It is very rare pygmy hippo, called Monifa, born in 2008 in Toronga Zoo.
Pygmy hippo aren't closely related to their giant cousins. They have two subspecies. One living in Liberia/Sierra Leone/Cote d'Ivore and one in Nigeria. They live in the wild in several small colonies.
They are very shy and nocturnal, so they wouldn't make great pets.
More about Monifa:
There is unprecedented widespread peace in Sub-Saharan Africa. There is War in Somalia, clashes in South Sudan, some other border conflicts in East Africa, clashes in Central Africa and riots and insurgencies elsewhere. Nonetheless hundreds killed made War in Somalia probably most bloody conflict in Africa this year. 240 or more raped one week in North Kivu are something different than 16 000 in three days in the same region in 2004.
Most murders in Africa are common crimes and there may be half of number you are describing.
Number of victims of road accidents is more than twice as high.
With creation of Transitional Government of Congo Africa's Great War was ended in 2003.
After the war Kivu conflict lasted for 5 years, but it isn't active as for year 2010.
There is lot of violence in Congo DR, but most of this is mobster activities:
human trafficking (forced labour and forced prostitution)
robbery,
kidnapping for ransom,
political assassinations,
There is unprecedented widespread peace in Sub-Saharan Africa. There is War in Somalia, clashes in South Sudan, some other border conflicts in East Africa, clashes in Central Africa and riots and insurgencies elsewhere.
Nonetheless hundreds killed made War in Somalia probably most bloody conflict in Africa this year. 240 or more raped one week in North Kivu are something different than 16 000 in three days in the same region in 2004.
Number of victims of road accidents is more than twice as high. In this time Sub-Saharan Africa have changed. I don't know exactly how.
Mai-Mai:
The Mai Mai militia groups are local defense groups often organized on an ethnic basis who have traditionally fought alongside the government army against “foreign invaders,” including the CNDP (National Congress for the Defense of the People ) and other Rwandan-backed rebel groups. In 2009 there were over 22 Mai Mai groups, ranging greatly in size and effectiveness, in both North and South Kivu. Some joined the Congolese army as part of the rapid integration process, while others refused, angry at the perceived preferential treatment given to the CNDP and unwilling to join the army unless they were able to stay in their communities.
OK, results like this may be effect of uncontrolled confounding.
Maximilian de Courten, Assoc Prof Clin Epidemiology:
A recent paper in the Am J Prev Med tried to estimate the impact of uncontrolled confounding looking at differences of 30 known cardiovascular disease (CVD) factors between moderate drinkers and nondrinkers and demonstrated that 90% of them were more prevalent among nondrinkers. In addition, among factors with multiple risk strata, increasing CVD risk was progressively associated with nondrinking status. There is no reason to believe that this difference should only be limited to abstainers, but not apply to some extent to the whole spectrum of (reduced) drinking behaviour – hence excluding abstainers from analyses would not remove uncontrolled confounding from the findings.
Cardiovascular risk factors and confounders among nondrinking and moderate-drinking U.S. adults. Am J Prev Med 2005; 28: 369-73Study
tl:dr Non-drinkers have overall poor health status due to non-related conditions.
Apparently president was informed about the issue, nevertheless there is not much he can do.
Some historical context (About Nikolai Vavilov)
They aren't so dangerous, as it seams. In recent 339 years there were 49 fatal shark attacks in United States.
In whole world there have been 464 fatal attacks since 1580.
AFAIK, most of these fatal attacks happened during WWI and WWII (when people were jumping off a sinking ship). Generally speaking being wounded on a sinking ship surrounded by dead crew-members is a bad position to be. It is high on my list places to avoid.
University of Florida advice:
Always stay in groups since sharks are more likely to attack a solitary individual.
Do not wander too far from shore --- this isolates an individual and additionally places one far away from assistance.
Avoid being in the water during darkness or twilight hours when sharks are most active and have a competitive sensory advantage.
Do not enter the water if bleeding from an open wound or if menstruating --- a shark's olfactory ability is acute.
Wearing shiny jewelry is discouraged because the reflected light resembles the sheen of fish scales.
Avoid waters with known effluents or sewage and those being used by sport or commercial fisherman, especially if there are signs of bait fishes or feeding activity. Diving seabirds are good indicators of such action.
Sightings of porpoises do not indicate the absence of sharks --- both often eat the same food items.
Use extra caution when waters are murky and avoid uneven tanning and bright colored clothing --- sharks see contrast particularly well.
Refrain from excess splashing and do not allow pets in the water because of their erratic movements.
Exercise caution when occupying the area between sandbars or near steep dropoffs --- these are favorite hangouts for sharks.
Do not enter the water if sharks are known to be present and evacuate the water if sharks are seen while there. And, of course, do not harass a shark if you see one!
NHANES is a survey study and under-reporting of food intake is pretty well-known.
Google scholar has thousands reports about underestimation of food intake.
Actually under-reporting of habitual food intake amongst pregnant American women is so high they should looks like skeletons (according to survey.
You need to know, how read the data. Survey can register changes through time, but it's unreliable as record of events.
I. As fas as government is concern:
Ensure that all those who agree to the reconciliation process have made explicit their acceptance of the constitutional guarantees of equality for men and women, including the right to an education, the right to work, and the right to participate in political life.
Mandate the Constitutional Oversight Committee (appointed but not yet operational) to ensure that reintegration and reconciliation do not breach the constitutional guarantees of women’s rights.
Ensure that the reconciliation process includes all elements of society, including women, and ethnic and religious minorities.
Commit to a timeline for advancing the Action Plan for Peace, Reconciliation, and Justice in advance of or in tandem with a reconciliation process.
Ensure that the High Level Peace Council and the Joint Secretariat for Peace, Reintegration and Reconciliation Programs have a specific mandate to consider the impact of reintegration and reconciliation upon the rights of women and girls.
Ensure that background checks are carried out on insurgent commanders to be considered for reintegration and reconciliation, and that political and bureaucratic positions at the district, provincial, or national level are not offered to those who have a track record of rights abuses, including attacks on schools and threats or attacks against women. Reintegrated or reconciling ex-combatants should also be subject to vetting procedures for government positions.
Include in reintegration and rehabilitation of former insurgents, appropriate training on women’s rights enshrined in the Afghan constitution, Afghan law (such as the Elimination of Violence Against Women law), and international human rights law.
Publicly condemn all attacks against women in public life.
Ensure that sufficient security is provided for women in public life who are under threat, and that government security is provided to individuals on the basis of need rather than status or favor. Consider an oversight mechanism to ensure that security provision is needs based.
Give priority to investigations into assassinations and other attacks on women in public life, ensure all reported attacks are recorded, prosecute the perpetrators, and identify preventive measures.
Ensure that women are appointed to key political roles, including as ministers and deputy ministers.
Recognize that a lasting peace will have to address underlying grievances, including addressing past crimes. Consider the use of forums such as the Consultative Peace Jirga to start a national discussion on healing the wounds of the decades of war, how to bring justice for victims of rights abuses, and how to provide protection to vulnerable communities.
Repeal the Amnesty Law, and ensure that those against whom there are credible allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other serious human rights abuses are excluded from the reconciliation process.
Commit to a timeline for advancing the Action Plan for Peace, Reconciliation and Justice in advance of or in tandem with a reconciliation process.
Strengthen existing vetting and complaints mechanisms for elections as well as political, bureaucratic, and judicial appointments so that individuals against whom there are credible allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other serious human rights abuses from all existing and former armed factions are excluded from public office.
Build transparent and credible dispute resolution and accountability mechanisms into the reintegration and reconciliation process, including measures to address grievances against government officials. Ensure that the government officials implementing these accountability mechanisms are not themselves subject to complaints from the local communities.
II. As far as International Military Forces are concern:
Provide assistance for government background checks and vetting of those to be included in reintegration and reconciliation programs, and offer verification of background checks where intelligence is available, particularly regarding those being considered for political office.
Recognize that civilian casualties, night raids and detention practices have helped fuel the insurgency, continue efforts to reduce unnecessary deaths, and fully investigate and hold accountable military personnel responsible for wrongful acts.
Ensure that international military assistance to reintegration efforts does not exacerbate impunity or corruption, and that any engagement with communities or individuals seeking reintegration or reconciliation involves adequate intelligence and background checks for serious allegations of human rights abuses including attacks on women and girls’ education.
Ensure that women’s security is a key consideration for the international military in all its reintegration and reconciliation efforts, including funding that is separate from the Peace and Reintegration Trust Fund, such as the Commanders’ Emergency Response Program.
It surely looks that way.
Angola: Normal forest Area with fires
Congo: Normal forest Area with fires
Madagascar: Normal forest Area with fires
Madagascar is especially ghastly, because there are vast places without any trees to cut down.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deforestation
Lets find out what panels of experts think about it.
UN lists in Millennium Development Goals:
End Poverty and Hunger,
Universal Education,
Gender Equality,
Child Health,
Maternal Health,
Combat HIV/AIDS,
Environmental Sustainability,
Global Partnership,
For $120m you can have several km of road or maybe more than 1 km of metro. Same grand could boost productivity for 280 000 small-holder farmers in Rwanda. Source.
For price of single metro line GAVI funded:
233 million vaccines against hepatitis B.
60 million vaccines against Hib.
69 million vaccines against DTP3 (diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis),
over 200 million disposable syringes,
vaccines against yellow fever, pneumococcus, rotavirus and other projects.
Human activities contribute to climate change by causing changes in Earth’s atmosphere in the amounts of greenhouse gases, aerosols (small particles), and cloudiness. The largest known contribution comes from the burning of fossil fuels, which releases carbon dioxide gas to the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases and aerosols affect climate by altering incoming solar radiation and out-going infrared (thermal) radiation that are part of Earth’s energy balance. Changing the atmospheric abundance or properties of these gases and particles can lead to a warming or cooling of the climate system. Since the start of the industrial era (about 1750), the overall effect of human activities on climate has been a warming influence. The human impact on climate during this era greatly exceeds that due to known changes in natural processes, such as solar changes and volcanic eruptions.
