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 …
WASHINGTON/WINNIPEG: It powered the Green Revolution and helped save millions from starvation, but now one of the most important tools on the farm is being priced out of reach for many of the world's growers. With food prices soaring and stocks thinning, the world is in need of bumper harvests …
Some rice-producing nations may drop their reluctance to use genetically modified (GM) seeds in the next few years to help offset a crisis that has forced millions to go hungry, a top expert said. "If we consider the challenges that face us, I think we would be very foolish and …
A strong 6.4-magni-tude earthquake rocked the ^northern Philippines and southern parts of Taiwan early Sunday, shaking houses and prompting authorities to order some people to leave their homes. The quake struck at a depth of 22 km under the seabed in the Philippines' Batan Islands region at 0157 GMT, said …
With energy prices continuing to rise the Philippines is considering implementing a four-day week for all government employees, officials said Friday. Executive secretary Eduardo Ermita told journalists that the idea was being taken seriously by President Gloria Arroyo's government as a way of reducing energy costs.
rat find: A team of scientists has rediscovered the greater dwarf cloud rat (Carpomys melanurus), last seen 112 years ago. It was in the canopy of a large tree, on a large horizontal branch covered by a thick layer of moss, orchids, and ferns, about five metres above ground at …
The current food crisis has been largely policy-driven, which is probably good news because it means that policies can also reverse the process. THIS is not a sudden and unexpected crisis: the signs have been around for some time now. Even though international bureaucrats have been referring to the current …
Precisely when many in the developed bloc were frantically counting their money at the height of a surreal shock over subprime rate, the globalising world was jolted by a potential crisis of subsistence that would hit the poor and other vulnerable sections very hard. Is there a link, therefore, between …
MANILA: When the Australian miner Rusina started to extract nickel from its mining concession on the island of Luzon in March, the first major problem it faced was what to do about a highly organized illegal mining operation. The illegal miners working on Rusina's property did not feel the need …
According to the latest global report card, India ranks 27th along with Ghana and Eritrea when it comes to providing basic healthcare to its children, which includes life-saving interventions like prenatal care, skilled childbirth, immunization and treatment for diarrhoea and pneumonia. Over 53% children in India under five years
MANILA: A struggle for control has broken out at the largest power utility in the Philippines after the government put pressure on it to cut rates, and analysts say the dispute could affect privatization of the power sector. The state pension fund, Government Service Insurance System, or GSIS, has called …
Sir, Contrary to Martin Wolf's article "Food crisis is a chance to reform global agriculture' (April 30), the riots or disturbances that have, unfortunately, taken place in some parts of the world have not occurred in the Philippines. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her administration have been working diligently to address …
Dec 26 2004 TSUNAMI At least 230,000 people are killed and 43,000 are missing after a tsunami sparked by a magnitude 9.15 earthquake smashes into 13 Indian Ocean countries. More than half the victims are Indonesians, with Sri Lanka and India next worst hit. March 2005 INDONESIA Nearly 1,000 people …
The Asian Development Bank on Saturday called for immediate action from global governments to combat soaring food prices and pledged fresh financial aid to help feed the Asia Pacific region's poorest nations. The ADB set out a plan of short- and medium-to-longer-term assistance work, including financial support, to protect the …
It was supposed to prevent blindness and death from vitamin A deficiency in millions of children. But almost a decade after its invention, golden rice is still stuck in the lab.
At around 5 p.m. on April 2, local police and officers from the Philippines National Bureau of Investigation descended on a four-story warehouse in suburban Manila. They were acting on a tip-off about possible illicit activity. But the agents weren't searching for drugs or knockoff Rolexes. They were looking for …
Global food shortages have taken everyone by surprise. What is to be done? Reuters SAMAKE BAKARY sells rice from wooden basins at Abobote market in the northern suburbs of Abidjan in C
The Philippines' population has grown over two percent each year since 2000, the government said on Thursday, but experts said Asia's biggest Catholic nation was unlikely to change policies to slow the increase. The country has one of the highest population growth rates in the region, with at least three …
