From the LOGIS news alert subscriptions (ending 23/10):

Business & management:
• The UN was warning last week, that the global tourism industry is already feeling the effects of the economic downturn, and is predicting an even more sharp downturn during the rest of this year.
• The ILO has published a report: World of Work Report 2008: Income inequalities in the age of financial globalization. The report shows that in spite of strong economic growth producing millions of jobs since the 1990s, the income gap between rich and poor has grown dramatically in most of the world, and can only get worse due to the global financial crisis.
• The OECD has released: Growing Unequal? Income distribution and poverty in OECD countries. The report covers all 30 countries, and a range of areas often excluded from conventional discussion about the distribution of economic resources among individuals and households.
• A leading retirement policy expert says that recent research already shows 75% of large employers operating private superannuation schemes would, in retrospect, not start one again, and that sentiment seems to be increasing.
• Job seekers are being warned to take greater care when sending their CVs to employer websites or online employment agencies. An experiment has shown how easy it is to lure people into sending CVs to a fake website, leaving them open to identity theft from the information obtained.

Education
• A UK government think tank said in a recent report, that it was vital to exploit the "mental capital" of mature adults and nation needs to invest much more in the ability of older people to make best use of their brains. Little money has gone into anything other than leisure classes, with scant evidence of how useful they are.
• 18 British universities are trialling the removal of the 200 year old degree classification scheme and its replacement with “achievement reports” that would cover more than just academic passes.

Environment & sustainability:
• The UN atomic agency says that there is growing interest in nuclear power to generate electricity. A decade ago, the popularity of nuclear power was in question, but now many countries are expanding or expressing interest in starting nuclear power generation, especially in developing countries.
• An assessment of the per capita carbon footprint of Britain’s local authorities, shows that the residents with the largest carbon footprints are the affluent ones. This produces challenges for both local and central government in implementing carbon reduction policies.

Health & wellbeing:
• An East London council plans to ban new takeaways opening within 400 meters of schools, youth centers and parks to help combat child obesity and promote healthy eating.
• The 2008 fireworks safety campaign has been launched, and as in the previous 2 years, the sale period only extends from the 2nd to the 5th of November, and the minimum age for purchasing is 18. New regulations have been introduced limiting the explosive sound levels of retail fireworks.
• Britons are again debating the issue of assisted suicide and euthanasia, after the death by assisted suicide in Switzerland, of a 23 year old UK man paralysed as a result of a rugby accident.

Law & Government:
• A website has been launched on the Internet, allowing anyone in the world to “vote” informally in another country’s presidential or parliamentary elections. Results are listed by the country of the voter, and progress can be monitored.
• Some councils in the UK are being accused of using a disability discrimination act as “an excuse” to shut down some public toilets, rather than adapting them to become accessible.

People, culture & diversity:
• The number of asylum seekers in industrialized nations rose by 9% from 2006 to 2007, and Iraqis make up the largest number of claims by far.
• The NZ Institute of Economic Research was commissioned by Family First NZ to research the fiscal value of family: The Value of Family: fiscal benefits of marriage and reducing family breakdown in New Zealand.
• A UK professor of sociology continues the discussion about modern 'social evils' on the theme of 'the absence of society'. These 'ills' are products of the withdrawal of the traditional conception of 'society' and are rooted in the way of life of today's individualised society of consumers.
• An examination of territorial behaviour among young people in disadvantaged areas of British cities shows the huge impact on teenagers and their safety and freedom, and the public policy implications of recognising territoriality as an important social force.
• Controversial new research says that cartoon violence on television can teach pre-school children to be less aggressive.
• 75 libraries in the UK closed last year, visits are steadily falling, and in the face of modern media and technology choices, budgets for children’s books are shrinking. A review has just been announced to consider how best to modernize libraries, hinting not merely at rebranding but also at a radical rethink of their contemporary purpose.
• A recent Pew Internet report shows that rather than driving people apart, mobile phones and the Internet are helping them maintain social ties, increasing family time spent together and allowing for new kinds of connectedness.

Science, technology & transport:
• Research recently published from the University of Otago shows that Hector and Maui dolphin are being killed off at a rate that can’t be sustained by the current numbers.
• Computer criminals may soon be able to work out what someone is typing by analysing the electromagnetic signals produced by every key press. Security researchers are saying that keyboards are "not safe to transmit sensitive information".
• At the same time security experts are warning that spam and virus attacks on mobile devices will rise, and that the increasing availability of financial and payment data via smartphones will be a draw for cybercriminals.
• A group in China has produced a small car that runs on power from the solar panels on its roof. The solar panels are still inefficient at transforming solar energy to electricity, but 10 of the cars have been produced for sale.
• A US company manufacturing buses has been producing them as hybrid vehicles for a while. However, they are now moving into production of buses that use a far more advanced battery system and include the use of micro turbines, meaning that the buses can spend a third of their time running on only electricity, and the rest using whichever fuel of a wide range that might be selected to save energy and costs.
• A landscaping business in Florida has planted 22 acres of land in a biofuel crop to eventually be able to save money on its annual diesel bill.