Global population reaches 7 billion people

SINDELFINGEN, Germany (Reuters) - Germany's largest industrial union IG Metall will get its biggest pay rise in 20 years after agreeing to a 4.3-percent pay increase deal with employers at the end of marathon talks that ended just before dawn on Saturday. The wage deal, which is more than double Germany's inflation rate …

Cooking and gardening should be taught in schools as part of efforts to promote healthy and sustainable food, MPs have urged.

(Reuters) - A new biotech corn developed by Dow AgroSciences could answer the prayers of U.S. farmers plagued by a fierce epidemic of super-weeds. Or it could trigger a flood of dangerous chemicals that may make weeds even more resistant and damage other important U.S. crops. Or, it could do both. "Enlist," entering the …

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finnish forestry firms were set to report weak quarterly results next week, as the industry faces further consolidation in its struggles with falling demand and price pressures. Quarterly results from Stora Enso on April 24 and UPM-Kymmene on April 26 will likely highlight the need for more capacity …

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain has delivered the third instalment of its bilateral bailout loan to Ireland, Treasury minister Mark Hoban said on Tuesday. Hoban said Ireland, which needed help to prop up its banks as the euro zone debt crisis unfolded in 2010, had passed a review by the International Monetary Fund and European …

LONDON (Reuters) - Expanding cities threaten to eat up a swath of land the size of France, Germany and Spain combined in less than 20 years, putting the world under even more environmental pressure, experts said at a climate conference on Tuesday. Cities are growing to accommodate a rising global population and as countries …

LONDON (Reuters) - Former Olympics minister Tessa Jowell on Thursday called for a relaxation in marketing rules which she said were preventing British construction firms from boasting about their work on the Olympic Park. About 1,500 British businesses have been involved in the building of the seven billion pound park in …

LONDON (Reuters) - Former Olympics minister Tessa Jowell on Thursday called for a relaxation in marketing rules which she said were preventing British construction firms from boasting about their work on the Olympic Park. About 1,500 British businesses have been involved in the building of the seven billion pound park in …

Baroness Tonge argues that the human population must be put at 'the core of the sustainable development agenda', ahead of the Rio+20 UN conference.

LONDON (Reuters) - Many sports fans gasped in awe at Beijing's Olympic stadiums four years ago, wondering how Britain could possibly match those spectacular buildings such as the bird's nest and water cube. But the man in charge of construction at London 2012 never had any doubt the city he loves so much could provide its …

LONDON (Reuters) - Global greenhouse gas emissions could rise 50 percent by 2050 without more ambitious climate policies, as fossil fuels continue to dominate the energy mix, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said on Thursday. "Unless the global energy mix changes, fossil fuels will supply …

British food producers are being promised more help to export their goods to lucrative overseas markets such as India and China.