Economists predict that unless there is an unusually large wheat harvest this year, world wheat prices will experience “wild price swings” over the next year. According to Keith Collins, former chief economist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, “The stage is set for very serious disruptions, should weather disasters happen… It seems clear to me that the chance of a more widespread global food crisis has increased.”

In a recent interview with the EU Observer, the Syrian ambassador to the EU made some very poignant and sobering comments. The ambassador, Mr. Mohamad Ayman Soussan, pointed out that the tide of civil unrest currently moving through the Middle East is due to the Arab-Israeli conflict and not other causes. He commented, “Our European friends have a responsibility here, because Europe is the principal economic partner of Israel.

The Mediterranean Union (UfM), first started with the major support of President Sarkozy of France, is now receiving renewed support by France and Germany. France’s new Foreign Minister, Alain Juppé, has called for the reinvigoration of the UfM as “more necessary than ever.” Angela Merkel of Germany, who initially criticized the UfM’s creation back in 2007, recently recognized the tremendous need for this Union to support the EU’s work in the Middle East and Mediterranean rim nations.

A recently published study in the online journal PLoS Medicine revealed startling findings about the AIDS epidemic in Zimbabwe. In recent years, “HIV prevalence has declined in Zimbabwe by approximately 50%.” HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. The primary reason it has declined is not condom use, as many public health experts appear to wish, but rather fewer sexual partners. In fact, the study authors cite better education and more intact marriages as the key to reduced promiscuity.

Psychological research over the last few decades has shown that humans have biases that affect our ability to perceive correctly. These biases affect not only our perception but also our judgment, behavior and belief. Biased thinking leads to misunderstanding, wrong decisions, and to costly consequences and mistakes.