NEW YORK (Xinhua) – About 1 in 5 high school students in the United States has seen violence first-hand among people who are not related, including homicides, CNN cited a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which calls community violence “a significant public health concern.” In 2021, the most recent year for which data were available, 19.9 percent of high school students reported ever witnessing community violence and 3.5 percent reported carrying a gun during the past year, according to the CDC’s biennial Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance reports. The data also showed that students who witnessed community violence were more likely to report carrying a gun, engaging in substance use and considering or attempting suicide, noted CNN in its report. “Overall, suicide is the third leading cause of death among 14- to 18-year-olds,” it said. “Previous research has demonstrated that young persons might carry weapons for self-defense to protect against future violence, particularly when they have been directly victimized or perceive high levels of community violence,” it added. “Community violence and gun carrying are significant concerns for youths in the United States.”

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PARIS (AFP) – A record number of inmates were serving time in France at the start of this month, official data show, as the country battles serious prison overcrowding. France counted 73,080 inmates in prisons equipped to hold just 60,899 people on April 1, according to figures released by the justice ministry. That meant the country’s jails were at 120 percent capacity, it showed. Prune Missoffe, of the France-based International Prison Observatory rights monitor, said the situation was “only getting worse, month by month”. The government should “take measures to decrease the pressure on prisons until more structural measures are found”, she said. The European Court of Human Rights in early 2020 ordered France to pay thousands of euros in damages to dozens of inmates after ruling that authorities had not taken sufficient measures to end prison overcrowding. France is hoping to make room for 15,000 more inmates by the end of President Emmanuel Macron’s second term in office in 2027.

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TUNIS (AP) – Tunisia’s coast guard says it has recovered around 210 bodies of migrants under two weeks that have washed up on the North African country’s central coastline amid an ongoing increase in migration. Preliminary examinations of the bodies indicated that the migrants were from sub-Saharan Africa, according to the National Guard’s Houssemeddine Jebabli. The number of bodies recovered was announced Friday. Of the 210 dead migrants found over 10 days starting on April 18, about 70 of those were recovered from the beaches of eastern Sfax, the neighboring Kerkennah islands and Mahdia, according to prosecutor Faouzi Masmoudi, who oversees migration issues. These three areas are starting points for most attempts to migrate to the Italian coast, including onward to the remote island of Lampedusa, he added. The increasing number of dead migrants has overwhelmed the Habib Bourguiba hospital morgue in Sfax, the capacity of which is 30 to 40 bodies.

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LONDON (The Guardian) – Women are increasingly being forced to engage in “survival sex” because of the cost of living crisis amid worsening conditions for Britain’s most vulnerable. Charities warn rising costs paired with years of underfunding mean women, including those with trauma and mental health issues, are having to turn to sex in exchange for housing or to meet other basic needs. Sex for rent – when landlords demand sex in return for discounted or free accommodation – is a growing problem as economic conditions tighten, they said, with perpetrators using it as a tool to abuse and control. It is particularly an issue among migrant women and asylum seekers, the Observer understands. The crisis is also making it harder for those trying to leave abusive relationships. The Beyond the Streets charity said the cost of living crisis is driving those who are already vulnerable to turn to survival sex to meet the cost of bills and rent, leading to increased exploitation and abuse.

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PARIS (AFP) – A global credit ratings agency downgraded French debt worthiness a notch on Saturday, citing pension reform protests as a cause. Two weeks after the contested pension reform passed, persistent social movements threaten to erase the financial gains that the French government expected. As Nantes squares off against Toulouse on Saturday evening for the hotly anticipated French Football Cup finals, the action might not be restricted to the pitch. French trade unions promised a stormy reception for President Emmanuel Macron, who typically greets players of both teams on the pitch before the match kicks off. They plan to hand out red cards and whistles to spectators outside the Stade de France, to express their anger over the pension reforms. Macron will still be there despite the pressure, along with 3,000 police officers and gendarmes, but will not step foot on the pitch to avoid being booed, according to AFP. “The French Football Cup final isn’t a Roman gladiator game,” government spokesperson Olivier Véran told French TV channel BFM.

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ATHENS (Anadolu) – A province in northern Italy has called on residents to have shower instead of bathing in tub amid water shortage, the state-owned RaiNews reported on Saturday. Residents in Treviso have been asked to show extreme awareness to curb the effects of drought, which is expected to last at least until fall. The call came in addition to the measures the city introduced earlier including bans on filling swimming pools, washing cars, and limitations on the use of tap water out of purpose. Those who violate the bans and limitations can be fined up to Є500 ($550). Italy is facing another year of severe drought after a winter of little rain and snowfall.