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The dwindling number of farmers in the country is indeed worrisome, and it is strongly felt at the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority's (TESDA) Agricultural Extension Program which is being bypassed by majority of young Filipinos, contributing to a low enrollment percentage nationwide. TESDA Director General Joel Villanueva, who was here Thursday, made the grim disclosure amidst a growing population which has become harder to feed, saying that unless the government comes up with more incentives to prod more Filipinos, particularly the younger generation to take up farming, farmlands would suffer and hinder any economic growth. The Philippines aims to advance technologically, but it has largely remained agricultural. Villanueva said the current crop of farmers is ageing, with an average age of 50-55 years old and a dearth of farm workers a few years from now would aggravate the existing food situation. The TESDA chief also said that his agency, in a joint effort wi...

Nigeria's police in northeast Adamawa State have intensified security measures to protect lives and property of people in the state, following series of bombings in neighboring Yobe and Borno. State police spokesperson Altine Daniel told reporters in Yola, the state capital on Saturday that the command had taken some precautionary measures since the beginning of the Boko Haram crisis. "Since the beginning of the crisis, we have considered ourselves as one of the states that is very close to these crisis prone states," she added. "And following the recent happening, we put in measures to make sure that the spillover did not affect us," she said. Altine told reporters that the command had introduced more patrols across the state, especially in the border towns. "Patrols have been intensified. Stop and search increased within the state capital and major roads that link the state to others to ensure that lives and property of people in the state are protected,...

Iran's Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi said Saturday the documents of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on its missile program are "unfounded and baseless," the semi-official Mehr news agency reported. "The alleged documents claimed by the IAEA are baseless," Salehi said during a joint press conference with his visiting Burundian counterpart in Tehran, referring to reports that the IAEA will release some documents about Iran's missile program in the future. The United Nations nuclear supervision agency is expected to release a report on Iran's nuclear program next week, which is likely to hint at Iran's engagement in nuclear weapons work despite UN sanctions. Yukiya Amano, the IAEA Director General, had said at the UN General Assembly that while its too early to make conclusions just yet, the report may possibly exacerbate Middle East tensions.

Greece's ruling socialist party led by Prime Minister George Papandreou continued negotiations late Saturday with opposition conservatives for a coalition government to save the nation from bankruptcy, but the talks have been difficult as the opposition party flatly rejected the idea. The conservative New Democracy party headed by Antonis Samaras wants a snap election and is demanding Papandreou's resignation. President Karolos Papoulias is expected to meet Samaras at the presidential residence on Sunday. He will urge Samaras to compromise in order to overcome the current national crisis, but it remains uncertain whether the opposition leader will give in.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday asked for South Korea's participation in the Eurasian nation's nuclear power plant construction project, an official said, a request expected to revive suspended negotiations between the two sides. Erdogan made the offer in summit talks with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak held on the sidelines of the G-20 summit meeting in the French city of Cannes, senior presidential press secretary Choe Guem-nak said. Lee welcomed the request and proposed to hold "substantive negotiations," Choe said. Last year, South Korea and Turkey held intense negotiations on the US$ 20 billion project to build four nuclear reactors on Turkey's Black Sea coast. But the negotiations were suspended after the sides failed to work out key differences. Japan had been expected to win the project. But Turkey's talks with Japan have reportedly been halted since March's nuclear power plant accident in Japan in the wake of an earthqu...

A Syrian foreign ministry source on Saturday branded as "irresponsible" a statement made by the U.S. State Department advising Syrians not to surrender themselves after Damascus announced an amnesty for those who gave up their weapons. With its statement the U.S. administration has proved once again its flagrant intervention in the Syrian affairs and revealed its policy that supports killing, as well as its funding of "terrorist groups," the source was quoted by the state news agency as saying. The Syrian interior ministry on Friday called on those who carried, sold or distributed weapons but didn't commit homicides to turn themselves in within a week to receive amnesty. In a statement carried by the state TV, the ministry pledged to release those who turned themselves in between Nov. 5 and 12, saying that "this will be considered as an amnesty to those who surrender themselves and hand over their weapons." After the issue of the Syrian statement, the ...

Syrian authorities accused the United States on Saturday of financing terrorist groups in Syria and interfering with the country's domestic affairs, diplomats said. In its statement, the Syrian Foreign Ministry referred to State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland who "recommended that terrorists do not surrender to Syrian authorities" on Friday. The Foreign Ministry called on the international community "to come out against such a policy that contradicts the international law and UN Security Council resolutions on the fight against terrorism and its funding." On Friday, the Syrian Interior Ministry announced an amnesty for the rioters if they give up weapons within a week. The protests against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad have been continuing for eight months. At least 20 civilians have been killed in clashes with government troops in Syria on Thursday, a day after Damascus pledged to withdraw its forces from protest centers under a deal with the...

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Saturday that the city authorities would not allow the violence that swept Oakland to be repeated in New York, The New York Post said. Oakland police had to use tear gas on Thursday to stop hundreds of agitated Occupy Wall Street protesters who were destroying shop windows and setting fire in the streets and engaging in other acts of vandalism. Bloomberg said Friday on his weekly WOR radio appearance that the city would not tolerate some of the behavior at Zuccotti Park, but officials also must "understand the laws and the implications." The mayor said that anybody who thought the city was doing nothing was wrong. He said some Occupy Wall Street protesters were trying to destroy the neighborhood around their camp site but most were not. Bloomberg earlier promised to take measures against some protesters after city residents complained about noise, disturbances and social misbehavior.

Boeing celebrated the delivery flight Thursday of the first 747-8 Freighter for Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Inc. The delivery is the first of nine 747-8 Freighters Atlas Air has on order. Atlas Air's 49 percent subsidiary, Global Supply Systems (GSS), will operate the new freighter for British Airways World Cargo through a five-year wet-lease agreement, Boeing said in a statement. "We have been looking forward to the delivery of our first 747-8F for a long time, and we are delighted that it is going into service with our valued, long-standing customer, British Airways World Cargo," President and Chief Executive Officer of Atlas Air, William J. Flynn said. As part of the lease agreement for three 747-8 Freighters with GSS, British Airways World Cargo will utilize the airplanes on long-haul routes to cargo hubs in Asia, Africa, India and the United States. "The addition of the 747-8 Freighter to the fleet is an important step in our overall long-haul business strategy...

Cyprus has taken measures to cooperate with the Central Bank for shielding the island's banking system against possible Greek economic fallout, the Finance Ministry said on Saturday. The ministry's statement came after Moody's rating agency downgraded Cyprus's government bonds ratings by two notches to Baa3 from Baa1 on Friday. The rating agency has also downgraded Cyprus's short-term rating to Prime-3 from Prime-2 and placed it on review for further possible downgrade. The ministry cited two bills pending in parliament providing for the creation of a Financial Stability Fund and empowering the government to intervene in bank recapitalization in case of a bank being unable to cope on its own. The European Banking Authority had estimated that the Cypriot banks exposed to Greek sovereign debt will require a capital buffer worth of 3.6 billion euros (4.9 billion U.S. dollars), in order to increase their core tier 1 ratio to 9 percent. Cyprus's two largest lenders, ...