<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
Rubbishing claims by western leaders that the current food crisis was caused by the growing consumption in India and China, BRIC foreign ministers on Friday sought a "just" global economy keeping in view interests of all nations. "There are multiple reasons for the current food crisis, primarily due to recent cyclones in Bangladesh and Burma, which destroyed the entire rice crops in these countries, also exporters of rice.
How can countries cope in the short and medium term with the sharp rise in wheat prices? The global movements of the past suggest that in the case of wheat, prices are influenced by the stock and output policies of just a handful of countries. It would be dangerous for large countries like China and India to depend on the global market for their food security. And it is time world bodies consider establishing a global reserve to help food-deficit countries in times of crisis.
China is on precautionary alert against possible radiation leaks from the deadliest earthquake to hit the country in three decades, according to a government website. The disaster area is home to China's chief nuclear weapons research lab in Mianyang, as well as several secretive atomic sites, but no nuclear power stations. Minister of environmental protection Zhou Shengxian convened an emergency meeting late on Monday, hours after the 7.9 magnitude tremor rocked the southwestern province of
BEIJING: At least three dozen villages and towns in southwest China remained cut off from the outside world Thursday as tens of thousands of soldiers and emergency workers struggled against impassable roads and mountains of concrete and brick to reach the 40,000 people that officials say are still buried in the rubble or missing after a massive earthquake Monday.
BEIJING: China, India and other nations that subsidize gasoline and diesel prices may be even less willing to raise prices than they were six months ago, aiding crude's ascent toward $130 even as demand deteriorates elsewhere. While Indonesia appears set to raise prices this month, the world's fastest-growing oil users show little inclination to reduce their subsidy programs and allow fuel prices to rise, as fighting inflation has become their top priority.
The last child was out. She was alive. There were 16 young survivors. No more than that. Rescuers sighed, partly sad, partly relieved, as they stood on the debris of the Yinghua Middle School amid the half-light of early Thursday after 60 hours of toil. On the suddenly silent school campus, the heartbroken cry of a father went up, "There are no more! [My child] was not found!" The small town of Yinghua, surrounded by high mountains, is 20 km from Wenchuan County in southwesten Sichuan Province, the epicentre of the 7.9-magnitude earthquake that has claimed about 15,000 lives.
The May 12 earthquake, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, in China's south-western Sichuan province has taken a confirmed toll of over 19,500 lives. It is feared that the number of dead could be above 50,000. The toll would have been higher but for the quick and efficient response by the government and the diligence shown by the rescue machinery. Amidst the gloom of many people buried under debris, beyond all help, there are moving accounts of children, women, and t he elderly being rescued. Even rare giant pandas have survived in reserves.
On Sunday, Liu Li received a simple Mother's Day present from her only child: a basket of red, pink and white carnations wrapped in purple rice paper. That afternoon, the 15-year-old returned to boarding school knowing he had made his mother the happiest woman in their village. Liu and her husband never thought about defying China's one-child policy. They already had everything they could hope for in a son. Meng Hao was not only a good student and star athlete, he was even the tallest kid around.
First, the water level in a pond inexplicably plunged. Then, thousands of toads appeared on streets in a nearby province. Finally, just hours before China's worst earthquake in three decades, animals at a local zoo began acting strangely. As bodies are pulled from the wreckage of Monday's quake, Chinese online chat rooms and blogs are buzzing with a question: Why did n't these natural signs alert the government that a disaster was coming?
China warned the death toll from this week's earthquake could soar to 50,000 while the government issued a rare public appeal on Thursday for rescue equipment as it struggled to cope with the disaster. Rescue workers cleared roads to the epicentre in the race to find survivors.
