1.

Switzerland is the world’s most competitive economy, the World Economic Forum (WEF) reported on
Wednesday.

It said the Swiss economy has been more competitive than the economies of all other countries in each
of the past nine years. In 2008, Switzerland finished in second place, after the United States.

The WEF, which is based in Geneva, produces a yearly report on economic competitiveness. The ratings
are based on over 10 measures of competitiveness and opinions of business leaders.

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2.

We humans spend about one-third of our lives asleep. This may sound like a lot of time, but it is not
wasted.

Sleep helps us stay healthy, but it also helps our brains remember. Our brains need good sleep to
remember what we do and learn during the other two thirds of our lives when we are awake.

Besides keeping us healthy, some new research shows that a good night’s sleep helps make us more
intelligent.

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3.

China will again lay claim to operating the fastest bullet train service in the world.

According to Chinese media, the Beijing to Shanghai train will once again be allowed to reach speeds up
to 350 kilometers an hour. A deadly crash between two bullet trains in 2011 caused China to limit the
speeds to 300 kilometers an hour.

The South China Morning Post reported the change will cut travel time by one hour on the 1,300
kilometer trip between Beijing and Shanghai. The faster Beijing-Shanghai trains will begin September 21
and additional lines will also be launched, according to the newspaper.

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4.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says progress is being made in reducing deaths from non-
communicable diseases (NCDs). But it says much more needs to be done to save the almost 40 million
people who die every year from preventable causes.

In a new report, the WHO noted that cardiovascular and chronic respiratory diseases, cancers and
diabetes are the biggest killers of people. Every year, the report said, 15 million adults die before they
reach old age. It noted they often die in the most productive period of their lives, between the ages of
30 and 70.

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5.

The government of Vietnam is seeking to help the main rice-producing part of the country deal with
difficult agricultural issues.

The area is known as the Mekong Delta. It is home to 18 million of Vietnam’s 94 million people. More
than half of the country’s rice is grown in the area, which feeds more than 145 million people in Asia.

The Mekong begins in Tibet. It passes through six countries: China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia
and Vietnam. Some of these countries are building dams that are affecting the river.

Worries about the future of the Mekong Delta increased after an extreme lack of water this year caused
the area to become saltier than normal. The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization, or FAO,
said rice production fell by 1.1 million tons.

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6.

World Breastfeeding Week is an annual celebration held during the first week in August in more than
120 countries. The celebration aims to raise awareness about the health and economic benefits of
breastfeeding.

One goal of this year’s event is to encourage governments to support workplace policies that help
mothers breastfeed their babies for as long as possible. Another goal is to confirm that breastfeeding is
normal and natural.

….

Many doctors recommend that babies be breastfed because the milk and closeness to the mother
provide health benefits for newborns.

Experts say breastfeeding allows a mother to share her immune protection with her baby. In countries
with poor water quality especially, breastfeeding protects a newborn from dangerous infections.

Breastfeeding might benefit not just the child. In recent years, researchers have also been studying the
health benefits of breastfeeding for the mother.

A new study found that women who breastfed may have lowered their risk of heart disease or stroke by
an average of 10 percent when they became older.
The study is a collaboration between researchers at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences at Peking
University and the University of Oxford. They studied data on nearly 290,000 women. The average age
of these women was 51.

The researchers found that women who breastfed had a 9 percent lower risk of heart disease and an 8
percent decreased risk of stroke. These percentages are in comparison to women who had never
breastfed.

The benefit of breastfeeding was even greater for women who nursed their babies for two years or
more. Their heart disease risk was 18 percent lower and the risk of stroke 17 percent less than for those
women who did not breastfeed.

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7.

The number of tourists visiting Cambodia's genocide sites has more than tripled over the last 10 years.
They are visiting memorials for the nearly 2 million people killed under Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge.

But the sharp increase in tourism is creating problems. Visitors are disturbing some sites, and making
preserving the memories difficult.

Choeung Ek is the best known of the genocide sites. It is also known as the Killing Fields. The site is
located 17 kilometers south of Cambodia’s capital city, Phnom Penh.

Each day, tourists arrive by tuk-tuk (a three-wheeled taxi), motorbike and air-conditioned buses.

====================

8.

Bangkok, Thailand, is known for having some of the best street food in the world. But officials have
announced plans to ban food vendors in an effort to clean up the city.

An assistant to Bangkok’s governor told The Nation newspaper the move is meant to improve the
appearance, walkability and safety of city streets.

“The street vendors have seized the pavement space for too long and we already provide them space to
sell food and other products legally in the market,” the assistant said. “So there will be no let-up in this
operation - every street vendor will have to move out.”

Bangkok was recently named the world’s finest street food location for the second year by Cable News
Network (CNN).

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9.
The device was introduced during a media event Wednesday in New York. The launch came after
Samsung was forced to recall millions of its troubled Note 7 devices last year.

Samsung’s chief of mobile operations, D.J. Koh, began the event by admitting the company had faced a
“challenging” year. One filled with “valuable lessons and hard decisions.” But he said the launch marked
an important new beginning.

“Today, I’m excited to show you a new phone that extends our heritage of great innovation and
stunning design.”

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10.

United Nations researchers are reporting progress in the fight against the disease malaria.

The researchers confirm that malaria-carrying mosquitoes are becoming more resistant to insecticide
products. But they note that another way to guard against the insects -- chemically-treated bed nets --
still provides a lot of protection against the disease.

The researchers reported on a five-year-long study. The findings were released at a meeting of the
American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in Atlanta, Georgia.

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11.

The earthquake that struck near Mexico City Tuesday came exactly 32 years after an 8.0 magnitude
quake hit the area.

The 1985 earthquake killed nearly 10,000 people.

Mexican officials say more than 200 people are confirmed dead following Tuesday’s quake. Many
buildings were damaged, while others were destroyed.

Rescue workers searched the capital and other areas on Wednesday in hopes of finding survivors.

Mexican Interior Minister Miguel Osorio Chong says his country’s armed forces and police will continue
working until they explore all possibilities of finding more people alive.

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12.

Exercise is good for us. It reduces the risks of dying from all causes, including cancer and heart disease.
This is according to the World Health Organization.

But many people who work all week have little time for exercise.
So, they might try to do something to increase their heart rates over the weekend – go for a long run,
take a bike ride, hike in the mountains or do a strenuous chore around the house, such as raking leaves,
shoveling snow or digging a garden.

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13.

Hurricane Irma has weakened to a tropical storm after causing widespread damage on Caribbean islands
and the U.S. state of Florida.

Irma’s winds eased to about 100 kilometers per hour Monday as the storm continued to move on a
northwest path, away from Florida. The ocean storm had been the strongest kind of hurricane – a
Category 5 – as it moved through the Caribbean area last week. The storm’s wind speeds were
measured near 300 kilometers per hour at one time.

Weather officials warn that Irma is expected to keep producing high winds and heavy rain, although it
has weakened.

Officials in Florida were getting their first look at storm damage in some areas Monday. Irma first hit the
islands called the Florida Keys early Sunday, when the storm was at its greatest strength.

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14.

Living things cannot survive without water.

Yet more than 700 million people worldwide have trouble getting clean, safe water. That number comes
from the Water Project, a non-profit group. It estimates that one in nine people do not have access to
safe and clean drinking water.

Governments, non-governmental organizations (NGO) and charities sent representatives to Stockholm,

Sweden earlier this month for World Water Week activities. The subject for this year’s water week
campaign was “water and waste, reduce and reuse.”

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15.

The world is getting older. As more people retire each year, fewer working-age people will be there to
replace them. This has effects not only in the work place but in the world finance. The bond rating
agency Moody's says the aging population will lead to a drop in household savings. This could mean that
total investments will fall and economic growth could slow.

Some reports have described Japan, Italy and Germany as the world's "Super Aged" nations. That is the
name for countries in which at least 20 percent of the population is at least 65 years old.
===================

16.

A new study finds that more than 13 million deaths could be prevented in China over the next 40 years if
the country had stronger anti-smoking measures. But the study’s authors say China has not taken many
steps to control the use of tobacco. The study was published in the British Medical Journal.

China signed the World Health Organization’s international treaty on tobacco control in 2003. But it has
not put in place many of the WHO ideas to help people stop smoking. Experts say following these ideas
could cut smoking by 40 percent before the year 2050. Without stronger anti-smoking measures, there
could be 50 million tobacco-related deaths in the country over that time.The authors of the study used a
computer program called “SimSmoke” to make their predictions.

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17.

Recently, there have been efforts to make sure children in Africa get a good strong education. But a new
report says governments are losing about $129 billion every year on poor quality education. As a result,
about one in four students in poor countries cannot read a complete sentence, that represents about
175 million young people.

The report comes from UNESCO - the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. It
says poor teacher training and spending cuts are just two of the reasons for underperforming school
systems.

Pauline Rose, an education specialist directed the report. She says more teachers are needed across
Africa, especially in countries south of the Saharan desert. She says the area would need about 225,000
additional teachers a year to guarantee a primary school education for all boys and girls by 2015.

Miss Rose says governments like to save money by using contract teachers. These educators are not
government employees but work under a special agreement. Contract teachers can be easily dismissed
if found to be underperforming. They also earn far less money than teachers working for the
government. Contract teachers represent more than half of the teaching work force in many West
African countries.