<p>In 2019, the illegal wildlife trade reached staggering levels. Pangolin scales and ivory were being trafficked in massive quantities from Africa to Asia, exposing a network of crime syndicates operating
Leaders across Asia are starting to give in on the prickly issue of fuel subsidies, hiking prices in the face of $130 a barrel oil, but careful calibration of the steps may allow them to get away with it. Indonesia jacked up fuel prices by an average of 28.7 percent from Saturday, Sri Lanka followed with its own increase on Sunday and Bangladesh said it planned an increase soon. India is also considering such a move. The odd man out is China, which has strong finances and has said it does not plan to raise prices soon.
A flash flood killed nine people and left 11 others missing in southwest China's Guizhou province, state media said Tuesday, as thunderstorms also threatened neighbouring quake-hit Sichuan. Torrential rain hit nine townships in the Guizhou county of Wangmo on Monday evening that caused the flood, Xinhua news agency quoted the Emergency Response Office of the local government as saying. The flood destroyed 58 houses, two bridges, a highway, and power poles, causing blackouts in eight townships, affecting 26,000 people, Xinhua said.
China has recaptured a giant panda that made a bid for freedom after a massive earthquake devastated the research base where it lived, the official Xinhua agency said on Monday. The panda, named Xi Xi, was spotted on Sunday by a river not far from the Wolong research centre, but had disappeared into the woods by the time staff had got across. It did not get very far in its escape effort however, as they captured it on Monday just 200 metres (yards) downstream from its home.
CHINA will dynamite rock, mud and rubble forming a dangerously large "quake lake", hoping to avert a new disaster two weeks after a catastrophic tremor struck Sichuan province. The official death toll from the May 12 earthquake is now more than 60,000, but that number is certain to grow as searchers account for more of the 30,000 missing. Premier Wen Jiabao believes the toll could exceed 80,000. The frenzied initial rescue response is cooling into a battle with nature, deprivation and discontent sure to last long after thousands of aftershocks.
Has 73% Market Share Against India's 6%: Report India might have gained a headstart in the carbon market but it has been left behind by the China juggernaut. The latter has become the world leader in the carbon credit business with a market share of 73% in the volume of credits traded in 2007 as compared to India's 6%, a recently released World Bank report has said. But the entire carbon market could be in for a major shake-up depending on how the negotiations on the future of the Kyoto Protocol, which are to be concluded by 2009, shape up.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit is on a five-day visit here to acquaint herself with Beijing's preparations for the Olympics and study its rapid bus transit system in the backdrop of the controversy over the BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) corridor in the Indian capital. With the Commonwealth Games in Delhi two years away, Dikshit, who arrived here today, would meet officials of the organising committee of the Olympic Games and visit the Games venues, official sources said. During her stay in the city, she would also see how Beijing's rapid bus transit system is working, they said.
One of the most powerful aftershocks to hit quake-ravaged central China killed one person, left dozens more injured and levelled homes yesterday, as soldiers carrying explosives hiked to a blocked-off river to alleviate the threat of floods. Some 260 people were injured in the aftershock Sunday afternoon, the government-run China News Service said, with 24 in serious condition. The agency said many homes had collapsed and roads were damaged, but gave no specific figures.
China is buying farm lands abroad to ensure food supplies at home GURBIR SINGH GREEN PASTURES: China is eying Brazil's 1.2 billion acres of fallow land for farming (Reuters) The next step towards globalisation comes from an unexpected quarter
Well before this city was destroyed by an earthquake 32 years ago, the coming disaster was loudly preceded by strange animal behaviour and other bizarre signals that survivors wish they heeded. "The animals were trying to tell us something. If only we knew that, not so many people would have died," said Fu Wenran, a retired farmer, whose wife was among the estimated 240,000 who perished in Tangshan's quake on July 28, 1976 in China.
Beijing: Quake-hit Sichuan province in China witnessed its worst aftershock 13 days after the main earthquake on May 12. The aftershock at 6.4 magnitude on Richter scale gave rise to serious fears of quake-created lakes bursting and causing serious floods. Initial reports showed that one person had died and 260 injured in the aftershock, but detailed reports were being awaited.
