WHO alarmed as Ebola affects medics

This article from the Times of India reports on the situation facing health workers treating Ebola patients in West Africa:

The World Health Organization on Tuesday said that the deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa has been unprecedented in many ways. A high proportion of healthcare workers are among those infected with the virus.

So far, over 250 healthcare workers, including doctors and nurses, have contacted the disease in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone and over 120 have died, IANS quoting Chinese news agency Xinhua, reported.

According to the WHO, the virus has taken the lives of doctors in Sierra Leone and Liberia, depriving these hard-hit countries not only of experienced medical care but also of inspiring national heroes.

To read more about the changing world and what you can do to prepare, visit: www.greatwavesofchange.org

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Iraq conflict: UN warns of possible Amerli ‘massacre’

The BBC reports on the situation facing residents of Amerli, a town in northern Iraq that has been under siege for the last two months:

The UN has called for action to prevent what it says may be a possible massacre in the northern Iraqi town of Amerli.

Special representative Nickolay Mladenov says he is “seriously alarmed” by reports regarding the conditions in which the town’s residents live.

Amerli, under siege by Islamic State (IS) for two months, has no electricity or drinking water, and is running out of food and medical supplies.

To read more about the changing world and what you can do to prepare, visit: www.greatwavesofchange.org

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Orangutans’ ecosystem could be wiped out

New Zealand’s 3News reports on the uncertain future facing orangutans in Indonesia:

The future of orangutans and other animals in Indonesia's Leuser Ecosystem is under threat from companies wishing to exploit the area for resources.  (Image credit)

The future of orangutans and other animals in Indonesia’s Leuser Ecosystem is under threat from companies wishing to exploit the area for resources.
(Image credit)

“The Governor of Indonesia’s Aceh province is under increasing pressure to pass a law which has the potential to wipe out an entire ecosystem, including Sumatran orangutans.

The legislation would enable new roading, timber mining and plantation concessions to be legally granted in the Leuser Ecosystem, where 85 percent of Sumatran orangutans live.

It’s the only place left on Earth where the species lives with Sumatran tigers, elephants and rhinos, and if construction begins, they’ll all be wiped out in a matter of years.”

To read more about the changing world and what you can do to prepare, visit: www.newmessage.org

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World peace? These are the only 11 countries in the world that are actually free from conflict

This article by the Independent greatly illustrates the prevalence of internal and external conflict amongst the nations of the world at this time:

Embers of war: the world has been growing progressively less peaceful since 2007, according to a report by the Institute for Economics and Peace.  (Image credit)

Embers of war: the world has been growing progressively less peaceful since 2007, according to a report by the Institute for Economics and Peace.
(Image credit)

With the crisis in Gaza, the rise of Islamist militants in Iraq and Syria and the international stand-off ongoing in Ukraine, it can sometimes feel like the whole world is at war.

But experts believe this is actually almost universally the case, according to a think-tank which produces one of the world’s leading measures of “global peacefulness” – and things are only going to get worse.

It may make for bleak reading, but of the 162 countries covered by the Institute for Economics and Peace’s (IEP’s) latest study, just 11 were not involved in conflict of one kind or another.

Worse still, the world as a whole has been getting incrementally less peaceful every year since 2007 – sharply bucking a trend that had seen a global move away from conflict since the end of the Second World War.

Here is a quote from the New Message from God that spells out pretty explicitly why great conflicts in the world at this time must be prevented and what can be done to prevent them:

“In essence now the size, the moral and ethical problems regarding human conflict which are real and substantial, you simply cannot afford war. It will cost you too much. It will cost everyone too much. It has always cost everyone too much. Now you cannot afford it.

But that does not mean it cannot happen and will not happen if great effort is not exercised to prevent the conditions that will make war inevitable. If people are hungry they will not be reasonable or rational or accommodating. If people are losing their forms of self sufficiency you cannot expect them to behave orderly or in a sensible or productive manner. This is the great risk. This is the risk of war beyond the assertions of power by one nation over another or by historical or religious differences or long standing grievances between nations and groups.

That will be a war of utter desperation, a war of terrible consequences, a war that will be very difficult to extinguish. It is in this new world you are entering, a world in decline, that wars of desperation will become increasingly possible and can only be thwarted and prevented by the wise and ethical maintenance of resources and distribution of resources.”

To read more about the changing world and what you can do to prepare, visit: www.greatwavesofchange.org

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Brazil’s water crisis amid drought could lead to rationing

This report by the L.A. Times illustrates how drought is affecting Brazil:

A drought in Brazil has led to a water crisis and the country’s largest population center is facing the prospect of rationing.

Brazil’s Public Ministry, a federal regulatory agency, has recommended that Sao Paulo state immediately commence water rationing to avoid a “collapse of reservoirs,” but the state government missed an initial deadline on Wednesday to take action.

Because of scarce rain in 2014, water levels are low, especially at Sao Paulo’s Sistema Cantareira watershed. The Public Ministry says the watershed could soon run dry.

To read more about the changing world and what you can do to prepare, visit: www.greatwavesofchange.org

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Israeli-Gaza conflict: Egypt says ceasefire extended 5 days

In a recent development of the ongoing conflict in Gaza, Israel and Hamas have announced that they will be extending their ceasefire:

Israel and Hamas agreed to extend a temporary ceasefire for five days, Egyptian and Palestinian officials said Wednesday, potentially averting renewed violence and permitting the sides to continue to negotiate a substantive deal to end the war in Gaza.

Egyptian mediators had been racing to pin down a long-term ceasefire as a temporary truce was set to expire at midnight. The Israeli military said five rockets were launched at Israel in the hours leading up to the end of the ceasefire.

To read more about the changing world and what you can do to prepare, visit: www.newmessage.org

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Ecosystem destroyed

The Times of Fiji reports how local villages have been affected by resource extraction related to construction work in the country:

FOOD security for about 500 villagers has been affected following a development project in the village of Kavula in Bua.

Harmed are various types of fish, prawns and eels that villagers have depended on since the establishment of the village.

Tui Kavula Ratu Laisenia Masicola said his people in Kavula and other villgers from Bainikea, Votua and surrounding settlements had not been able to eat any of these harmed food for the past three months — when gravel extraction started.

To read more about the changing world and what you can do to prepare, visit: www.greatwavesofchange.org

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BASIC nations vow to take united stand against rich nations over climate change negotiations

The Times of India reports on how the BASIC nations (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) have declared solidarity over future international climate change negotiations:

The BASIC nations — Brazil, South Africa, India and China — are expected to come out with a joint statement this afternoon, reflecting their common stand during future climate change negotiations.

Idea is to ensure that the differentiation between developed and developing countries finds its place in the 2015 global climate deal so that the onus lies on rich nations to contribute substantially towards taking mitigations steps for handling the menace of climate change.

To read more about the changing world and what you can do to prepare, visit: www.greatwavesofchange.org

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African biodiversity under threat

This article by Deutsche Welle speaks on the threat to African biodiversity:

African biodiversity is under threat from logging, industrialisation and the planting of cash crops.  (Image credit)

African biodiversity is under threat from logging, industrialisation and the planting of cash crops.
(Image credit)

A group of researchers from 20 African, American and European universities, who met recently in the Cameroonian capital Yaounde, said such hydroelectric dam projects, along with industrialization and the plantation of cash crops, have turned into a real threat to the environment.

It is the vast natural expanses of forest that suffer.
Sub-Saharan countries are losing forest faster than anyhwere else on earth, the researchers said. Trees are being cut down to build houses, to make ways for huge hydroelectric dams and to meet the demand for timber from China, Europe and the US.

To read more about the changing world and what you can do to prepare, visit: www.greatwavesofchange.org

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Deadly MERS ‘camel flu’ may now be airborne

This article from the Nursing Times discusses a recent case in Saudi Arabia where a man appears to have been infected by MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) by airborne transmission:

Camels are believed to be the main source of the MERS virus. (Image credit)

Camels are believed to be the main source of the MERS virus.
(Image credit)

“Deadly Mers virus ‘could now be airborne’,” The Independent reports. The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus, which has an estimated case fatality rate of 30%, has been detected in an air sample in a camel barn in Saudi Arabia. This raises the possibility the virus could be spread through the air in the same way as flu.

MERS emerged in 2012 and can be extremely serious, leading to severe breathing difficulties, kidney failure and death (though it appears some people may become unaffected carriers of the virus).

The World Health Organization (WHO) states that 837 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection have been reported since 2012, including at least 291 related deaths.

To learn more about the changing world and what you can do to prepare, visit: www.greatwavesofchange.org

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