Hard nut to crack
betel chewing is a national pastime in Taiwan. But now Taiwanese officials have decided to destroy the plantations that are growing on government-protected land, shut down the roadside stalls and
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Computing a remedy
many times patients complain that doctors order more tests or perform more expensive procedures than required. Now sophisticated new computer models will enable millions of patients to analyse
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Involuntary sterilisations
more than 16,000 Japanese handicapped women were sterilised forcefully between 1949 and 1995. A health and welfare official admitted that these sterilisations had the approval of the Japanese
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Test tube pandas
scientists in China are attempting for the first time to create a test-tube panda. Since the beginning of this year, China's Laboratory of Genetic Embryo Engineering on Endangered Wildlife has
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The power of the people
villagers in Thailand have threatened to seal the forests in Kanchanaburi if the government did not stop work on the Thai-Burmese gas pipeline. They had earlier submitted a letter to Prime
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Way to greener cars?
ford Motor Company and the us oil giant Mobil have announced a collaboration to improve fuel economy and cut emissions from cars through new technology. Mobil chairperson Lucio Noto and Ford
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Wolves out
federal biologists have released nearly a dozen Mexican gray wolves from chain-link pens into the remote ponderosa forests and meadows in the White mountains of eastern Arizona. The us
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EL NINO WATCH
The global fish meal and fish oil industries during 1997-98 season will go down due to El Ni
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Whale of a problem
TOXIC industrial chemicals have been discovered in the tissues of whales that normally feed in the deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Even though the quantities found may not be harmful, their
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Cheap trees
the Australian government has denied that it was selling timber from Victoria's native forests at a very low price. According to them, the royalties for the "debris', that would otherwise be
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Stop reclamation plan
local environmental groups in South Korea have demanded an end to a large-scale reclamation project now underway on the southwestern coast of the nation. "The project should be scrapped
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First among greens
royal dutch/shell and Exxon Corp may never be the toast of "green' activists, but they can take comfort from a new report ranking them tops in the oil industry when it comes to the environment.
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Predicting tsunamis
tsunamis, giant waves caused by submarine earthquakes, landslips or volcanic activity, are known to wreck havoc in Japan. Now, the country's civil defence officials should be able to predict
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Raising money
a last-minute gift of us $1.5 million from an anonymous donor helped a Washington State Conservation Group meet its deadline for raising us $13.1 million to save a patch of
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UK s penguins threatened
uk's penguin population is being severely hit by a brain disease believed to be linked to an outbreak of bird malaria. All 26 rare penguins at Marwell Zoo in Hampshire have died and Edinburgh
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Dirty deeds
the Thames Water company was fined us $403,400 by a London court for allowing millions of litres of raw sewage and industrial chemicals to flow into the Thames before diverting it into
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UNITED NATIONS
A recent study by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) shows that environmental degradation is posing a great threat to human health. The study, An Assessment of Risks and Threats to
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SOUTH AFRICA
More than half of the total African penguin population, which was on the verge of dying, were saved due to the efforts of thousands of people. The penguins of the Dassen Island and the Robben
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SOUTH AFRICA
The South African National Parks Board has approved a revised management plan for the Kruger National Park ( knp ), near Johannesburg. The two main objectives of the plan are protecting the
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UNITED NATIONS
The UN world food body has reached a landmark agreement for saving the diversity of agricultural crops. Members of the body, including the US, have decided to make it mandatory for plant breeders and