This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com.

Pending US existing home sales drop 12%

In a new shock to economists, the number of Americans signing contracts to buy previously owned homes plunged 11.6% in April, far more than the 1% they had forecast. Since home sales are typically consummated about two months after a purchase contract is signed, we can expect actual home sales to fall a comparable amount in June. Politicians in Brussels, Athens and Washington have been refusing to face reality because they keep expecting the real estate bubble to return. Housing prices have already fallen from housing bubble highs only to year 2000 levels, but based on my own straightforward analysis, based on the Law of Mean Reversion, it’s indicated that they’ll continue to fall to 1985-1990 levels over the next ten years. Bloomberg

U.S. State Department offers reward for Doku Umarov

The U.S. Secretary of State has designated the Caucasus Emirate in Russia’s North Caucasus provinces, as a terrorist organization. This action will help stemp the flow of financial and other assistance to the group. U.S. State Dept.

In addition, the State Dept. has authorized a reward of up to $5 million for information leading up to the capture of Doku Umarov, the senior leader and operational commander of the Caucasus Emirate. The stated goal is to establish an Islamic emirate through violence in the North Caucasus, Southern Russia, and Volga regions of the Russian Federation, with Umarov as its Emir. U.S. State Dept.

Russia welcomed the move. President Medvedev’s envoy Anatoly Safonov said, “Washington’s decision can be assessed only positively. It is well-timed and quite prompt. This is a contribution to the joint efforts in the fight against terrorism. This is a signal that Russia and the U.S coincide in assessments and approaches. It can be said that there are no discrepancies in these assessments at present.” Jamestown

Russia’s middle class is fleeing to Europe and America

Millions of people in Russia’s middle class, mostly the best and the brightest, are fleeing the Russian Federation in increasing numbers, mostly to live in Europe or America. According to one estimate, 1.25 million Russians have left in the last three years, almost as many as what took place “after the October coup in 1917 when about two million people left” Russia. They’re leaving because opportuntities have declined, while “administrative pressures have increased.” The feel a “lack of a future,” and that, unlike a decade ago, there is no light at the end of the tunnel but only more darkness. Paul Goble

South Koreans still hope to host the 2014 Winter Olympiad

South Korea lost out to Russia in the competition to hold the Winter Olympics in 2014, but it’s continuing to build facilities for such a competition, in the hope that the Russian games in Sochi will have to be canceled. Ethnic violence continues to increase in Russia’s North Caucasus provinces, and the political impact of the Circassian genocide in 1864 is increasing. However, the rights to the Olympiad could be taken away from Russia and given to Korean only if the Russians failed to build all the venues on time, or if the region became too unstable. Paul Goble

Yemen violence spreads from streets to bombers

On Friday, air force combat jets bombed tribal forces in towns east of the capital Sanaa in Yemen. There were explosions in the neighborhood of Sheikh Sadeq al-Ahmar, the leader of the powerful al-Hashid tribe. Al-Ahmar used to be an ally of Yemen’s president Ali Abdullah Saleh, but finally turned against him as the pro-democracy protests continued, and government security forces became more violent. CNN

UN peacekeepers wounded in Lebanon

A roadside bomb targeting UN peacekeepers exploded in south Lebanon, wounding six, two seriously. The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was created after the 2006 war between Israel and Hizbollah in Lebanon, with the purpose of preventing a recurrence of the war. AFP

Algeria is openly supporting Libya against the Nato action

Algeria is openly supportive of Gaddafi in Libya’s conflict with the Nato humanitarian mission. Libyan rebels have accused Algeria of providing military equipment, weapons and mercenaries to Gaddafi, though the Algerians deny this. There are three reasons why Algeria is supporting Gaddafi: (1) Fear that an unstable Libya could turn into an al-Qaeda safe haven. (2) Fear that a rebel victory in Libya could spread to Algeria. (3) Fear that Algeria will lose influence in the region, if it were government by the rebels rather than Gaddafi. The article makes note of a generational concept: “It is likely that memories related to the violence of the civil war [in Algeria] are still too recent and represent a powerful deterrent to a full-scale revolt.” Algeria’s last crisis civil war climaxed in 1962. Jamestown

German businesses offer prostitutes as perks and incentives

Germany legalized prostitution in 2001, but it’s taboo to talk about it too much. There are millions of men buying sex, though few will admit it, and using sex as a business perk or incentive has become increasingly common. Corporate sex orgies have grown in popularity. Spiegel

There’s a fungus among us

Researchers looking for a biotechnological breakthrough that can produce a new Green Revolution in the 2020s may have found it, at least for tropical regions: mycorrhizal fungi. Scientists have discovered a way of producing large quantities of the fungus, and when applied to plants, cut the need for fertilizers in half. Science Daily