Remanded custody

SAN ANTONIO -- Authorities found 46 migrants dead inside a tractor-trailer on Monday in San Antonio, Texas, the city's fire department said, in what appears to be one of the most deadly recent incidents of human smuggling along the U.S.-Mexico border. The San Antonio Fire Department said 16 other people found inside the trailer were transported to the hospital for heat stroke and exhaustion, including four minors. Officials also said three people were in custody following the incident. The truck was found next to railroad tracks in a remote area on the city's southern outskirts. Mexico's Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard called the suffocation of the migrants in the truck the "tragedy in Texas" on Twitter and said the local consulate was en route to the scene, though the nationalities of the victims had not been confirmed. People found dead inside a trailer truck in San Antonio. Photo: Reuters There have been a record number of migrant crossings at the … [Read more...] about More than 40 migrants die in truck in San Antonio, others hospitalized

Plantations dreaming of FSC status for rubber products, Photo: Duc Thanh Nguyen Vinh Phuong, the owner of a 150-hectare rubber plantation area in the south-eastern province of Tay Ninh has recently spent more time studying the process of obtaining the FSC certification. Although he is interested in cultivating sustainable rubber, he remains hesitant to implement this process. Phuong pointed out that the rule of a 10-per-cent conservation area seems to be an infeasible requirement for small operators of plantation areas. The rule would mean that Phuong would lose $1,500 over 10 days of rubber tapping if he saved 10 per cent of his 150-ha plantation area for conservation. Besides state-owned companies like Tan Bien Rubber and Tay Ninh Rubber, there are 12 private firms competing to source rubber. Phuong was certain that he would not lose VND105 million ($4,520) per month during the tough market caused by rising production expenses, the shortage of rubber tappers and the … [Read more...] about Plantations dreaming of FSC status for rubber products