Safe landings

27 February 2018 - News for Kids

The Australian airlines Quantas, depicted in the image, is among the

many airlines with a fatality-free safety record.

Many people are worried when flying and air safety especially after
we hear an airplane crash. On 18 February an Iranian airplane on a
domestic flight in Iran crashed into a mountain. All 59 passengers
and six crew were killed. It has been stated that the crash happened
as regular aircraft maintenance was not upheld and spare parts
were not available in Iran. Iran is a country in Asia, where import
restrictions are imposed.

Airplane crashes happen very rarely, however aircraft accidents

occur in poor countries or during extremely bad weather but usually
accidents happen if there are problems with some airline's safety
standards.

Many of the aircrafts involved in accidents are not allowed to

operate in international airspace as they are deemed unsafe. Only
very rarely aircraft accidents happen due to human mistakes such
as wrong decisions by a pilot or air traffic control.

Aviation safety has improved over the years. In fact, 2017 was the
year with the lowest aircraft incidents since World War 2 with 44
fatalities! Air travel is considered the safest means of transport. In
the UK, travels by plane are six times safer than travels in cars!

The biggest aircraft manufacturers in the world are Boeing and

Airbus, with headquarters in the USA and France respectively.

Among the safest aircrafts in the world are the Boeing 747 and the
Airbus A380, the biggest jumbo jet plane which can seat over 850
passengers on the double-decker air plane.
 Contra corruption - pro free speech

27 February 2018 - News for Kids

Every year Transparency International releases its Corruption

Perception Index. They recently published their report for 2017. The
report ranks 180 countries by their level of corruption. Corruption is
the abuse of power by state officials which can mean that for
example politicians use tax money for their own benefit instead of
spending it for the building hospitals or schools or the construction
of roads.

Transparency International is a non-governmental organisation

(NGO) that is headquartered in Berlin in Germany. The organisation
creates and promote awareness about corruption and wants to
thereby bring about change.

The latest report shows that many countries still face large
problems tackling corruption. Many countries have made little or no
progress in the past year. The report ranks countries from 0 to 100,
with 100 being the best score (least corrupt) and 0 being most
corrupt. This year not a single country reached a score of 90 out of
100 and the average score was 43.
This year New Zealand was ranked least corrupt. Somalia was again
ranked as the most corrupt country. Transparency International
suggests that countries that have a low score also have low levels of
press freedom and protection of the press and NGO’s.

in order to combat corruption the organisation recommends that

among other things, free speech should be encouraged in all
environments and that access to information should be simpler and
easier for all. source: transparency international

​ What does Transparency International release every year?

​ How many countries were ranked in the Corruption Perception Index?
​ What is corruption?
​ Where is Transparency International headquartered?
​ What does Transparency International want to bring about?
​ Did many countries make progress in tackling corruption?
​ How are countries ranked in the report?
​ Which country was ranked as the least corrupt?
​ Which country was ranked as the most corrupt?
​ What does Transparency International recommend to combat corruption?