Effective today, China will raise gasoline and diesel fuel prices 16 percent and 18 percent, respectively, news that sent global oil prices down nearly US$5 a barrel. Electricity prices are also expected to rise sharply. Reuters offers a poorly displayed chart that shows China's domestic gasoline prices, fixed since November 1, have climbed 95 percent and diesel prices have more than doubled since 2003. Retail fuel prices in China are expected to increase to $3.05 per gallon for gas and $3.31 for diesel. Says the New York Times, "Costlier fuel and electricity could prompt businesses and individuals across China to use less of it, slowing somewhat China’s voracious increase in oil consumption in recent years as well as its steep rise in emissions of global warming gases."

http://shanghaiist.com/2008/06/20/china_gas_prices_jump_taxi_fares_ne.php

Police are investigating a traffic accident at the airport in which a 33-year-old taxi driver died and three passengers were injured.

As he was driving along Airport Road at about 5am today, the driver reportedly lost control and hit a traffic road sign near the slip road to Asia World-Expo. A tyre came loose from the car and hit another taxi travelling towards the airport.   

Firefighters rescued the driver of the first taxi and his 31-year-old male passenger who were seriously injured. They were sent to Princess Margaret Hospital where the taxi driver was certified dead at 6.02am.

Two passengers in the second taxi, both aged 74, were also injured and sent to Princess Margaret Hospital. The driver of the second taxi was unharmed.

Witnesses should contact the Police on 3661 1300.
 
http://www.news.gov.hk/en/category/lawandorder/080620/html/080620en08006.htm

The Philippine government said on Monday it would lend up to 1 billion pesos ($22 million) to owners of taxis and buses to convert their diesel engines and cut their reliance on costly imported fuel.

Concerned about the political fallout from soaring inflation, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is trying to alleviate the impact on poor Filipinos from rising prices of fuel, food and other basic commodities.

"They can use (the money) to finance the engine conversion from diesel to liquefied petroleum gas, compressed natural gas and other alternative fuels," Arroyo said at a launch for more environmentally friendly public vehicles.

Annual inflation is expected to keep rising after hitting a nine-year high of 9.6 percent in May. International oil prices at more than $130 a barrel, double what they were a year ago, are one of the main culprits.

The Philippines imports more than 90 percent of its fuel needs, helping the trade deficit to balloon to $2.1 billion in the first three months of the year compared to a $181 million surplus a year ago.

Arroyo said she wanted 10,000 taxis, buses and jeepneys or mini-buses, to use cheaper and cleaner alternative fuels.

Petron, the country's largest refiner, sells diesel at 49.39 pesos ($1.10) a liter compared to around 31 pesos for a liter of LPG.

Last month, Arroyo scrapped her long-held goal of a balanced budget this year and said she would raise spending to support flagging economic growth and overburdened consumers.

Earlier this month, the government announced a one-time cash subsidy for poor families to meet electricity bills at a cost of around 2 billion pesos.

The Philippines, the world's largest rice importer, has also been hard hit by a near trebling of international rice prices because of export curbs by some producer nations.

Manila has spent $1 billion this year buying up rice overseas and selling it at a discounted price to poor Filipinos, who rely on the staple to survive.

Around a third of the Philippines' nearly 90 million people live on less than $1 a day.

http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSMAN2626320080616?sp=true