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Today's topic is "UK Universities Drop in Rankings for Fourth Year in a Row"

For the fourth year in a row, universities in the United Kingdom have dropped in international rankings, according to the 2021 QS World University Rankings.

Each year, QS looks at each school's academic reputation, its reputation with employers, the quality of its published research, the number of students per teacher, and the number of international students and staff. Almost 75% of British universities saw their rank drop this year.

Speaking to The Guardian, Ben Sowter of QS suggested why the UK's rankings might be getting lower.

In 2013, the British government allowed universities to accept more students without increasing the number of teachers, which Sowter believes could lead to poor teaching quality. Sowter also thinks Brexit and COVID-19 have affected the scores, since both led fewer international students to come to the UK, which hurt the rankings.

Oxford University, the top British university, dropped from fourth place to fifth, and is now behind the California Institute of Technology. Cambridge University stayed at seventh place, its lowest rank ever.

All of the top four universities are American, with the top three being Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University and Harvard University, in that order.

However, Asian universities are also on the rise. Twenty-six of the world's top 100 schools are now in Asia. At 11th place, the National University of Singapore was the top Asian school, while Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, was 13th. China's Tsinghua University (15th), the University of Hong Kong (22nd), Peking University (23rd), and the University of Tokyo (24th) were also in the top 25.

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Today's topic is "Middle-Aged Americans More Stressed Today than in 1990s"

A new study has found that Americans aged between 45 and 65 may be much more stressed today than people in that same age range were in the 1990s.

A team of researchers led by Penn State University looked at data from 1,499 adults in 1995, and data from 782 adults in 2012.

Both groups were interviewed every day for eight days, and were asked about anything stressful they had experienced in the previous 24 hours. This included things like arguments with family and friends, and problems at work.

The study, published in American Psychologist, found that 2% of adults experienced more stress in the 2010s than the 1990s. However, among those aged 45 to 64, 19% experienced more stress in the 2010s.

David M. Almeida of Penn State University said the researchers were very surprised that so many middle-aged Americans were more stressed.

Middle-aged people were also 17% more likely to think that stress would affect their future plans. The same age group was also 27% more likely to believe that their finances would be affected by stress in the 2010s than people that age in the 1990s.

Healthline.com reports that Almeida and his team had expected adults to be more stressed now than in the 1990s — but he said they thought it would be people in their 20s and 30s who would be most stressed.

Almeida says the research shows that middle-aged Americans seem to have more pressure on them now. For example, they might be looking after young adult children while also taking care of older family members. And at work, they are more likely to be in management roles with responsibility for many people.

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Today's topic is "Study: Starting School Late Improves Health and Grades"

A 2017 study at an English high school found that students who started school at 10 a.m. instead of 8:50 a.m. had better health and school results.

For the first year of the study, the students started school at 8:50 a.m. For the second and third years, their start time changed to 10 a.m. Then, for the fourth year, the students went back to starting at 8:50 a.m.

The researchers looked at how often students stayed home from school due to illness, and how well they did with their school work.

For the first year, the average number of absences due to illness was 15.4 per student. In the second year, that number dropped to 11.3, and by the third year it was just 7.9. But in the fourth year, when the students went back to starting at 8:50 a.m., the number went up to 11.2.

The students' school work also improved. By the end of the first year, only 34% of the students had a grade of C or higher in five or more of their GCSEs — General Certificate of Secondary Education subjects, which need to be taken by most students in the UK.

By the end of the second year, 53% of students had a C or higher in five or more of their GCSEs. The number went down to 52% in the third year, and 51% in the fourth year.

Professor Russell Foster, of Oxford University, says that teenagers need 9 hours of sleep, but many only get 5 hours on a school night.

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Today's topic is "Web Inventor: World Must Close Internet Divide"

World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee has said the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates "the gross inequality" of a world where almost half the population is unable to connect to the internet.

Speaking at the launch of the UN's Roadmap for Digital Cooperation, Berners-Lee said that around 3.5 billion people have missed out on the "lifeline" the internet has provided by enabling work and education to continue during the pandemic.

Since the onset of the pandemic, internet usage has jumped 70%, the use of communication apps has grown by 300%, and virtual collaboration tools by 600%. Some video streaming services have grown 20-fold, said Klaus Schwab, executive chairman of the World Economic Forum.

But Schwab also emphasized that only about half of the world has internet access. Of the 25 least connected countries, 21 are in Africa.

"This inequality is a barrier to wider equality, and we know it most affects those who are already marginalized — people in developing countries, those on low incomes, and of course, women and girls, Berners-Lee said.

Tackling inequality requires raising the bar from basic access to ensuring that people have "meaningful connectivity" to the internet "that must include data and devices to use the full power of it," Berners-Lee said.

By 2030, the UN Roadmap says that every person should have affordable access to the internet.

The Roadmap aims "to connect, respect, and protect people in the digital age," and was partly developed by the World Wide Web Foundation, co-founded by Berners-Lee.

Last year the foundation launched the "Contract for the Web," a global plan for governments, companies and individuals to increase connectivity, protect people's privacy, and keep knowledge freely available, among other goals.

The contract has 1,300 endorsements and the foundation is developing ways for governments and companies to show how they're living up to commitments.

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Today's topic is "Tokyo is 3rd Most Expensive City for Expats"

Tokyo is the third most expensive city for expatriates, or "expats", according to Mercer's 2020 Cost of Living Survey. That's one spot lower than in 2019, when Tokyo was in second place. Hong Kong is the most expensive city for expats, while Ashgabat in Turkmenistan is now the second most expensive. Six of the top 10 cities this year are in Asia.

Mercer figures out the cost of living for expats to help employers know what they should pay staff who are working in other countries.

To find the cost of living, Mercer looks at the price of more than 200 goods and services in over 200 cities. Mercer includes things like housing, food, utilities, transportation, entertainment, and clothing. Each city is then compared with New York City to find its rank.

The city of Tunis, Tunisia, is the least expensive city for expats in 2020. The second least expensive is Windhoek, Namibia, and third least expensive is Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Because the survey was done during the coronavirus pandemic, Mercer also found that people were buying some products more than usual, like cleaning products, entertainment products, and "comfort food" — food that's eaten because it tastes good and makes people feel better.

Cleaning products, such as soap and disinfectant, were most expensive in New York City. Mexico City had the most expensive entertainment products, like TVs and board games. And Hong Kong had the most expensive comfort food, like chocolate and frozen pizzas.

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Today's topic is "Japanese Stores to Charge for Plastic Bags from July"

From July 1, stores and supermarkets in Japan will start charging fees for single-use plastic bags, under a new national law.

The law is part of the Japanese government’s plan to reduce plastic waste and encourage people to make lifestyle changes in a country where plastic bags are often handed out even for small purchases.

Some supermarkets in Japan have already started charging customers for plastic bags, but the new law will make it mandatory. Stores are free to set their own prices, with a minimum fee of ¥1 per bag.

Three major convenience store chains — Seven-Eleven, FamilyMart and Lawson — will charge customers ¥3 for regular-sized plastic bags. All three have announced that they will also shift towards more environmentally-friendly bags in the future.

Activists in Japan have long criticized the government for moving too slowly on dealing with the issue of plastic waste. According to a 2018 report by the UN, Japan is the world’s second largest producer of plastic packaging waste per capita, after the United States.

Although no official data is available, media reports estimate that Japan uses between 30 and 50 billion plastic bags each year — that’s more than 300 bags per person. By comparison, an average resident of Denmark — the first country to introduce a tax on plastic bags in 1993 — uses only 4 single-use plastic bags per year.

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Today's topic is "Free Wi-Fi, Phone Chargers for Seoul's New Bus Stops"

South Korea's capital, Seoul, is planning to build new bus stops with free Wi-Fi, phone chargers and air cleaners. Seoul's government plans to build 10 of the new "Smart Shelters" by October 2020 in order to test them, before new features are added to bus stops around the city.

The bus stops will have heated chairs, air conditioning and information about how clean the air is inside and outside. They will also offer information on when buses will arrive, and for emergencies, there will be cameras, a bell to call for help, and a defibrillator.

There are three possible designs for the bus stops, and Seoul's government has asked people to vote online for the one they like best. People can vote until June 24th.

Bus stops with some of the features of "Smart Shelters" were already built in 2019. The city called them "Eco-Shelters" and they had plants growing in them to help clean the air, along with air cleaners and information about noise and dust levels.

In 2019, Seoul's government announced plans to offer free Wi-Fi throughout the city by 2022. Most buses in the city now offer free Wi-Fi, and the number of Wi-Fi points in places like parks, parking lots, and other public areas from will increase 7,420 to 23,750.

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Today's topic is "31% of UK Students Say University Not Good Value"

A survey has found that 31% of UK students believe that their university courses are poor or very poor value, up from 29% the year before. However, that number is not as high as the 34% who thought university was poor value in 2017.

There are about 1.8 million undergraduate students in UK universities, and the Student Academic Experience Survey was taken by about 10,000 of them.

The survey also found that 39% of students were happy with the value of their courses, down from 41% the year before. And 64% said they would not change their school or course if they had a second chance — the same as the year before.

Students in Scotland felt they got the best value for their money, with 57% agreeing that university was good value, although this was down from 63% the year before.

However, Scottish students can get their first university degree for free — and students from other parts of the UK have to pay if they go there just for university. For students in other parts of the UK, university costs up to $11,600 per year.

Only 11% of students agreed that they had "life satisfaction," and just 14% said they were happy. Eighty-four percent of students agreed that universities should be able to contact their parents if there were serious concerns about a student's mental health.

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Today's topic is "European Borders Slowly Reopening"

Many countries in Europe are opening their borders to fellow Europeans after three months of coronavirus lockdowns.

The European Union home affairs commissioner, Ylva Johansson, has told member nations that they "should open up as soon as possible."

Many countries are doing just that, allowing travel from the EU, Britain and the rest of Europe’s usually passport-free Schengen travel area, which includes non-EU countries like Switzerland. Still, it’s a complicated patchwork of different rules.

Spain only plans to open to European travelers on June 21, but has already started allowing thousands of Germans to fly to its Balearic Islands for a trial run — removing its 14-day quarantine for the group.

"We want our country, which is already known as a world-class tourist destination, to be recognized as also a secure destination," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said.

Italy opened its borders on June 3. Germany, like France and others, lifted its remaining border checks on June 15, and has scrapped a requirement that arrivals must prove they have a good reason to enter.

However, many German regions have imposed a quarantine requirement for arrivals from Sweden, whose virus strategy avoided a lockdown but produced a relatively high death rate. Norway is also keeping its border with Sweden closed.

Austria reopened on June 16 to European neighbors except Spain, Portugal, Sweden and Britain. France is asking people from Britain to self-quarantine for two weeks. Britain also recently introduced a 14-day quarantine requirement for most arrivals.

But with few flights and nervousness about new outbreaks, many Europeans are looking at domestic travel this summer. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz are both planning to vacation in their homelands this year.

Tourists from the US, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East will have to wait, however: Europe is only expected to start opening up to visitors from elsewhere in July.

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Today's topic is "13% of Museums May Not Reopen after Pandemic"

Research has found that an estimated 13% of museums that closed because of the coronavirus pandemic may never open again.

According to two studies, 90% of museums across the world — around 85,000 — have had to close because of the pandemic.

The studies were done by the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). UNESCO and ICOM say they will use the information to find ways to support institutions after life returns to normal.

The research found that only 5% of museums in Africa and the Small Island Developing States (SIDS), like Samoa and Haiti, were able to offer online materials. But even museums with online services will see a large decrease in earnings if they can't open for visitors.

In the US, the American Alliance of Museums also says museums are losing as much as $33 million a day. A study by Americans for the Arts also found that non-profit arts and culture organizations in the US had lost about $5.5 billion by mid-May.

UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said that museums are important to the "resilience of societies. We must help them cope with this crisis and keep them in touch with their audiences."

UNESCO plans to begin discussions among international experts about how to help museums with their problems. The talks are part of its ResiliArt program, which was started to support artists affected by the COVID-19 crisis.

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