More than 100 tenants in a Thorncliffe Park apartment complex have stopped paying rent to protest proposed above-guideline rent increases of almost 10 per cent over the last two years, according to a tenant advocacy group. Building owner says rent strike is ‘poorly timed and misguided’ given rent hikes aren’t …
Read More »How do you track biodiversity loss? Check air filters, say scientists
A new study shows air filtering systems across the world have been collecting DNA from wildlife for decades, which could be used to help researchers identify and quantify biodiversity. Networks that measure air pollution could be used to gather vital wildlife genetic data say researchers. It’s no surprise that along …
Read More »Ukraine dam breached, unleashing floods as residents ordered to evacuate
Ukraine on Tuesday accused Russian forces of blowing up a major dam and hydroelectric power station in a part of southern Ukraine that Moscow controls, threatening what officials called an "ecological disaster" due to possible massive flooding. Russian officials countered that the Kakhovka dam was damaged by Ukrainian military strikes. …
Read More »Philippine Book Festival showcased the best and brightest in PH publishing
THE just-concluded Philippine Book Festival (PBF), which ran from Friday to Sunday at the World Trade Center, proves that the local publishing industry has arrived. More than 50,000 people thronged the last day of the festival, which featured Filipino authors and creators, new titles, talks, workshops and live performances, all …
Read More »Time to enact a new Warehouse Receipts Law
The House of Representatives took a step closer to updating the archaic Warehouse Receipts Law, also known as Act No. 2137, that was enacted by the Philippine Legislature “by authority of the United States” in 1912 or 111 years ago. It approved last week on third and final reading House …
Read More »Treaty to reduce plastic waste elusive as ever
Photo Credit: Reuters LAST week, representatives from 175 nations and 2,000 green organizations gathered in Paris to lay the groundwork for an international, legally binding treaty on plastic pollution. The conference, which involves the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for Plastics, had its share of “nitpicking” and “delaying tactics,” but …
Read More »Gov’t seeks to lessen dependency on ‘ayuda’
Food stamp beneficiaries required to look for jobs TO fight off the “culture of dependency,” the Marcos administration is adjusting its assistance to indigents by setting conditions that would help beneficiaries “graduate” from being poor. Starting with the state’s P40-billion food stamp program, the Department of Social Welfare and Development …
Read More »Asia-Pacific may sink into‘ whirlpool’ of conflict–China
China Defense Minister Li Shangfu Chinese Defense minister Li Shangfu on Sunday warned against establishing NATO-like military alliances in the Asia-Pacific, saying they would plunge the region into a “whirlpool” of conflict. He issued the statement during a security dialogue in Singapore where the Pentagon also voiced concern over the …
Read More »‘PNP should overhaul system’
Members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) such as patrolmen and lieutenants should not be immediately allowed to be assigned to the PNP Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG), Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa on Sunday said. In a radio interview on Super Radyo dzBB, Dela Rosa said that the PNP has …
Read More »DoE pushes speedy rollout of electric vehicles
The Department of Energy (DOE) on Monday pushed for a faster rollout of electric vehicles (EVs) in the Philippines to help motorists veer away from the traditional types of transportation and reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuels. “The shift to EVs is expected to reduce the country’s dependence on …
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