News by Subject

240 die in Philippine storm, toll expected to rise (AP)

(World health - EU Monitor 29/09/2009)

MANILA, Philippines - Rescuers pulled more bodies from swollen rivers and debris-strewn streets Tuesday to bring the death toll from massive flooding in the Philippines to 240, while two new storms brewing in the Pacific threatened to complicate relief efforts. The homes of nearly 1.9 million people in the capital and surrounding areas were inundated by flooding unleashed when Tropical Storm Ketsana tore through the region over the weekend, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said.

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Doctors warn on climate failure

(BBC 16/09/2009)

Failure to agree a new UN climate deal in December will bring a "global health catastrophe", say 18 of the world's professional medical organisations. Writing in The Lancet and the British Medical Journal, they urge doctors to "take a lead" on the climate issue. In a separate editorial, the journals say that people in poor tropical nations will suffer the worst impacts. They argue that curbing climate change would have other benefits such as more healthy diets and cleaner air.

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New moves over Bhopal disaster

(BBC 31/07/2009)

An Indian court has re-issued an arrest warrant for the former boss of the US chemical company responsible for the Bhopal disaster 25 years ago. Warren Anderson was head of Union Carbide when its pesticide factory at Bhopal, central India, leaked tons of poison gas. Thousands of people were killed and many more were injured. The court in Bhopal re-issued the warrant in response to an appeal by a victims' group.

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Fight for survival

(BBC 03/09/2008)

If it seems like disasters are getting more common, it is because they are. Over the past 50 years, human beings have moved into more places that were never meant to be inhabited by our species.

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