Lethal H5N1 bird flu virus killed 2500 turkeys on British farm, last month similar virus was found in Hungary, see IHT article.
I do not know the odds of senator Barack Obama becoming the first US black president. But what I do know is that internet and social networking are changing the politics already, with Obama support networks created spontaneously by young people in US. According to Washington Post article a facebook group supporting Obama is already 200,000 strong. Politicians who are often old-fasioned and do not understand blogging, social networking etc. have to wake up to new reality. Want to get more support behind EU constitution, blog-it-up. Try to imagine where elections would be held in 2020 or 2030. Will avatars have voting rights?
China keeps colonizing Africa at a very fast pace, Zimbabwe, Sudan, check washington post article. As a reminder in next 40 years according to UN demographic projections population in Asia and in Africa will rise by more than 1 billion each, in Europe will fall by 70 million.
Gulf news published an article on Michio Kaku, well known futurologist, stating that in 2020 computers will be for free and that intellectual capital will become the most important asset. Article says that China has already undestrood this fact. Gulf news also writes that George Soros andMark Mobius entered the UAE stock markets to benefit from low prices.