The Chinese government estimates that it will cost $147 billion to rebuild from the massive earthquake that struck the central part of the country in May, state media have reported.

China is raising its sales tax on big cars to as high as 40 percent, and drastically cutting taxes on small cars, in its latest attempt to combat emissions that contribute to heavy blankets of smog over most of its cities.

CHICAGO: After an extremely worrisome start that fanned fears of famine and economic devastation, the most crucial American crop is now on track for a bountiful harvest, the government said Tuesday.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is forecasting the second-highest corn yield on record with production of 12.3 billion bushels, nearly 600 million bushels more than it anticipated earlier in the summer.

"We dodged a bullet," said Bill Nelson, a grains analyst for Wachovia.

BEIJING: China said Wednesday that it would raise consumption tax on large vehicles and cut the tax on small cars in an effort to reduce pollution and save energy.
The tax on small cars will fall to 1 percent from 3 percent beginning on Sept. 1.

The tax on big cars will rise to 25 percent to 40 percent, compared with the current rate of 15 percent to 20 percent, depending on the vehicle's size, the Ministry of Finance said. (Reuters),

Last year, a private company proposed "fertilizing" parts of the ocean with iron, in hopes of encouraging carbon-absorbing blooms of plankton. Meanwhile, researchers elsewhere are talking about injecting chemicals into the atmosphere, launching sun-reflecting mirrors into stationary orbit above the earth or taking other steps to reset the thermostat of a warming planet.

Andrew C. Revkin

Scientists studying variations in tropical heat and rainfall since the mid-1980s have found a strong link between warm periods and more extreme downpours.

The observed rise in the heaviest rains is about twice that produced by computer simulations used to assess human-caused global warming, said the researchers.

Other studies have already measured a rise in heavy rains in areas as varied as North America and India, and climatologists have long forecast more heavy rains in a world warmed by accumulating greenhouse gases.

Scientists studying variations in tropical heat and rainfall since the mid-1980s have found a strong link between warm periods and more extreme downpours.

The observed rise in the heaviest rains is about twice that produced by computer simulations used to assess human-caused global warming, said the researchers.

Other studies have already measured a rise in heavy rains in areas as varied as North America and India, and climatologists have long forecast more heavy rains in a world warmed by accumulating greenhouse gases.

Choking smoke from forest fires hung over parts of the island of Sumatra in Indonesia on Friday, forcing a delay in flights and prompting fears that conditions could worsen because of lack of rain, officials said.

About 450 fires have been detected across Indonesia, and forestry officials have warned that the number could exceed the total of 35,000 reported last year, as the dry season this year is likely to be marked by less rain than usual.

BEIJING: China's drive to improve energy efficiency lost pace in the i first half of2008, data showed.

The country used 2.88 percent less energy to generate each dollar of national income in the six months to June than the same period the previous year, the National Bureau of Statistics said. Last year it cut its energy intensity by 3.66 percent.

China set a target of improving energy intensity by 4 percent a year from 2006, but ultimately managed only a 1.79 percent improvement that year. (Reuters)

LONDON: The famous Coca-Cola secret formula is becoming just a little less secret.

For more than a century, Coke has fiercely guarded its recipe, created in 1886 by John Pemberton, a druggist in Atlanta who was trying to concoct a health drink. In recent decades the company has spun an aura of mystery around the formula - partly for competitive reasons, but also as a marketing tool.