Category: Other

YANGON, May 6, 2008 (AFP) – More than 15,000 people were killed in Myanmar’s devastating cyclone, the government said Tuesday, with thousands more feared dead after the storm left rice fields littered with corpses. Aid workers were racing to deliver food and water to the southern coast which was submerged by floodwaters, leaving scenes of […]

BANGKOK, May 6, 2008 (AFP) – The deadly cyclone that struck Myanmar devastated its main rice-growing region, and could threaten exports meant to ease shortages in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, the UN food agency said Tuesday. Flooding, which poured damaging salt water into paddy fields, could create long-term food insecurity for Myanmar and other poor […]

DAKAR, May 5, 2008 (AFP) – Senegal’s outspoken President Abdoulaye Wade late Sunday called for the scrapping of the UN food agency, saying its inefficiency had largely led to soaring food prices worldwide.Wade said the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), headed by his compatriot Jacques Diouf, was a “waste of money largely spent on doing […]

PARIS, May 4, 2008 (AFP) – Researchers in China have pinpointed an elusive gene that plays a linchpin role in determining the harvest potential of rice, according to a study released on Sunday by the journal Nature Genetics.The productivity of a rice plant is determined by several traits — the number and size of its […]

PHNOM PENH, May 5, 2008 (AFP) – Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Monday that a proposed OPEC-style rice cartel in Southeast Asia would ensure global food security, rejecting concerns that it would increase hunger and poverty. Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said last week that his country had agreed in principle to form a […]

SHANGHAI, May 5, 2008 (AFP) – A Chinese government watchdog has warned major state-owned enterprises to brace for tough times given the likelihood of a worsening global economic slowdown, state media reported Monday. Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) must pay more attention to their financial position to avoid a potential capital crunch, the Economic Observer reported, […]

SYDNEY, May 5, 2008 (AFP) – From the rice paddies of Asia to the wheat fields of Australia, the soaring price of food is breaking the budgets of the poor and raising the spectres of hunger and unrest, experts warn.A billion people in Asia are seriously affected by the surging costs of daily staples such […]

TOKYO, May 5, 2008 (AFP) – Japan’s ruling party is considering plans to encourage foreign workers to stay in the country long-term, a daily reported Monday after the birth rate fell for the 27th successive year. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has proposed setting up an “immigration agency” to help foreign workers — including providing […]

MADRID, May 5, 2008 (AFP) – The head of the Asian Development Bank announced on Monday the establishment of a Climate Change Fund to combat the impact of global warming, which he termed a “fundamental threat” to the region.“We will substantially increase our attention to the environmental consequences of growth, including climate change,” Haruhiko Kuroda […]

BRDO PRI KRANJU, Slovenia, May 5, 2008 (AFP) – Europe’s truckers would have to pay for the pollution, traffic jams and noise they cause if the European Commission gets its way.The European Union’s executive arm is putting the finishing touches on proposals that would hit road hauliers with special new toll fees for the environmental […]

KUALA LUMPUR, May 4, 2008 (AFP) – Malaysia’s prime minister is not yet prepared to introduce a minimum monthly wage despite mounting pressure from trade unions amid inflationary fears, reports said Sunday.The country’s top union chief on Thursday called for pay of at least 1,200 ringgit (379 dollars) to help workers cope with soaring food […]

HONG KONG, May 4, 2008 (AFP) – Rationing, subsidies, price-fixing cartels, export curbs — you name it, governments across the world are trying it out as they seek to shield their populations from the soaring price of rice.Wary of the political risk of millions of hungry people on their doorstep, some governments — notably in […]