The world is getting warmer and natural hazards are becoming more intense, likely bringing higher economic losses in the future. Today, four major weather perils result in expected economic losses of USD 200 billion annually. With more severe weather coming, economic losses are set to rise. The study analysis finds …
Tropical Storm Son-Tinh has left at least six people dead and nine missing in the Philippines, the civil defence chief said on Friday. The fatalities include one person hit by a tree toppled by strong winds and another who was crushed in a landslide spawned by heavy rains, said the …
Why don't you sell it for Rs.5? Rs.1.2 lakh per month is too high." On September 11, Supreme Court Justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Desai posed that question to Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG, fighting to patent its expensive cancer drug Glivec. The question wasn't just judicial speculation or indeed wit. …
ASIA-ECONOMY-ADB:ADB cuts India's growth forecast to 5.6 pct for 2012 The Asian Development Bank cut most of its 2012 and 2013 growth estimates for developing Asia on Wednesday as a slump in global demand weighs on the region's powerhouses China and India and on its export-dependent economies. The Manila-based bank …
A mysterious new species of stick insect has been discovered living in the Philippines by scientists. The stick insect is wingless, lives on the ground rather than in trees, and is spectacularly coloured, having a green-blue head and orange body. The insect also vents a foul-smelling spray to deter predators. …
A major earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale was felt off the east coast of Samar province in the central Philippines at 8.47 p.m. local time Friday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) reported. No casualties or property damage has been reported so far.The epicentre of the quake was initially …
A 7.6-magnitude quake struck off the eastern coast of the Philippines late on Friday, killing at least one person in a house collapse, knocking out power in several towns and generating negligible tsunami surges. A tsunami alert originally was issued for several countries in the region including Indonesia and Japan …
A 7.6-magnitude quake struck off the eastern coast of the Philippines today, killing at least one person in a house collapse, knocking out power in several towns and generating negligible tsunami surges. A tsunami alert originally was issued for several countries in the region including Indonesia and Japan and for …
China has begun building sewage and waste disposal facilities on a disputed South China Sea island, state media said on Monday, a move likely to stoke a growing territorial row with its neighbours. The report in the China Daily came a month after Beijing enraged Vietnam by announcing the establishment …
Authorities in Shanghai are contesting claims that the city is vulnerable to serious flooding, noting the city's work to build protective bulwarks in recent years and its capability of moving residents out of harm's way amid emergencies. The city's ability to control floods came under scrutiny after a study appearing …
Authorities in Shanghai are contesting claims that the city is vulnerable to serious flooding, noting the city's work to build protective bulwarks in recent years and its capability of moving residents out of harm's way amid emergencies. The city's ability to control floods came under scrutiny after a study appearing …
Dhaka is the second most vulnerable to coastal flooding among nine major such risky cities of the world, according to a recent study. Among the nine cities, Shanghai is the most vulnerable to destruction from serious flooding. Dhaka is also highly vulnerable because it is frequently hit by tropical cyclones …
Rainstorms have battered several southern Chinese provinces this week, toppling homes and killing a woman and her granddaughter in Hunan Province. The woman, 49, was buried together with the child in the rubble of their home that was washed down by flash floods in Shimen county Monday night, the provincial …
Despite the high global burden of diseases caused by tobacco, valid and comparable prevalence data for patterns of adult tobacco use and factors influencing use are absent for many low-income and middle-income countries. We assess these patterns through analysis of data from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS).
Tobacco use is massively entrenched in developing countries, where one of the biggest worries is the rise of smoking among women, according to a study published on Friday in The Lancet. A survey of 16 countries that are home to three billion people found that 48.6 percent of all men …
Technically feasible and cost-effective interventions exist to reduce maternal, newborn, and child mortality. This potential has not been fully realised due to the failure of health systems to improve the delivery and uptake of these priority interventions, particularly amongst the most vulnerable women and children. Underfunded investments in maternal, newborn, …
At least 15 people were killed on Tuesday as torrential rains triggered a landslide and widespread flooding in the Philippine capital Manila and nearby areas, officials said. The bodies of nine members of one family were pulled from the earth after a landslide buried four houses in a northern Manila …
The World Bank said on Monday it plans to buy carbon credits from pig farms in the Philippines, helping farmers generate extra income by setting up environment friendly waste treatment facilities. Under the program it will finance the installation of such waste treatment systems that will capture methane gas from …
The Philippines has indefinitely suspended the operations of the country's largest gold mine after a waste spillage near a major river, officials said on Monday. Philex Mining's Padcal facility will remain closed until a government investigation determines the extent of the spill and why it happened, said Leo Jasareno, head …
The death toll from week-long floods in the Philippines caused by a typhoon has risen to 45, with nine more bodies recovered in the past 48 hours, authorities said on Sunday. Monsoon rains continued to pound large parts of the country while some areas in Manila and surrounding towns remained …
Rescuers deployed rubber boats while doctors fanned across cramped evacuation centres in the Philippines as the death toll from five days of flooding reached 23 on Thursday, officials said. Large farming towns north of the capital Manila as well as heavily populated coastal areas remained under waist deep floods, with …
