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BEIJING, China (AFP) — China will ban non-degradable plastic bags in major cities and single-use straws from restaurants by the end of this year in a bid to cut down on waste. The country is one of the world’s biggest users of plastic, and the plan targets a 30 percent reduction in non-degradable, disposable tableware for takeout in major cities within five years. In a document released Sunday, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) […]
by Yan ZHAO Agence France-Presse HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Intricately detailed Hong Kong protester figurines have become the latest must-have collectibles as toy stores recreate the pro-democracy movement’s street battles with police in their shop displays. Stacked on shelves next to comic book superheroes, the models come in a variety of shapes and sizes, some holding make-shift shields and flags, others extinguishing tear gas rounds or playing instruments in protest orchestras. A local figurine […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) – Prolonged drought and other effects of climate change are pushing Australia’s unique platypus population towards extinction, scientists warned in a study published Monday. The river-dwelling animal has already disappeared from up to 40 percent of its historical range on Australia’s east coast due to the drought, land clearing, pollution and building of dams, which fragment their habitat, the researchers said. They predicted that if the current threats persist, platypus numbers will […]
VIENNA, Austria (AFP) – The first night train to set off for Belgium in 16 years departed from Vienna Sunday, carrying Austrian and European politicians who hope the new route can set an example as the continent tries to meet its climate targets. The carriages of the “OBB Nightjet” pulled out of Vienna’s main station punctually at 8:38 pm to the strains of a live band playing the EU anthem “Ode to Joy”, the slogan #loveyourplanet […]
PARIS, France (AFP) – While certain oil and gas majors have sought to burnish their green credentials, overall less than one percent of the sector’s total investment is going into clean energy projects, a report said Monday. Experts are increasingly worried that that target set in the 2015 Paris accord to limit global temperature rises to “well below” 2C is rapidly becoming unattainable, condemning the world to a cascade of costly droughts, superstorms, floods and […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) – Hundreds of climate activists, young and old, embarked on a three-day march on Sunday to the make their voices heard at the 50th World Economic Forum in the Swiss town of Davos. The group, brandishing banners warning “Climate crisis: a world economic failure” and “there is no Planet B,” urged political and business leaders to take responsibility for averting environmental catastrophe as they set off from the small town of Landquart some […]
Doha, Qatar (AFP) – Gas-rich Qatar signed a $470-million deal on Sunday to build its first solar energy plant, capable of meeting up to one-tenth of peak national power demand. The Al-Kharsaah plant, near the capital, is a 10-square-kilometre (4-sq-mile) joint venture with French and Japanese partners due for completion in 2022 ahead of the football World Cup. “Eight times the solar power pledged in the World Cup bid will be produced,” Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) – Benoît PELEGRIN Britain, a global leader in offshore wind energy, plans to make the sector one of the pillars of its transition to carbon neutrality in the coming decades. The country aims to quadruple its offshore electricity production capacity by 2030 by utilizing the windswept North Sea and a favorable policy environment. “It’s more conducive to build offshore in the UK than anywhere else in Europe,” said James Brabben, of […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — The true scale of the outbreak of a mysterious SARS-like virus in China is likely far bigger than officially reported, scientists have warned, as countries ramp up measures to prevent the disease from spreading. Fears that the virus will spread are growing ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday when hundreds of millions of Chinese move around the country and many others host or visit extended family members living overseas. […]
PIARACU, Brazil (AFP) — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s pledge to open up the Amazon to mining companies was tantamount to “genocide”, indigenous leaders said Friday at a meeting to oppose the government’s environmental policies. Hundreds of elders gathered this week at Pairacu, deep in the rain forest, to form a united front against Bolsonaro’s environmental policies, which have seen deforestation in the jungle nearly double since the Brazilian leader came to power a year ago. […]
by Jan HENNOP Agence France-Presse AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AFP) — A stolen 15th-century book by the famed Persian poet Hafez has been recovered by a Dutch art detective after an international “race against time” that drew the alleged interest of Iran’s secret service. The gold-leafed volume worth around one million euros ($1.1 million) was found to be missing from the collection of an Iranian antiques dealer after his death in Germany in 2007. It sparked a decade-long search […]
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AFP) — An avalanche in Nepal’s Annapurna region has left at least seven people missing, including four South Koreans and three Nepalis, officials said Saturday. The incident occurred at an altitude of around 3,230 meters (10,597 feet) close to the base camp for Annapurna, one of the highest peaks in the Himalayas, following heavy snowfall on Friday. “We are getting reports that four South Koreans and three Nepalis are out of contact after […]
