Chinese Wife Hunting — VOA News reports that rural Chinese men are moving to urban areas to find a mate for themselves. Gender imbalance is pronounced in China where traditional preference for sons, a one-child policy and advanced technology that allows safe abortions have led to a population that is skewed towards males. In China there are roughly 120 males for every 100 females, which is much higher than the normal birth ratio of 105 to 100. According to the Washington-based Population Reference Bureau, the world’s most populous country now has 41 million bachelors who will not have women to marry.
Turkey’s Internet Industry — Turkey’s internet companies are booming as they cater to the country’s youth, reports the Economist. Roughly 44% of 75 million Turks are Internet users, providing online companies with a market that has plenty of room to grow. “Turkish Internet firms,” writes the Economist, “think they have a good base from which to expand, especially into the Middle East and north Africa.”
Africa’s Telecom Market — Africa now has approximately 650 million cell phone subscribers, which means it has a bigger mobile phone market than either the U.S. or the E.U., notes Quartz. Data from the World Bank shows that the number of cell phones in Africa has increased by 40 times since 2000. The continent is now the second largest mobile telecom market after Asia.
Deconstructing a Disaster — The New York Times website has a published a fascinating — and gorgeous — interactive story that follows 16 skiers in Washington’s Cascades, “among the craggiest of American mountain ranges,” as they faced an avalanche last February.
Peruvian Peak Facing Chinese Razing — A mountain in Peru that is “packed with copper, silver and molybdenum” will be razed for the minerals by a Chinese company that recently purchased it for $860 million, reports the Guardian. Yet the mountain won’t be the only one to go; a nearby town of 5,000 people will be ejected from their homes.