First up this Wednesday, a controversial new law in Denmark that`s drawing new attention,
the Europe`s
refugee and migrant crisis. Because of war, poverty and instability in other regions,
more asylum seekers are entering Europe than in anytime
since World War II.
Yesterday, a significant majority of Danish lawmakers approved legislation that allows
officials to confiscate the valuables of migrants and refugees
-- cash, watches, phones, computers, jewelry -- things worth more than $1,400 may now be
seized by Danish officials. But sentimental items like
wedding rings or portraits will not be taken.
A Danish lawmaker says everyone in this country receives free health care, elderly care, education
through college, language training and that this
ensures that migrants who are able will contribute financially to Denmark society.
But the United Nations says the law violates the migrants` dignity. A human rights group
Amnesty International says it reflects a dismal race to
the bottom by European countries responding to the refugee crisis.
With so many refugees combined with some high profile crimes blamed on them in Europe, supporters
and critics of Denmark`s law say it`s more about
discouraging them from entering Denmark. Similar laws exist in Switzerland and Germany.
One factor driving millions of refugees into Europe is violence in their homeland. And
for some of them, especially those from Syria, is connected
to what`s known as the Arab Spring.
Next today, we`re telling you how that started five years ago in the North African nation
of Tunisia.
The Arab Spring is an uprising that transformed the Middle East.
It began in the late 2010 when a fruit seller in Tunisia set himself on fire after struggling
to make ends meet and growing frustrated with police
corruption in his town. His story resonated with fellow Tunisians who began protesting
for democracy.
While Tunisia`s uprising was largely a success story, other countries in the region have
struggled with violence, political instability and even
civil war. Egypt`s president stepped down just weeks after a protest broke out on January
25th. More than 800 people were killed during the
revolution. The country held its first democratic election the next year. And Mohamed Morsy
was elected president, but a year later, he was ousted by
the military.
Protests in neighboring Libya led to a civil war between opposition forces and regime loyalists.
We are walking into Gadhafi`s compound.
Even though its leader Moammar Gadhafi was ousted, the country remains in chaos. The
state of lawlessness has given ISIS a foothold in
Libya. The country is also struggling to track down on human trafficking.
Yemen`s President Ali Abdullah Saleh became the fourth Arab leader forced from power in
2011. In 2015, a civil war intensified between Sunni forces
loyal to the government and Shia-led Houthi rebels. The deadly conflict was further complicated
by regional players turning the conflict into a
proxy war.
While many other Arab countries also experienced uprisings, Syria was hit the harshest. Protests
in the country led to a five-year-old civil war
with no end in sight. The conflict has displaced millions and killed more than 250,000 people,
according to the United Nations.
What started as an Arab Spring, hope for a new wave of democratic reforms, has unfolded
into something entirely different, the effects of which will
be felt for generation.
Really excited to see a school in Ireland was picked for today`s "Roll Call". First
time that`s happened.
We`re visiting County Laois. A very warm welcome to our viewers at the Heath National School.
Thank you for making us part of your day.
Next to Burlington, Kentucky, just a stone`s throw from the Ohio and Indiana borders. The
Trailblazers are blazing away at Camp Ernst Middle
School.
And from the city of Fort Yukon in eastern Alaska, the Eagles are soaring with CNN STUDENT
NEWS. Fort Yukon School rounds out our roll.
Now, to the second half of our two-part series of transportation. We`ve covered maglev trains
before. Maglev, short for magnetic levitation. The
trains use powerful magnets to give a past smooth ride, floating on air, no friction.
A couple of challenges with them, though, their cost and their
power consumption.
A scientist in Germany may have a way to address the second issue.
Ludwig Schultz (ph) is German physicist. At 68, he`s semi-retired, but still very much
it seems a kid at
heart. And his toys move about like few others.
There are already magnetically levitated trains operating in China and Japan. But the technology
is fundamentally different and it`s very
expensive to run.
Schultz`s approach uses unique materials called superconductors, once super cooled can simply
lock in place on a magnetize track without any need for
power.
We are talking about superconducting magnetic levitation forces. We need a superconductor.
And the
superconductor is only superconducting at low temperature. But we can cool with liquid
nitrogen.
We pour in here, and this cools the superconductor to minus 196 degrees centigrade.
Now, it is superconducting and we can take away these blocks and now it`s levitating.
It is.
And you can test it. You can press it down, you can jump up, you cannot get it down. But
it also sticks with its force. So, you can try to
lift it up, but you`re not able to do it, unless you are really strong. I want to see.
With the pair of superconductors embedded inside, it was time for a ride a two-seater
roundabout or rather float about, the SupraTrans.
So, now, we are still lifted up by lumberjacks (ph). So, we can remove the lumberjacks (ph).
Now, we are levitating and we can take off.
And let`s speed up a little bit.
That`s very smooth.
Round and round we went on that 18-meter track, silently.
Although we are someway off from being able to glide down the streets on a hoverboard
like Marty McFly, Schultz is working with a German company
Fester (ph) to develop the technology further.
Scientists say sleep plays a role in how well we learn and remember. It`s not just about
getting enough sleep to process new information. It`s
also that during sleep, our mind somehow take a new info that we already learned during
the day and put it in a memory bank. Now, if you throw a
compliment into the mix, a study found that learning kicks into a whole new gear.
You know, giving compliments isn`t just a good way to get someone`s attention. It`s
an easy
way to make someone feel good. You can make yourself feel good.
But in your brain, it`s actually a lot more complicated than that. In fact, I want to
tell you about this fascinating study that came out of
Japan. People were asked to learn and perform a task and then were separated into three
groups. The first group included an evaluator who
would compliment participants individually. The second group consists of individuals who`d
watch another participant receive a compliment. A third
group was then asked to evaluate their own performance.
And when the people were asked to repeat the exercise the next day, the group that received
direct compliments from evaluator performed
significantly better than the people in the other two groups. What the authors concluded
was that to the brain, receiving a compliment did as much
as social reward as being rewarded money. In fact, the same area of the brain, the striatum,
is activated when a person is rewarded with the
compliment or cash.
Now, strange as it sounds, researchers saying compliments serve as a catalyst for better
skill consolidation during sleep. Praise they say
provides a memory boost for the brain to more efficiently learn while sleeping. It`s like
my wife always tells me, flattery will get you
everywhere.
Make sense that a race is easier when you have four legs. This is Ludivine. She`s a
hound dog. She lives in Alabama. A couple of weeks
ago, her owners let her out one more and Ludivine took off. She met up with some people at the
start of a half marathon decided to join them and
here`s the awesome part. Even though Ludivine stopped to sniff some other animals and play
in the water, she finished the whole race in 7th place out
of 165 runners.
Now, maybe some jealous runners would have called that mush. The runaway ran away with
the top story of the day and folks are probably dog-tired of
hearing about it, though they maybe they`re relieved she didn`t bark any records.
Luvidine`s owners don`t even run, though. So, in hound-sight, they don`t seem to mind
being hounded about their hound`s marathon achievement.
I`m Carl Azuz for CNN STUDENT NEWS.