Filed under: Afghanistan, Africa, Developing Nations, Iran, Iraq, Middle East, Terrorism | Tags: Most Refugees Since WWII, The Jihadi Spring, UN Refugee Agency
At the end of 2013, The United Nations Refugee Agency’s report released last Friday says, 51.2 million people were refugees. For the first time since World War II we have more than 50 million people driven from their homes, all too often in fear for their lives. And the numbers can only be increasing exponentially as Iraqis and Syrians flee to neighboring countries.
Of the 51.2 refugees— 12 million are being cared for by the United Nations aid agencies. 6.3 million of those have been displaced for more than five years. The largest numbers of refugees come from Afghanistan, Somalia and Syria. The exodus from Iraq has just started. The countries harboring the most refugees are Iran, Lebanon and Pakistan. At the time the report was released the greatest numbers came from the Syrian civil war, with more than 2.5 million Syrians fleeing to neighboring countries. Lebanon is only a small country of 4.5 million people— one fourth of those are refugees. They are quickly running out of basic necessities. And the chaos in Iraq only erupted this month. It takes a lot of fear to make you grab a little of your stuff and run.
Filed under: Africa, Cool Site of the Day, Heartwarming, Science/Technology | Tags: A Black Rhinocerous Calf, Saving Endangered Species, World Zoos Breeding Efforts
On Sunday, May 25th, a Black Rhinoceros was born at Zoo Miami. This little girl weighed 122 pounds. Black Rhinos are highly endangered as they continue to be poached at alarming rates in Eastern and Southern Africa.There were once over 100,000 running wild in Africa— within the past century, those numbers are down to an estimated 5,000. They are killed for their horns which are prized in some eastern cultures for medicinal purposes and as status symbols. Sad.
Here she is with mom. Check out all the babies at zooborns.
American Elephants 