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Africa drought leaves 10 million facing famine and disease
The worst drought for 60 years is threatening more than ten million people with starvation and disease in eastern Africa, aid workers are warning.
Refugees at a food distribution point in Dadaab – the world’s largest refugee camp (Pic: AFP/Getty)A severe dry spell and wrecked harvests in parts of Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Uganda have caused what charities described as ‘the worst food crisis of the 21st century’, prompting multimillion-pound aid demands.
Save The Children is launching a £40million emergency appeal to help thousands of malnourished children, while Oxfam is calling for £50million.
The lack of water and supplies has pushed food prices up by 240 per cent, worsening conditions for those struggling to survive. More than half of those needing Read more…
Bill Gates in global push to vaccinate every child on the planet
Microsoft guru Bill Gates is busy rallying the troops to bring about what he calls “vaccine equity,” which is his plan to vaccinate every single child in the world. Manipulating the heart strings of his listening audience, Gates stated at a recent Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) conference that “rich” kids take for granted the vaccines they receive, and that now is the time to provide the same vaccines for the world’s poorest children.
“It’s now that we’re gonna start to get the last two vaccines that rich kids take for granted, the pneumococcal and rotavirus, and over these next five years, get them out to every child everywhere,” said Gates. “That means for the first time ever that we have equity in vaccines.”
By structuring his statements this way, Gates first implies that vaccines are some type of precious commodity that “rich kids” take for granted, and that need to Read more…
Apparently, China is Trying to Buy Facebook
Maybe it’s decided that Facebook is the lesser of two evils when it comes to Western social networks. Maybe it’s just Beijing buying itself a birthday present. Whatever the reason, it appears that China — or more specifically, one of China’s sovereign wealth funds — is trying to buy a significant stake in Facebook.
A Business Insider report cites “a source at a fund that buys stock from former Facebook employees” who was approached directly about helping to put together a stake big enough “to matter” and “a second source tells us there is a rumor going around the social network that Citibank is at this very moment trying to acquire as much as $1.2 billion worth of Facebook stock on behalf of two sovereign wealth funds – China’s and another from the Middle East.”
$1.2 billion isn’t going to be nearly enough of a stake to matter at a company whose value is pegged around $100 billion, but the news has caused some concern, given that Read more…
Gold treasure at India temple could be the largest in the world
NEW DELHI (Commodity Online) : The value of treasure consisting of thousands of kilos of gold, diamonds, gems and Silver ornaments, found concealed in different cellars at Sree Padmanabha swamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram, capital of South Indian state of Kerala, is estimated to cross over a mind-blowing Rs 1,00,000 crore ($10 billion).
As per expert accounts, this could be the largest treasure of Gold found anywhere in India and possibly in the world. Two more cellars are to be opened on Monday which could add more value to the already whopping amount.
Analysts said the estimated amount is nearly three times the annual budget size of Kerala. Experts are yet to find out the antique value of the rare Read more…
Quake felt across central New Zealand
LATEST: A deep earthquake measuring 6.5 has been widely felt across the lower North Island, but there were no initial reports of damage.
GNS Science said the earthquake was a magnitude 6.5, centred 150km deep, 30km west of Taupo. It struck at 3.36pm.
Initial reports on GNS’ website show the quake was felt in Wellington, Nelson, New Plymouth and up to the Coromandel.
GNS volcanologist Brad Scott said although the earthquake was centred near Taupo it was more likely felt on Read more…
ExxonMobil Oil Pipeline Ruptures, Leaks 1,000 Barrels Into Yellowstone River
An ExxonMobil oil pipeline that ruptured 10 miles west of Billings, Mont., leaked nearly 1,000 barrels of crude oil into the Yellowstone River.
Exxon detected the leak on Saturday morning following a loss of pressure on pipeline and within seven minutes the pipeline pumps were shut down, the company said in a press release.
That did not, however, prevent nearly 42,000 gallons of crude oil to be spewed into the famed river.
The 12-inch crude-oil pipeline runs from the town of Silver Tip to the three refineries at Billings, ExxonMobil said.
“We had no indications that Read more…
Deadly superbug outbreak hits problem-plagued network of Ontario hospitals
A deadly outbreak of a highly contagious superbug has claimed the lives of 15 patients in Southern Ontario, raising questions about whether enough is being done to prevent and control the spread of hospital-acquired infections.
Niagara Health System, a sprawling network of seven hospitals serving 434,000 people in a dozen communities, has declared an outbreak of Clostridium difficile, commonly known as C. difficile, at three of its sites.
US to upgrade F-16s, KMT lawmaker says
The US is expected to announce soon that it will help Taiwan upgrade its current F-16 aircraft rather than sell it more advanced aircraft, a senior legislator said yesterday.
The move to upgrade the F-16A/B combat aircraft rather than sell Taiwan the more advanced F-16C/Ds it wants will generate less pressure from Beijing, which strongly opposes any arms sales to Taiwan, analysts say.
“This will be a compromise deal,” said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方), who chairs the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee.
Taiwan has repeatedly pressed the US to sell it F-16C/Ds, as China embarks on a rapid drive to build up its offensive military capability.
However, it is feared that such a sale would “anger” Beijing, which reacted furiously in January last year when US President Barack Obama announced a US$6.4 billion arms package for Taiwan.
That package included Patriot missiles, Black Hawk helicopters and equipment for Read more…
Ancient Egypt treasure gate unearthed in Luxor
CAIRO — Egyptian and French archaeologists have unearthed a 2,700-year-old stone gate belonging to Nubian King Shabaka while digging near Luxor’s Karnak temple, the ministry of antiquities said on Sunday.
The gate, which was found to be “in good condition,” once led to the room holding the king’s treasures, the ministry said.
“It is the first time an item of the 25th dynasty has been found in such good condition, and wasn’t ruined by the 26th dynasty,” Mansur Boraik, the Egyptian head of the Franco-Egyptian Research Centre of the Temples of Karnak, told AFP.
The large stone door features colourful engravings that depict King Shabaka offering the goddess of truth, Maat, to the god Amun Raa, the chief deity.
“The Egyptian-French mission succeeded in making important discoveries from the 18th to the 25th dynasties,” minister of state for antiquities Zahi Hawass said in a statement.
The mission also unearthed a stone wall surrounding the temple of Ptah, the chief god of the city of Memphis. His temple had been built on the site of an earlier Middle Kingdom temple, and restored by Shabaka.
The Franco-Egyptian Centre has been working to open the temple to visitors next winter and plans to put Shabaka’s gate on display.
“The discovery shows that the temple of Karnak still has many secrets to be uncovered and it will do for years to come,” the centre’s Dominique Valbelle was quoted as saying in the ministry statement.
Shabaka established the capital at Thebes and was believed to have invested great effort in restoring religious architecture.
Protect Your Computer and Phone from Illegal Police Searches
EFF Releases ‘Know Your Digital Rights’ Guide to Your Constitutional Liberties
San Francisco – Your computer, your phone, and your other digital devices hold vast amounts of personal information about you and your family. Can police officers enter your home to search your laptop? Do you have to give law enforcement officials your encryption keys or passwords? If you are pulled over when driving, can the officer search your cell phone?
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has answers to these questions in our new “Know Your Digital Rights” guide, including easy-to-understand tips on interacting with police officers and other law enforcement officials.
“With smart phones, tablet computers, and laptops, we carry around with us an unprecedented amount of sensitive personal information,” said EFF Staff Attorney Hanni Fakhoury. “That smart phone in your pocket right now could contain email from your doctor or your kid’s teacher, not to mention detailed contact information for all of your friends and family members. Your laptop probably holds even more data — your Internet browsing history, family photo albums, and maybe even things like an electronic copy of your taxes or your employment agreement. This is Read more…
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