Sex Offender’s Register for life. On Saturday 18 July 2014, police were alerted to a video that showed Oketch raping the toddler at a house in the south Manchester area. Oketch, a trainee pharmacist, was immediately arrested at his home address and his computer seized. Officers from Greater Manchester Police’s High-Tech Crime Unit examined a number of computers seized from Oketch’s home, which contained a number of videos Oketch had filmed of himself raping the two-year-old girl. The videos were filmed on two different dates in December 2013 and July 2014. As part of the investigation, the toddler – who is now three – was taken into the care of Social Services and appropriate safeguarding measures are now in place to protect her. Detective Chief Inspector Colin Larkin said: “Having had to watch these videos, they are without doubt some of the most harrowing, sickening images you could ever see. Anyone would share our revulsion over these wicked acts being committed upon such a young child. The judge said the footage was exceptionally disturbing, horrific, graphic and grotesque and that nobody, not a member of the public, a police officer or a judge should ever have to watch such material. I can only echo those views. I cannot even begin to comprehend what would possess a man to commit such vile, repulsive acts upon an innocent two-year-old girl who could neither understand what was happening, nor fight back nor even tell anyone what had happened. Filming the abuse proves Oketch pre-planned what he was going to do to that little girl. That he did this not once but twice proves this man is utterly devoid of any conscience. Were it not for the fact these horrendous videos were found he could still be abusing this innocent young girl today. Make no mistake, Oketch deserves every second he will spend in jail. I hope the length of his sentence, in some small way, gives those who know this little girl some semblance of justice seeing this dangerous man behind bars for such a long time. We will continue to offer support to everyone who knows and cares for this little girl for as long as they need it.”

Genes linked with a greater risk of developing autism may also be associated with higher intelligence, a study suggests

Researchers have found new evidence linking genetic factors associated with autism to better cognitive ability in people who do not have the condition. The relationship between autism and intelligence is not clear, researchers say. Although up to 70% of individuals with autism have an intellectual disability, some people with the disorder have relatively well-preserved, or even higher than average, non-verbal intelligence, the team says. Autism is a developmental disability that can cause significant language and speech difficulties. Non-verbal intelligence enables people to solve complex problems using visual and hands-on reasoning skills requiring little or no use of language. Researchers at the Universities of Edinburgh and Queensland analysed almost 10,000 people recruited from the general population of Scotland. Individuals were tested for general cognitive ability and had their DNA analysed. The team found that even among people who never develop autism, carrying genetic traits associated with the disorder is, on average, linked to scoring slightly better on cognitive tests. Researchers found further evidence of a link between autism-associated genes and intelligence when they carried out the same tests on 921 adolescents who were part of the Brisbane Adolescent Twin Study. Dr Toni-Kim Clarke, of the University of Edinburgh's Division of Psychiatry, who led the study, said: "Our findings show that genetic variation which increases risk for autism is associated with better cognitive ability in non-autistic individuals. As we begin to understand how genetic variants associated with autism impact brain function, we may begin to further understand the nature of autistic intelligence." Professor Nick Martin, of the Queensland Institute for Medical Research, said: "Links between autism and better cognitive function have been suspected and are widely implied by the well-known "Silicon Valley syndrome" and films such as "Rain Man" as well as in popular literature. This study suggests genes for autism may actually confer, on average, a small intellectual advantage in those who carry them, provided they are not affected by autism."

The benefits of racial segregation in education

A new study has found that black, white and Asian students benefit from being assigned to a teacher that looks like them. Their test scores go up in years when their teacher shares their ethnicity, compared to years when their teacher has a different ethnicity.

Four in 10 Americans say that race relations in the United States have gotten worse under the nation's first black president, according to a new CNN/ORC poll

About 39% of Americans say that relations between blacks and whites have worsened since Obama took office, including 45% of whites and 26% of blacks. Just 15% of Americans say that race relations have improved under Obama, while 45% say that they have stayed about the same. While 76% of blacks say that the Voting Rights Act is necessary to ensure that blacks are able to vote, just 48% of whites agree. Likewise, 54% of African Americans say that blacks do not have as good a chance as whites to get jobs for which they are qualified, just 19% of whites agree. Three-quarters of African Americans (76%) say that the nation's criminal justice system favors whites, compared with 42% of whites who hold that same opinion. Republicans were far more likely to say that things have worsened under Obama (65%) than Democrats (26%). But even among Democrats, a scant 20% say that race relations have improved under the black president.

Ethnocentrism is a nearly universal syndrome of attitudes and behaviors, typically including in-group favoritism

Ethnocentrism may have evolved because it increased an in-group's chance of survival in harsh environments.

By 2020, 50.2% of all children in the United States are expected to be non-white, according to the Census

By 2044, whites will be outnumbered by minorities. The Census study predicts that by 2060, nearly 20% of the population will be foreign born - thanks to an influx of 64 million new immigrants. The populations of Hispanics in the United States will rise 114% - from 55 million in 2014 to 63.6 million in 2060 - making up about 29% of the population. And the number of non-Hispanic whites will likely decline over the next 40 years - from 200 million and 62% of the population now to 182 million and 44% of the population in 2060. The number of people who identified themselves as only black will also decline about 8% to about 59 million. The number of Asian-Americans will also increase dramatically - even more than the Hispanic population - rising 128% to 22 million.

Blacks are more likely than others to be arrested in almost every city for almost every type of crime

Nationwide, black people are arrested at higher rates for crimes ranging from murder and assault to loitering and marijuana possession.

Some rough justice in Iran: Medics removed one eye from a unnamed man who blinded another man in an acid attack

And this was relatively lenient: Originally, both eyes were to be removed, but the victim (who was fully blinded) had a last-minute change of heart and asked the judge to spare his attacker's right eye, for now. The guilty man, who also is serving a 10-year sentence, now has six months to plead to keep it. “Punishing someone by deliberately blinding them is an unspeakably cruel and shocking act," says an Amnesty International official. "This punishment exposes the utter brutality of Iran’s justice system and underlines the Iranian authorities' shocking disregard for basic humanity." Another convicted acid attacker was supposed to have been blinded on the same day, but that victim, who has the final say under Iranian law, stopped it at the last moment. “I gave them two more months to provide me with compensation for my treatment.” In majority Muslim countries, both the criminals and law enforcement tend to be barbarians.

A new Pew Research Center survey shows that most Americans believe Barack Obama’s two terms in office have favored the rich, and have not benefited the middle class or the poor

In the survey, 66% of Pew’s 1,504 respondents say that “government economic policies since the recession have helped” wealthy people a “great deal” or a “fair amount.” Only 29% said that the wealthy were helped “not too much/not at all.” In contrast, only 26% of respondents said that middle-class people were helped a great deal or a fair amount while 72% of respondents said that the middle-class people were helped “not too much/not at all,” according to the Pew survey, which was released March 4, 2015. Only 32% said that poor people were helped, while 65% said that they were not helped. There’s plenty of outside data to support the sour view. The median household income in January 2015 was $54,332, which is 3.9% lower than January 2000, 15 years prior, according to a March 4, 2015 report by Sentier Research. The median number is the mid-point in the income scale. Half of the people earned above the number, and half earned below that number. Americans’ stalled income comes after both George W. Bush and Barack Obama stoked economic growth — but not wages — with waves of new lower-skilled immigrants. In November 2014, one in every five U.S. jobs was held by a foreign-born worker, up from one-in-six jobs in January 2010, according to federal data highlighted by the Center for Immigration Studies.

After 25 years of blue policies, the wealth gap between whites on the one hand and African Americans and Hispanics on the other has barely budged

The St. Louis Fed researchers said it’s not differences in age or education levels that explain the racial and ethnic wealth disparities; these persist even if you’re looking at older and better-educated blacks, Hispanics and whites. Part of the story here is the disproportionate effect the foreclosure crisis had on African Americans. Black families were in some cases stuck with riskier loans than whites, and when the crisis hit a lot of their wealth was wiped out. Since then, many blue cities with large minority populations have been hit particularly hard by financial problems. When Detroit, a majority African-American city long ruled by blue politicians, needed to raise money recently it foreclosed on tens of thousands of homes. Then there is the overall decline in clerical and some government jobs, which have long been a staple of African-American middle-class employment — a decline likely to continue, given the sorry finances of state and local governments across the nation.

The mortality rate for white women in the United States has increased 12% since 1999

White women in the United States have historically enjoyed low mortality rates. But in recent years, the death rate for adult white women 15 to 54 years old has increased even as the rates for black and Hispanic women have declined, according to a new analysis from the Urban Institute. The researchers focused on women's mortality rates because they're lower than men's and because death rates reflect the overall health of a population. If mortality is increasing, other measures of health are also getting worse. Black women have a much higher mortality rate, but it has declined significantly — 23% since 1999. Hispanic women also posted declines. (Hispanics of all age groups, both men and women, have lower mortality rates than average, a demographic phenomenon known as the Hispanic paradox.) Part of the jump in the death rate for whites is explained by the epidemic of prescription painkiller abuse and overdoses that disproportionately affected whites. But that accounts for only half the total increase, according to the report. Other causes of death on the rise include suicide and respiratory disease. Some declined, including traffic deaths, homicides, and the cancers most closely linked to smoking. Though overdose deaths among blacks also increased, the rise was smaller. And overall mortality for black women fell dramatically, with declines in deaths from cardiovascular disease, infectious disease, and cancers, among other causes. The pattern may reflect "a systematic reversal in the long-term trend of mortality decline" for white women, according to the Urban Institute paper. Such a shift could be linked to social and economic circumstances. Poorer people generally have poorer health for a variety of reasons, and growing inequality could be weighing on death rates. "It’s possible that as this group of women ages, there could be a reversal of a very long-term decline in the death rate," said Nan Marie Astone, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute and the lead author of the report. America isn't really used to the idea of declining life expectancy. The next few decades might change that.

Jews and the British empire

Tanstaafl provides an interesting insight into British history.

Jihadi John and his asylum-seeking family have milked the British benefits system for 20 years

Housing the Islamic State executioner and his relatives in affluent parts of London has cost taxpayers up to £400,000. One landlord said that Mohammed Emwazi’s family were parasites and tenants from hell. Incredibly, they are still believed to be pocketing £40,000 a year in handouts despite there being no sign of them in Britain. Emwazi’s father Jasem, who has six children, is back in his native Kuwait – the country he claimed he fled fearing for his life. Westminster City Council is still paying the rent on the family’s £600,000 flat even though the rules say that housing benefit should normally be stopped after 13 weeks. British MPs said that they were horrified that the child of a family given refugee status, citizenship and benefits had returned the favor by orchestrating the murder of two of its citizens. The owner of a house in Little Venice where they lived for four years said that Westminster City Council paid £450 a week in rent for the family – £23,400 a year. Two more of the five owners of homes they have lived in have confirmed that their rent was paid by the council or through a housing association. Assuming the same £23,400-a-year cost, then the bill over 20 years is £468,000. Emwazi’s father Jasem, 51, and his wife Ghaneya brought their family – including Mohammed, then aged six – to Britain in 1994. The couple successfully argued that because they are Bedoon – stateless people denied citizenship by Kuwait – they should be granted asylum. The award of British citizenship allowed the whole family to make regular trips back to Kuwait.

In Israel, it is a sin to be a sucker

Israeli Jews tend to see naivety as being worse than dishonesty.

A black police chief in Florida has been arrested for soliciting a prostitute and was promptly fired just 10 months into his tenure

According to an arrest report, Miami Gardens Police Chief Stephen Johnson called a number in a "two-girl special" prostitution ad and negotiated a $100 deal for two women for 30 minutes. Only problem: The woman he allegedly paid at a motel was really a sheriff's detective. "The stress overwhelmed me, and I made a very bad decision," Johnson said. He was hired in May 2014 to repair community relations after former top cop Matthew Boyd resigned amid allegations of harassment and illegal tactics.

The top suspect in the brutal killing of a Bangladeshi-American blogger has been apprehended

Farabi Shafiur Rahman, who was arrested at a bus stop in Dhaka, Bangladesh, has confessed to threatening blogger Avijit Roy. "It's a holy duty of Bangalee Muslims to kill Avijit," he wrote on Facebook in 2014. Farabi was jailed in the past in connection with an Islamic extremist organization; Roy battled extremism in his writings. Farabi was also arrested in 2014 over social media comments backing another blogger's death, though he was released in that case. That blogger, Ahmed Rajib Haider, was similarly hacked to death.

What is a normal penis length?

For any man who's secretly wondering if he measures up, here's the answer: British researchers set out to determine what can be considered a "normal" penis length by analyzing prior studies and identifying 20 that met their criteria. That gave them a data pool of 15,521 males ages 17 to 91 with which to conduct the first "formal systematic [review] of penile size measurements." Using the men's measurements, they created nomograms, or graphical diagrams that plot the relationship between two variables (in this case, length and percentile), of flaccid and erect penile size measurements. Their conclusion: The average length of a flaccid penis is 3.6 inches, and the average length of an erect penis is 5.16 inches. They also determined average girth: 3.7 inches when flaccid, and 4.6 inches when erect. The average stretched flaccid length was 5.21 inches. Dr. David Veale explains that the nomograms should "help doctors reassure the large majority of men that the size of their penis is in the normal range," as it easily illustrates whether a man who isn't exactly average falls in the 40th percentile, for instance, or the 65th. As for those at the extremes, the pool is small: Just 2.28% of males' members would be considered "abnormally small"; roughly the same percentage have an abnormally large penis. What the researchers didn't find: any differences in penile size across different races or any correlation between the length of a man's foot and his penis.

Muslim sex criminals of Britain: Ten men have been charged as part of an investigation into child grooming and sexual exploitation in Rochdale against girls as young as 13

The men are accused of a catalog of serious sex offences, which include numerous charges of rape and sexual activity with a child, against seven victims between 2005 and 2013. All 10 have been arrested under Operation Doublet, which aims to tackle child sexual exploitation by older men in Rochdale. The operation was launched after the conviction of nine men in May 2014 for their roles in a child abuse ring which spanned Rochdale and parts of Greater Manchester. So far, 65 people have been arrested as part of Operation Doublet and the investigation continues. The charges are; Shayfur Rahman, 31, of Prestwich, one count of rape; Kutab Miah, 34, of Rochdale, three counts of sexual activity and one count of rape; Rehan Ali, 26, of Manchester, one count of rape, three counts of sexual activity with a child when the offender was over 18 and three counts of sexual activity with a child when the offender was between 15 and 17. Iklaq Choudhry Hussain, 37, of Rochdale, three counts of sexual activity with a child and two counts of rape; David Law, 45, of Ilkeston, Derbyshire, three counts of conspiracy to commit rape; Mahfus Rahman, 28, three counts of rape and three counts of sexual activity with a child. Ashfaq Yousaf, 28, has been charged with one count of aiding and abetting rape against one victim. He has also been charged with one count of rape against a further victim. Afraz Ahmed, 32, of Rochdale has been charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit rape and one count of rape against one victim. He also faces two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, relating to offences against to girls. He has also been charged with one count of rape against a further victim. Mohammed Davood, 37, of Burnley has been charged with one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm against one victim. He has also been charged with three counts of rape, one count of sexual activity with a child and one count of sexual assault against a further victim. Mohammed Miah, 39, has been charged with three counts of sexual activity and one count of rape against one victim. He has also been charged with one count of rape against a further victim. The Crown Prosecution Service said that the majority of offences took place when the complainants were under 16.

DNA analysis has revealed evidence for a massive migration into the heartland of Europe 4,500 years ago

Data from the genomes of 69 ancient individuals suggest that herders moved en masse from the continent's eastern periphery into Central Europe. These migrants may be responsible for the expansion of Indo-European languages, which make up the majority of spoken tongues in Europe today. Prof David Reich and colleagues extracted DNA from remains found at archaeological sites around the continent. They used a new DNA-enrichment technique that greatly reduces the amount of sequencing needed to obtain genome-wide data. Their analyses show that 7,000-8,000 years ago, a closely related group of early farmers moved into Europe from the Near East, confirming the findings of previous studies. The farmers were distinct from the indigenous hunter-gatherers that they encountered as they spread around the continent. Eventually, the two groups mixed, so that by 5,000-6,000 years ago, the farmers' genetic signature had become melded with that of the indigenous Europeans. But previous studies show that a two-way amalgam of farmers and hunters is not sufficient to capture the genetic complexity of modern Europeans. A third ancestral group must have been added to the melting pot more recently. Prof Reich and colleagues have now identified a likely source area for this later diaspora. The Bronze Age Yamnaya pastoralists of southern Russia are a good fit for the missing third genetic component in Europeans. The team analysed nine genomes from individuals belonging to this nomadic group, which buried their dead in mounds known as kurgans. The scientists contend that a group similar to the Yamnaya moved into the European heartland after the invention of wheeled vehicles, contributing up to 50% of ancestry in some modern north Europeans. Southern Europeans on the whole appear to have been less affected by the expansion. Even more intriguing is the possible link between this steppe expansion and the origins of Indo-European languages. Most indigenous European tongues, from English to Russian and Spanish to Greek, belong to the Indo-European group. The classification is based on shared features of vocabulary and grammar. Basque, spoken in south-west France and northern Spain, does not fit in this group, and may be the only surviving relic of an earlier group of languages once spoken more widely. Two principal hypotheses have been put forward to explain the preponderance of Indo-European tongues in Europe today. According to the "Anatolian hypothesis", Indo-European languages were spread by the first farmers from the Near East 7,000-8,000 years ago. But the latest paper supports the "Steppe hypothesis", which proposes that early Indo-European speakers were Bronze Age farmers on the grasslands north of the Black and Caspian Seas. "An open question for us is whether the languages spoken by these steppe migrants were just ancestral to a sub-set of Indo-European languages in Europe today - for example, Balti-Slavic and maybe Germanic - or the great majority of Indo-European languages spoken in Europe today," Prof Reich said. But he added that Indo-European languages spoken in Iran and India had probably already diverged from those spoken by the Yamnaya before the nomads blazed a trail into Europe.

A white or Hispanic homicide victim is over twice as likely to be killed by a black than a black homicide victim is to be killed by a white or Hispanic

Approximately 16% of white or Hispanic victims in homicide incidents involving a single victim and single offender were killed by blacks, compared with only 7% of black victims who are killed by whites or Hispanics. Given the fact that blacks are less than 13% of the national population, their homicide rate against whites and Hispanics combined is vastly disproportionate to their share of the population. There were 431 black killers of whites and Hispanics, compared to 193 white or Hispanic killers of blacks. Blacks are also disproportionately represented among cop killers. In 2013, blacks made up 42% of all cop killers whose race was known. It is precisely in response to the disproportionate criminality among the black population that the police are deployed in much higher numbers in black neighborhoods, where they are trying to save innocent lives. The 200 or so reported killings of blacks by police officers — nearly all justified — pale in comparison to the 6,000 or so killings of blacks by other blacks.

Millions of African Americans moved from the South in the early 20th century to seek better job opportunities and higher wages, but a new study on the historic Great Migration shows that with improved economic conditions came a greater risk of mortality

A study found that, on average, African Americans who migrated died 1.5 years sooner than their peers who stayed in the South. UChicago scholars were part of a study that found if an African American man lived to age 65, his chances of reaching age 70 were 82.5%, if he remained in the South. But if he migrated, those chances shrank to 75%. For an African American woman who lived to age 65, the likelihood that she would live to 70 in the South were 90% but dropped to 85% if she migrated. Medical records indicate that migrants died at much higher rates from cirrhosis and pulmonary illnesses, which are closely linked to smoking and drinking. Black said that there were other factors as well: chemicals and pollution from factories, higher population density (and, therefore, more contagious diseases), the shock of cold weather, and the stress from uneven employment prospects. "Migrants were a self-selected group: Many of them had been preparing all their lives to make the move, and everything suggested they'd be healthier than their counterparts in the South," said Dan Black, deputy dean and professor at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy Studies, who co-authored the study. "But it was shocking to learn that, in terms of longevity, the migrants weren't better off at all." Joining Black as co-authors were Seth G. Sanders of Duke University, Evan Taylor of the University of Michigan, and Lowell Taylor of Carnegie Mellon University and NORC at the University of Chicago. The authors believe that the study is the first attempt to establish a link between the Great Migration and mortality. Researchers constructed and examined the records of one million migrants extracted from the Duke SSA/Medicare Dataset — records containing information about each migrant's race, sex, age and, crucially, place of birth and death. Since most migrants came from towns near railroad lines, researchers studied old railroad maps and located links between "sending communities" and "receiving communities." Then they devised a formula to compare the longevity of people who had stayed in the South or migrated, limiting their focus to people born between 1916 and 1932 in eight states in the Deep South. "Our assessment of the long-term consequences of the Great Migration suggests that dislocation due to migration might have substantial costs in terms of individual health," Black said. He hopes that his research may be relevant for evaluating current trends in developing countries, many of which are experiencing extraordinary levels of migration from rural areas to urban centers.

Attackers in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka have hacked to death a US-Bangladeshi blogger whose writings on religion angered Islamist hardliners

Avijit Roy, an atheist who advocated secularism, was attacked as he walked back from a book fair with his wife, who was also hurt in the attack. No-one has been arrested but police say that they are investigating a local Islamist group that praised the killing. Roy's family say that he received threats after publishing articles promoting secular views, science and social issues on his Bengali-language blog, Mukto-mona (Free Mind). He defended atheism in a recent Facebook post, calling it a "rational concept to oppose any unscientific and irrational belief". A group of men ambushed the couple, who live in the United States and were visiting Dhaka only to attend the book festival, as they walked toward a roadside tea stall. At least two of the attackers hit the couple with meat cleavers in the attack, police chief Sirajul Islam said. Dropping their weapons, the attackers ran away, disappearing into the crowds. Police said that they were investigating a local hard-line religious group that had praised the killing in an online message. Ajay Roy, father of the dead man, urged the authorities to find the killers and "ensure exemplary punishment". The killing in early 2013 of another secular blogger, Ahmed Rajib Haider, which was blamed on religious hardliners, sparked protests from free-speech supporters and counter-protests from Islamists. The police say that the attack on Roy was similar to the 2013 murder. Death threats against atheist writers and bloggers are nothing new in Bangladesh. Prominent writer Taslima Nasreen had to leave Bangladesh after she received death threats from hard-line Islamists in the mid-1990s. She wrote on her blog: "Avijit Roy has been killed the way other free thinker writers were killed in Bangladesh. No free thinker is safe in Bangladesh. Islamic terrorists can do whatever they like. They can kill people with no qualms whatsoever."

With anti-Jewish hate crimes by Muslims on the rise in Germany, the leader of the country’s Jewish community says that it may be wise for Jews to hide their identity in public

"Concealing yourself is not the answer… But, the question is whether, in areas with a large proportion of Muslims, in Berlin and elsewhere, it is sensible to be recognized as a Jew by wearing a kippa [traditional Jewish skullcap] or if it isn't better to wear some other form of head covering," Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews, told Berlin’s RBB radio. “I did not imagine this situation five years ago, and I am admittedly, shocked.” Anti-Zionist demonstrations following the IDF’s operation against Gaza during the summer of 2014 descended into anti-Jewish displays on at least several occasions, with Muslim-dominated crowds chanting “Gas the Jews!” and “Jew, cowardly pig, come on out and fight!" There are approximately 5 million Muslims in Germany, and there are more Muslims in Berlin, predominantly of Turkish origin, than Jews in the entire country. Recently, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu called for Jews to return to Israel, following a rise in anti-Jewish hate crimes by Muslims not just in Germany, but in France and other European states.

In southeast Africa, albinos are at risk of being murdered because their body parts are used for witchcraft

Apparently black Africans never tire of being savages, even in the 21st century. In Tanzania, even babies and infants have had their arms and legs hacked off with machetes. African witch doctors will pay as much as $75,000 for a complete set of albino body parts, according to a recent report from the Red Cross. Albinism is a hereditary genetic condition that causes an absence of pigmentation in the skin, hair and eyes and is often linked by researchers to inbreeding. It is particularly prevalent in Tanzania, affecting one person in 1,400, compared with one in 20,000 in the West.

A black Muslim convert who planned to behead a soldier had been radicalised by Britain’s most notorious hate preacher just weeks before

Brustholm Ziamani, 19, fell under the spell of Islamic cleric Anjem Choudary and his followers in April 2014 and became obsessed with the killers of Fusilier Lee Rigby. Months after joining the Muslim preacher’s banned terror group al-Muhajiroun (ALM), he underwent a dramatic transformation that culminated in him wandering the streets looking for a serviceman to execute in a Woolwich-style killing. As Ziamani was found guilty of arming himself with a hammer and a 12-inch knife for the copycat attack, Britain’s most senior counter terrorism officer said that the case illustrated how quickly disaffected young "Britons" could be radicalized. Police and MI5 consider the plot to be one of the most serious to have threatened Britain since the escalation of the Syrian conflict. Known to his friends as Bruce, Ziamani was raised a devout Jehovah’s Witness by his Congolese parents.

Jewish oligarchs and the Republican party

Like John McCain and Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush apparently believes that getting as much Jewish financial support as possible is more important than winning presidential elections.

In Texas, Hispanic criminals are considered to be white males

For some reason none of the fugitives are described as "white Hispanics". I guess that term is reserved exclusively for George Zimmerman.

Why are blacks in Los Angeles so much worse behaved than whites and Asians, or even Hispanics?

Steve Sailer reviews an important new book Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America, by Los Angeles Times homicide reporter Jill Leovy. The book looks at the problem of black-on-black homicides in the United States.

More black schoolchildren were arrested during Fall 2014 than any other ethnicity in San Francisco’s public schools

Of the 37 students arrested from September to December 2014, 27 of them were black. Seven were Latino, three were white and one was Asian. Twenty of the arrests occurred at middle schools. Thirty-two of the students arrested were male. Blacks make up 8% of the school district’s students. Asian students, at 38%, make up the largest segment, followed Latinos at 26% and whites at 13%, according to statistics from the 2013-14 school year. This means that black students in San Francisco were 29 times as likely to be arrested as whites.

Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Turkey for days of protest about violence against women and ministers have called for the death penalty to be reinstated, following the brutal attempted rape and murder of a 20-year-old student

Ozgecan Aslan's burned body was found in woodland after she tried to resist a sexual assault by minibus driver Ahmet Suphi Altindoken who then stabbed and clubbed her to death. Three people have been arrested in connection with Miss Aslan's death and protests have continued throughout Turkey for three days. Her death has caused outrage in Turkey where women are frequently killed at the hands of violent men and are seen as having a lower status - a few recently inflamed by comments made by the Turkish president who said that women were not equal to men. Protesters took to the streets in their thousands bearing placards of Miss Aslan and Turkish women shared their stories of harassment and violence on Twitter using the hashtag #sendeanlat (you tell your story). The 20-year-old was the only passenger left in a minibus driven by Altindoken, who changed the route of the bus when the other passengers got off and attempted to rape her. When she resisted him and used pepper spray, he killed her. Altindoken then returned to Tarsus to find his father Necmettin Altindoken and friend Fatih Gokce to help him dispose of her body. All three are being held at different detention centers in Turkey. They burned the body in a wooded area in a bid to hide the evidence but the corpse was found by police. Altindoken has confessed to the murder, saying that he had stabbed Aslan and then struck the fatal blows with a crowbar after seeing that she was not yet dead. The murder has also caused outrage among ministers and the public and has been compared to the reaction after the gang rape and brutal assault of Jyoti Singh in Delhi in 2012, who later died of her injuries. Turkey is already battling shocking levels of violence against women. According to the Platform to Stop Violence Against Women activist group, 294 women were killed by men in 2014. The situation is not helped by the ruling Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Erdogan, who declared in November 2014 that women were not equal to men.

In 1975, the Swedish parliament unanimously decided to change the former homogeneous Sweden into a multicultural country - 40 years later the dramatic consequences of this experiment emerge: violent crime has increased by 300%

If one looks at the number of rapes, however, the increase is even worse. In 1975, 421 rapes were reported to the police; in 2014, it was 6,620. That is an increase of 1,472%. That makes Sweden the rape capital of the West, second globally to only Lesotho in Southern Africa in the number of rapes it suffers.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has said that his government is encouraging a mass immigration of Jews from Europe

Finally, Netanyahu is saying something that I agree with. Personally, I think it would be best for both the Jews and the Europeans if the Jews left Europe permanently.

An adviser on education policies to Japan’s government has sparked a furore by recommending that immigrants in the world’s third-largest economy be separated by race

In a column for the Sankei newspaper, Ayako Sono said apartheid-era South Africa showed that whites, Asians and blacks should live apart. “Black people fundamentally have a philosophy of large families,” she wrote. “For whites and Asians, it was common sense for a couple and two children to live in one complex. But blacks ended up having 20 to 30 family members living in a single unit.” Sono is a best-selling author and a vocal supporter of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s efforts to revive patriotic education. Abe appointed her to a panel on educational reform in 2013 but the government says that she has since quit. She has also been quoted in a government-recommended textbook on morals for secondary school students, alongside Mother Theresa and other prominent figures. The column, written on Japan’s National Foundation Day, traditionally a holiday for expressing patriotism, sparked outrage, with online commentators branding it “disgusting” and “appalling”. Japan’s government is considering allowing 200,000 foreigners a year to enter the country to head off a growing demographic crisis. The country’s population is aging and declining, falling by nearly a quarter of a million in 2013. An advisory body to Abe said in 2014 that opening the immigration drawbridge to more foreigners would eventually help stabilize the population – currently 127 million – “at around 100 million”. The Asian powerhouse has so far shunned the mass immigration policies of other developed economies. Less than 2% of the population is foreign, and that includes hundreds of thousands of long-term residents from China and Korea. In her column, Sono said that Japan’s chronic labor shortage was forcing the country to consider more immigrants, but added that after studying the situation in South Africa for 30-40 years such policies would only work if the country segregated races. “It is next to impossible to attain an understanding of foreigners by living alongside them,” she said. She said that black Africans had ruined areas previously reserved for whites in the country and they would do the same thing to Japan if allowed to do so.

The number of children growing up as Muslims in Britain has almost doubled in a decade in what experts have described as an “unprecedented” shift in Britain’s social make-up

One in 12 schoolchildren in England and Wales are now officially classed as Muslim after a decade which saw the number of followers of Islam surge by just over 1.1 million, according to the most detailed study of its kind ever published. The report, presented to Parliament, concludes that Muslims could play a decisive role in the coming general election, expected to be the closest in recent times, making up a significant share of voters in some of the most marginal seats in the country. But the study of official census data by the Muslim Council of Britain also concludes that the Muslim population will continue expanding for “many decades” to come – something that experts said could transform everything from social attitudes to foreign policy. Although immigration has driven growth in the past, it is the dramatically younger age profile of the Muslim population which could have the biggest impact in the future. At a time when the wider population is ageing rapidly, half of British Muslims are under the age of 25 and a third are under 15. Overall 2.7 million people living in England and Wales on census day in 2011 – and another 81,000 across Scotland and Northern Ireland – described themselves as Muslim. That is up from just under 1.6 million in 2001 – a 75% jump. Among children under the age of five the rate of increase was more than 80%. Significantly, Muslims make up more than a fifth of the population in 26 parliamentary constituencies and around 50% in some areas. There are also 70 council wards with a Muslim population of 40% or more. Muslims are around twice as likely to be unemployed or homeless and almost a third of members of some communities have little or no English – a trait most marked among older people and new arrivals. Prof David Voas, director of the Institute for Social and Economic Research based at Essex University, said: “In terms of ethnic-religious minority groups expanding I think this is probably unprecedented. Even if immigration stopped tomorrow it is clear that in due course by the middle of this century or a bit later, 10% of the population of Britain will be of Muslim heritage.” He said that is likely to change political decisions and social attitudes on both a local and national level. “You could see the effect with local authorities making accommodation with swimming baths where there are women-only swimming periods,” he said. “It would start off with being relatively small but you could just imagine a situation where a more socially conservative view that might be conducive to Muslims might tip the balance.” He added: “It is also possible that there would be an impact on foreign policy – that there would be greater scepticism of involvement in foreign wars where the adversary is predominantly Muslim.”

The student government of the Durban University of Technology, in South Africa, has called on the institution to expel Jewish students, although some quotes from student leaders suggest that Jewish students who support the Palestinian cause could remain

Mqondisi Duma, secretary of the student government, said, "We had a meeting and analyzed international politics. We took the decision that Jewish students, especially those who do not support the Palestinian struggle, should deregister.”

When apartheid ended in 1994, the life expectancy in South Africa was 64 — the same as in Turkey and Russia

Now it’s 56, the same as in Somalia. There are 132.4 rapes per 100,000 people per year, which is by far the highest in the world: Botswana is in second with 93, Sweden in third with 64; no other country exceeds 32. The South African government estimates that there are 31 murders per 100,000 people per year. Or about 50 a day. That would make South Africa the tenth most murderous country in the world, outpacing Rwanda, Mexico, and both Sudans. And that’s using South Africa’s official estimates — outside groups put the murder rate 100% higher. Choosing not to trust the South African authorities is a safe bet — South Africa’s government, which has been led by Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress since the end of apartheid, is outstandingly incompetent and corrupt.

A comprehensive survey of U.S. Census data found that just 17% of black teens live with their nuclear family, an all-time low and down from 38% in 1950

The survey of Census data found that black kids typically start out in broken homes, with just 30% of black two-year-olds living with their parents, dropping to 17% at age 17.

Two new immigrants have arrived in the United States for every new job created nationwide, during the years stretching from 2000 and 2014, according to government statistics

About 18 million people moved to the United States from other countries between 2000 and 2014. But only 9.3 million new jobs were created during that same period. Varying estimates from the government's Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Pew Research Center indicate that of the 18 million immigrants who entered the United States between 2000 and 2014, between 4.5 million and 6.0 million did so illegally.

Black Americans make up a disproportionate share of the population newly infected with HIV, and they're more likely to die from the disease, according to two studies released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The first study looked at 2013 data submitted by 61 health departments and 151 community-based organizations around the country. The analysis found that black Americans accounted for 54.9% of all newly identified HIV-positive people at CDC-funded testing events — even though they make up roughly 12% of the US population, and about 45% of those tested at the events. The second study found that the death rate per 1,000 Americans 13 and older living with HIV dropped from 28.4 among black Americans in 2008 to 20.5 in 2012. Although this was the largest decline among all racial and ethnic groups, black individuals with HIV were 13% more likely to die in 2012 than their white counterparts and 47% more likely than their Hispanic peers. Things are even worse for gay black men. Although gay and bisexual men make up just 2% of the U.S. population, they are nearly 66% of the nation’s new HIV infections each year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported that new HIV infections are stable or declining in all other groups, but increasing among gay and bisexual men in the United States. Between 2008 and 2010, there was a 12% increase in new HIV infections among gay men nationally, and gay youth (ages 13–24) are especially vulnerable. In the same time period, the CDC reported an astounding 22% increase in new HIV infections among gay youth. What’s more, young black gay men continue to bear the brunt of new HIV infections. The heavy impact of HIV on black Americans is primarily borne by black gay men. Black gay men are three times more likely to acquire HIV than white gay men, and 22 times more likely to acquire HIV compared with the general black American population. Although black gay men represent just 1.4% of the black community, they represent 53% of new HIV infections among black Americans each year. Even more disturbing is that a quarter of new HIV infections among all Americans each year occur among black gay men. In fact, if you monitored a group of young black gay men from ages 20 to 40, 25% would be HIV-positive by age 25 and nearly 60% would be HIV-positive by age 40. This mirrors rates of HIV infection in some of the hardest-hit regions of the world.

Jewish power in Britain: Social media users who spread racial hatred should be banned from sites such as Twitter and Facebook, MPs say

The All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into anti-Semitism wants prosecutors to examine whether prevention orders like those used to restrict sex offenders' Internet access could be used. The cross-party group also highlighted the use of anti-Semitic terms online. A Community Security Trust report said that British anti-Semitic incidents more than doubled to 1,168 in 2014. The trust - which monitors anti-Semitism in Britain - says that this was its highest figure recorded since it began work in 1984. The Parliamentary inquiry was set up following a rise in incidents in July and August of 2014 during fighting between Gaza and Israel. Although the primary focus of the inquiry was anti-Semitism, one recommendation that it made was that those who carry out any kind of hate crime should be prevented from using social media. Hate crimes are defined in England and Wales as offenses carried against someone because of their disability, gender identity, race, religion or belief or sexual orientation and can include harassment. The MPs said that social media platforms had "increasingly been used for the spread of anti-Semitism". Of course, the Jews will always use the term "anti-Semitism" to include all criticism of their anti-gentile activities. Like the Muslims, Jews are ultimately the enemies of free speech and freedom of thought.

Obama, the Crusades, Communism and the Spanish Inquisition

Obama likes to argue that Christians are just as violent as Muslims even when the facts don't support him.

Black guy lists his occupation as "drug dealer" on arrest report

Robert Michael Phillips has seven felony convictions and more than a dozen arrests on his resumé — which he apparently feels earns him the right to list his occupation as "drug dealer". The slight problem being that he did so not on an application to peddle illegal substances, but rather on his arrest report, albeit for a host of alleged drug-related offenses. Something else he can add to his resumé — a veritable symphony of charges that include resisting arrest, heroin trafficking, possession of cocaine with intent to sell, weapons possession by a career criminal, fleeing law enforcement at a high rate of speed, striking a police animal, battery, and driving with a suspended license. What police say happened: Phillips cut off an unmarked officer, nearly causing an accident. The cop ran a check on Phillips, discovered that he was driving a stolen car, and followed; he observed Phillips conduct a drug deal. When police approached, he sped off, eventually entering a Michaels store, where he knocked a woman down, dropped a loaded weapon, and ran out the back. Police used a police dog to apprehend Phillips, and found 22 grams of heroin, about $2,300 in cash, 5.3 grams of crack, a drug scale, and hypodermic needles on his person and in his car.

Pennsylvania: A black teenager has been charged with murder after he shot a white classmate then posed for a selfie with the victim's body and sent the image to a friend

Maxwell Morton, 16, has been charged with first-degree murder in the case of 16-year-old Ryan Mangan, who died of a single gunshot wound to the face, and was discovered by his mother in her home. A picture was sent to one of Morton's friends on Snapchat showing him posing in front of Mangan's body which was slumped over in a chair, said police. Morton has also been charged one count of possession of a firearm by a minor. Following a search at Morton's home, he confessed to shooting Mangan after police found a 9mm handgun hidden under the basement steps that matched the shell casing found at the scene of the murder. Morton is being held in a juvenile detention center without bail and is set to face a preliminary hearing on February 19, 2015. If you love your children, keep them away from blacks even if people call you racist.

Jews like to see "anti-Semitism" as a form of gentile psychopathology

By viewing all anti-Jewish sentiment as being a type of mental illness, it allows the Jews to ignore or downplay legitimate gentile grievances against them.

California: Police have charged a Latino teenager with a hate crime for the stabbing of two black men in a Covina shopping center parking lot

Police Sgt. Gregg Peterson said that 19-year-old Louis Vasquez was arrested on charges of suspicion of attempted murder, use of a deadly weapon and a hate crime for the attack on two black men. Peterson says that Vasquez slashed a 27-year-old black man walking through the parking lot, cutting his right shoulder and left knee. Peterson says that the Hispanic suspect then stabbed an 18-year-old black store employee in the back as he retrieved shopping carts. Police say that the black victims did not know each other and it was a racially motivated attack.

Since the recession began in December 2007, foreign-born workers have experienced a net increase in employment, while U.S.-born workers have experienced a net loss

Bureau of Labor Statistics reveal that since the start of the recession in 2007 — which is said to have ended in June 2009 — the number of foreign workers employed in the United States rose by 1.7 million. In December 2007, the number of foreign-born workers was 22,810,000; by January 2009, the number had increased to 24,553,000. Meanwhile, the number of American-born workers employed decreased by 1.5 million, from 123,524,000 to 121,999,000. The numbers come as Congress continues to debate a Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill that would defund Obama’s executive amnesty, which has opened the door for millions of illegal immigrants to legally work in the United States.

Diversity and child sex abuse in Britain: Dozens of South Asian men have been charged with a wide range of sex crimes against vulnerable girls after two separate police investigations

Following a milestone operation by Northumbria Police, 20 suspects appeared in court to face charges including rape, sexual assault and sex trafficking. The offenses involved 12 victims, including one girl who was aged just 13, with officers vowing to continue their investigation into the abuse of vulnerable children. In a separate case, 25 men from Halifax, West Yorkshire, were charged with a number of historic and child-related sex offences. Almost all of the men in both cases are from South Asian backgrounds. A total of 31 suspects have already been charged as part of the operation. The victims associated with the latest charges are aged between 13 and 25. The accused men appeared at Bedlington magistrates’ court to be charged with a long list of offenses including arranging child prostitution, false imprisonment and supplying Class A drugs.

Rabbi Lyle Kamlet, a former Mamaroneck, New York, religious-school teacher, has been arrested for buying mail-order child pornography which he had delivered to the school and then took home

Kamlet, 62, of Mount Vernon is charged in a federal complaint with single counts of receiving child pornography and possessing child pornography. His arrest came after an investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office and U.S Postal Service inspectors. Kamlet formerly worked at the Westchester Day School, a Jewish day school in Mamaroneck. From 2008 through 2010, Kamlet ordered a number of kiddie porn DVDs, some of which he had sent to the school where he had been employed. Investigators searched Kamlet's home in 2013 and seized a number of videos, along with home movies allegedly containing images of naked children. According to the complaint, authorities began looking at Kamlet's activities after law enforcement officials in Canada searched a movie production company there, seizing hundreds of movies, including some child pornography. Also seized was an electronic database of mail-order customers and information on what they ordered. The database showed that Kamlet apparently ordered 23 DVDs from the company between November 2008 and July 2010, with titles such as Boy Fights XXVI: Buddy Brawl, Skate Brats and Cutting Room Floor. The complaint says that the videos depict naked boys between ages 10 and 14 performing gymnastics, riding bicycles, wrestling, having pillow fights and engaging in other activities. Kamlet admitted to investigators that he bought the videos, the complaint says, describing them "as his own personal sexual preference." Home movies seized from his home, which authorities say Kamlet made, show boys in a locker room, changing out of swim trunks. Kamlet was released on $100,000 bond after appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisa Margaret Smith in federal court in White Plains. He's scheduled to return to court February 25, 2015. If convicted, he faces between five and 20 years in prison on each count as well as fines of up to $250,000 for each charge.

The Democrats are losing support among not only the white working class, but also the growing American “middle class” — college graduates without postgraduate degrees who tend to work in offices and make between $50,000 and $100,000

Things are not looking too good for Obama's party.

According to the Counter Terrorism Division of the FBI in Washington, a Somali immigrant has graduated from being a Washington DC cab driver to one of the most wanted man on FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list – with a $50,000 bounty on his head

Liban Haji Mohammed, a 29-year-old Somali-born U.S. citizen, drove cabs in Washington DC for three years before being suspected by the FBI of having links with Al-Shabaab, a terrorist group linked with the deadly Westgate Mall attack in Kenya in 2013 – where the attack lasted four days with dozens killed; among several other terrorist attacks across Africa. Mohammed is accused by the FBI of providing material support to Al-Shabaab, and left the United States in the summer of 2012 to join the terrorist group in Somalia. “Not only did he choose to go to Somalia and fight with Al Shabaab, he took a prominent role in trying to recruit people to fight for Al Shabaab,” said Carl Ghatas, special agent in charge of the counter-terrorism division at the FBI’s Washington field office.

Britons dislike Israel more than Iran, new research suggests, following a surge in negative attitudes towards the country over the past two years, but North Korea is the most maligned nation outside of Europe

In a survey conducted by think tank Chatham House on public attitudes towards other countries, 35% of Britons said that they felt especially unfavorable towards Israel, an increase of 18% since 2012, while people’s unfavorable feelings towards Iran dropped from 45% to 33%. North Korea beat them both however, with 47% of Britons feeling especially unfavorable towards the nation led by Kim Jong-un. The research, entitled "Internationalism or Isolationism? British attitudes towards the UK’s international priorities" classed the top five least favorable nations as North Korea, Israel, Iran, Pakistan and Nigeria. It was conducted during August 2014, which the researchers noted was at a time when Israel was engaged in a military operation in Gaza against Hamas that caused large numbers of civilian casualties. The researchers suggested that the prominence of this news at the time contributed to the increase in unfavorable feelings towards Israel. For nations classed within Europe however, Russia was the most disliked at 56%, followed by Ukraine at a significantly lower 23%. The results come at a time when there has been an increase in overt negativity towards Israel and the country’s president Benjamin Netanyahu. CNN’s international correspondent quit his long-standing job on the network after he appeared to suggest that Israeli propaganda had played a hand in the brutal Charlie Hebdo terror attacks, while in the Philippines anti-Charlie Hebdo protesters held up burned images of Netanyahu and the Israeli flag with the message “Zionist conspiracy”.