Two released hostages in Syria overheard captor's blaming rebels for chemical attacks

An Italian journalist and a Belgian writer who were held hostage in Syria for five months have claimed that they overheard a conversation suggesting that rebel forces were behind a chemical weapon attack on Damascus and not President Assad's army.

Domenico Quirico and Pierre Piccinin de Prata were kidnapped while working in the war torn country in April. The pair were released on Sunday night and have now said that they heard a conversation between their captors in English on Skype in which they allegedly revealed that rebels launched the attack to prompt Western forces to intervene.

Quirico, a veteran reporter for La Stampa daily with vast experience of reporting on conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, told the newspaper: 'In this conversation, they said that the gas attack on two neighborhoods of Damascus was launched by the rebels as a provocation to lead the West to intervene militarily. Read more >>

Egyptian Military Coup In 48 Hours If No Solution Found

The Egyptian Military just made a publc statement on Egyptian TV and it appears the country is close to another military coup:

*EGYPTIAN MILITARY SAYS WON'T BE PART OF POLITICS

*EGYPT MILITARY SAYS NATIONAL SECURITY SUBJECTED TO GRAVE DANGER

*EGYPTIAN MILITARY SAYS PROTESTS 'UNPRECEDENTED'

*EGYPTIAN MILITARY SAYS HOMELAND FACING DIRE SITUATION

*EGYPT'S MILITARY SAYS WILL NOT BE PARTY TO POLITICS OR POWER

*EGYPT MILITARY SAYS CALLS FOR MEETING THE DEMANDS OF THE PEOPLE

*EGYPT MILITARY MAY HAVE TO OFFER ROADMAP AFTER 48 HOURS

Read more >>

The Effect of Cell Phone Coverage and Political Violence in Africa

Cell phone use in Africa has increased significantly in recent years; its nearly 649 million mobile users in 2011 made it the second-largest market for mobile phones in the world after Asia.

Furthermore, the continent has the fastest-growing cell phone market in the world, maintaining an annual growth rate of almost 20% since 2007. This has substantially contributed to economic development within the continent as a result of various innovations and improvements, from mobile banking to faster communications between merchants and customers, as the World Bank notes.

In Kenya, the success of the mobile banking system M-pesa has opened the door for a multitude of mobile phone tech startups, prompting some to refer to the country as the “Silicon Savannah.” (It should be noted, however, that mobile phone technology in Africa frequently does not afford robust Internet access, with all its innovation potential.)

The benefits of mobile technology in other regions are widely hailed. The availability of cell phones and use of social media is often credited with playing a key role in the Arab Spring, which toppled dictatorships in Egypt and Tunisia, and sparked protest movements throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Read more >>

The Magic Money Printer: The Solution To All Of Life's Problems

The Fed has one, the ECB has one, the BOE, BOJ, SNB also have one. Even Zimbabwe has one. And anyone close to them is filthy rich and has nothing to worry about, ever again.

So it is only fair the "Magic Money Printing Machines" which are now the bedrock of the "developed" world's economies, should be made available to everyone. And at a price of just $4.79, soon everyone can be a self-made (literally) trillionaire, and live in filthy Keynesian opulence until the end of time. Read more >>

"Food supplies are tightening everywhere”

This image shows all countries classified as "Food Insecure" by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAO (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Next Food Crisis Will Be Caused By Globalist Land-Grabs and Privatization
Susanne Posel
The UN warns that global food stores like grains are depleting at an expediential rate and when combined with failing harvests, there will be a food crisis in 2013.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) explain that “we’ve not been producing as much as we are consuming. That is why stocks are being run down. Supplies are now very tight across the world and reserves are at a very low level, leaving no room for unexpected events next year.”

Survival Cave Food SCFCK Canned Chicken- 12 cans - 1 case (Google Affiliate Ad)

Since 2010, the FAO have stated that the rise in food prices is directly correlated to the 80 million people being added to the world’s population annually. This fact, according to the globalists at the UN, is beginning to “tax both the skills of farmers and the limits of the earth’s land and water resources.”

Added to this problem are the 3 million people who are “moving up the food chain” eating more than their share in gluttonous nations like the United States and China.

The World Bank issued a statement of concern last month for the coming food shortage due to the drought devastating the US and Europe. According to Jim Yong Kim, World Bank group president: “Food prices rose again sharply threatening the health and well-being of millions of people. Africa and the Middle East are particularly vulnerable, but so are people in other countries where the prices of grains have gone up abruptly.” Read more >>

Ebola outbreak: patients flee Uganda hospital amid contagion fears

Terrified patients fled from a hospital in western Uganda as soon as news broke that a mysterious illness that killed at least 14 people in the region was Ebola, one of the world's most virulent diseases.

Government officials and a World Health Organization representative confirmed the Ebola outbreak at a news conference in Kampala on Saturday. "Laboratory investigations done at the Uganda Virus Research Institute ... have confirmed that the strange disease reported in Kibaale is indeed Ebola haemorrhagic fever," they said in a joint statement. Health officials said at least 20 people had been infected and of those 14 had died.

There is no treatment or vaccine against Ebola, which is transmitted by close personal contact and, depending on the strain, can kill up to 90% of those who contract the virus. It has a devastating history in Uganda, where in 2000, at least 425 people were infected, of whom more than half died. Ebola was previously reported in the country in May last year, when it killed a 12-year-old girl. Read more >>

Elephants in The Tens of Thousands Slaughtered By Poachers Last Year

MSNBC
Miguel Llanos
Providing the grimmest count yet on Africa's wildlife crisis, the global body tracking endangered species reported Thursday that tens of thousands of elephants likely were slaughtered last year by poachers after their tusks. Rhinos, while fewer in number, also saw mass slaughter as poachers went after their horns.

Prices for both have skyrocketed due to demand in Asia, where tusks are used for ivory ornaments and horns as a traditional medicine. The illegal trade is escalating and "pushing these species toward extinction," John Scanlon, secretary-general of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, said in testimony before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

World on brink of social unrest over food prices

Violence in Algeria could be the start of protests over rising costs of essential commodities such as grain and meat.

Dubai: Protests by angry youths in Algeria are just one example of the alarming signs on the horizon with regard to rising food prices.

Food inflation in many Asian countries, including China and India, is in double digits. The Kenyan government has issued a drought and famine alert after reports of several people having died from hunger-related causes.

International organisations are talking of "a food price shock" hitting the world.

With food supplies and prices making headlines around the globe for the second time in less than three years, experts are warning of the possibility of social unrest sweeping through poor countries. More...