Facts & Trends

Turkish leaders reacted with outrage this week after Pope Francis referred to the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War I as “the first genocide of the 20th century.” Turkey recalled its Vatican envoy, and President Recep ...

American men are weighing in at an average of 196 pounds—16 pounds more than in 1990, a new Gallup survey has found.The average weight for women jumped 14 pounds—to 156 pounds— over the same period. Gallup estimates 62 percent of ...

Percentage of U.S. women prisoners who are mothers of young children: 61 ...

Minimum percentage of Arctic warming that has been caused by commercial airline emissions: 10 ...

Mississippi has overtaken West Virginia as the fattest state in the union, with an obesity rate of 35.4 percent.  Montana had the lowest obesity rate—19.6 percent ...

Fish flee existing habitats in search of better ones.  Atlantic sea bass, for example, are migrating north to cooler waters—but the heat will chase them there ...

A Chinese fishmonger found a 3-pound live bomb inside a squid he was cutting up.  Police took the squid away and blew it up in a controlled explosion ...

Reporters Without Borders ranked 180 countries on the basis of conditions for press freedom. A sampling: ...

“Family” is traditionally the most important part of Korean life, but families are now falling apart. The national divorce rate has tripled from 2013 to 2014. South Korea has had the highest suicide rate among developed countries for eight consecutive ...

The world's most pierced man has been refused entry to Dubai over fears that he might be an evil sorcerer. Rolf Buchholz, who has 453 piercings on his face and body as well as fake horns implanted in his forehead, ...