Education

Iranian football players laid backpacks on a football pitch in Turkey to pay tribute to the children killed in a US-Israeli strike on Minab elementary school last month. The tribute came ahead of a friendly match against Nigeria.

WASHINGTON — Melania Trump on Tuesday called on nations to work together to improve access to education and technology for children around the world, delivering her plea as she addressed a gathering of her counterparts from more than 40 countries.

The first lady’s Fostering the Future Together initiative, which she announced last year, and an inaugural two-day summit that she opened Tuesday are examples of how Melania Trump has expanded her portfolio to embrace global issues.

“As people we dream. As leaders we progress. As nations we will build,” she said in opening remarks. “Beginning today, let’s accelerate our new global alliance, this bond, to positively impact the progress of our children.”

She called on participants to host regional meetings, conduct research studies, begin new partnerships and collaborate with another member country “to cultivate the skills young people need to be successful in this rapidly evolving world.”

She said the goal of empowering children will be achieved by creating innovative programs, advocating for supportive education policies, sponsoring tech-focused legislation and building strong public-private partnerships.

“This room is filled with extraordinary human capital,” the first lady said. She urged the leaders seated around a large U-shaped table in a State Department auditorium to “harness it to elevate your children, to empower your people and to accelerate your economies.”

The gathering included technology companies such as Microsoft, Google and OpenAI.

Among those participating were Olena Zelenska, the spouse of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The first lady announced the Fostering the Future Together initiative during the U.N. General Assembly session last fall.

Superville writes for the Associated Press.

March 5 (UPI) — Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced on Thursday that the department will be pushing for increased nutrition education in medicine.

Kennedy made the announcement after having communicated with dozens of medical schools in the last couple of months to increase what doctors learn about human nutrition.

Fifty-three medical schools have agreed to start requiring that every medical student complete 40 hours of comprehensive nutrition education or an equivalent this fall, the HHS chief said at a presentation of the initiative.

The push for increased nutrition education follows Kennedy’s announcement in January of new dietary guidelines and a new food pyramid aimed improving Americans’ diets.

Kennedy called the initiative a “transformative program that will reshape the way that we train doctors in this country.”

“Chronic disease is bankrupting our health system and poor nutrition sits at the center of that crisis,” Kennedy said in a news release.

Surveys have found that medical students receive as little as 1.2 hours of formal nutrition education per year, three-fourths of U.S. medical schools do not require education courses and about 14% of residency programs require nutrition courses, according to HHS.

The 53 medicals, across 31 states, that have made agreements with the Trump administration will also be eligible for federal funding to

The administration also will now require U.S. Public Health Service officers to take a minimum number of continuing nutrition education hours as part of their overall continuing education requirements, HHS said.

Since the late 1960s, doctors and health experts have noted that nutrition education does not rank high enough in medical education, NBC News reported.

Among the topics that Kennedy and HHS have suggested be considered for school curricula — a list of 71 has been circulated as the department works with medical schools to join the initiative — include nutrient deficiencies, food allergies, dietary supplements, wearable devices, composting and food safety, The New York Times reported.

One UK mum who is raising her kids in Spain has shared the ‘things no one warns you about’. She shared the three big differences she’s noticed since moving her family abroad

Many people are prepared for a few culture clashes when they move abroad. However, one UK mum who is raising her kids in Spain has shared the ‘things no one warns you about’. Jodie, known as @jodiemar1ow on Instagram, shared details about her new life in Spain with her 6,400 followers on the app. In one of her latest reels, she shared the three big differences she’s noticed when it comes to raising her kids abroad.

Diving into the first issue, Jodie said it was bedtime. She explained: “Bedtimes… they just aren’t a thing. We have been to parties until 10pm, in fact Jayden had a party that was going to end at 12am.

“I actually did pick him up at 11pm because I was like he’s 6-years-old. This is so late.”

She added: “Kids are playing on the street until 11pm is just normal. Bedtimes just don’t exist. What is bedtime?”

The second issue she raised was that kids in Spain finish school at 5pm. She said: “It makes no sense to us Brits that they finish at 5pm, and for their dinner breaks they have 2.5 hours to have their food and play.

Like they have a sit down three course lunch at lunch time. If I did that, I’d be done for the day. I can not do a three-course lunch.

“People in Spain find it mad I just have a sandwich, it’s crazy.”

Jodie said that if ever kids then do after-school activities they finish even later.

The third thing the mum had noticed is that her kids are ‘definitely more Spanish’ than her.

“If you ask them they’ll say they’re Spanish-English,” she said.

“They correct me now if I say things in Spanish wrong and they’re basically fluent.

“I wasn’t prepared for all these correction and how they pronounce things [so well].”

Many people could relate to Jodie in the comments, as one person wrote: “I’m a Canadian living in Spain, so nice to meet you! The lunch is insane, haha I mean I love it for my son but I was blown away by it.”

While another added: “Taking Iyla to her friends soft play party at 5yrs I was in shock. I said, ‘I’m leaving now as Iyla has bedtime’. Everyone was looking at me weird haha.”

A third chimed in: “I’m in Alicante with a 6 month old baby and everything is baffling me already. Sensory classes for babies simply don’t exist, wild.”

However, one other person wrote: “Our school day has always finished at 2, both primary and secondary school. I think it depends on area.”