LOS ANGELES, California (AFP) — Garbage be gone: California Thursday passed an ambitious law mandating reduction of non-recyclable plastic by at least 30 percent in six years, while also placing responsibility on producers. The measure is meant to tackle the persistent problem of plastic refuse — in California, about 85 percent of plastic waste ends up in landfills, according to the CalMatters publication. “California won’t tolerate plastic waste that’s filling our waterways and making […]
Other News
India bans many single-use plastics to tackle waste
by Bhuvan BAGGA Agence France Presse NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India imposed a ban on many single-use plastics on Friday in a bid to tackle waste choking rivers and poisoning wildlife, but experts say it faces severe headwinds from unprepared manufacturers and consumers unwilling to pay more. The country generates around four million tonnes of plastic waste per year, about a third of which is not recycled and ends up in waterways and landfills […]
Singapore to conduct another execution for drug trafficking: activists
SINGAPORE (AFP) — A Malaysian drug trafficker is due to be hanged in Singapore next week, campaigners said Friday, two months after the execution of a mentally disabled man in the city-state sparked outrage. Kalwant Singh, who was convicted in 2016 of trafficking heroin into the city-state, is scheduled to be executed on Thursday, Singapore-based activists and advocacy group Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network said. Singapore has faced mounting calls to abolish the death penalty, […]
17 dead in southern Ukraine strikes, after Russia quits Snake Island
by Dmytro GORSHKOV with Sebastian SMITH in Madrid Agence France Presse KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — At least 17 people were killed and dozens wounded Friday in missile strikes on Ukraine’s Odessa region, a day after Russian troops abandoned positions on a strategic island in a major setback to the Kremlin’s invasion. The news came after NATO leaders wrapped up a summit in Madrid, with US President Joe Biden announcing $800 million in new weapons […]
UK Tories mired in new scandal over MP’s drunken behaviour
LONDON, July 1, 2022 (AFP) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced a fresh political headache Friday following the resignation of the deputy chief whip of his ruling Conservatives over allegations he drunkenly groped two men. In a letter to Johnson sent late Thursday, Tory MP Chris Pincher said he was quitting his post after he drank “far too much” and “embarrassed myself and other people” the previous evening. Numerous reports said he had also […]
Bankrupt Sri Lanka’s inflation jumps beyond 50%
COLOMBO (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s inflation hit a ninth consecutive record in June, official data showed Friday, rising to 54.6 percent a day after the IMF asked the bankrupt nation to rein in galloping prices and corruption. It was the first time the increase in the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) crossed the psychologically important 50 percent mark, according to the department of census and statistics. The figures came hours after the International Monetary Fund […]
China accuses New Zealand of ‘misguided’ accusations
WELLINGTON (AFP) – China accused New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Friday of making “wrong and thus regrettable” statements that were unhelpful for keeping the two countries’ relationship “on the right track”. Ardern attended the NATO leaders’ summit in Spain this week, saying in a speech Wednesday that China had become “more assertive and more willing to challenge international rules and norms”. The Chinese embassy in Wellington hit back Friday that it had taken […]
Pres. Marcos Jr., appoints career diplomat Enrique Manalo as new DFA chief
(Eagle News) – President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., has chosen seasoned career diplomat Enrique Manalo as secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs. Manalo, 69, was appointed on Friday, July 1, replacing Teodoro Locsin Jr. He had previously served as Acting Foreign Affairs Secretary from March 9 to May 17, 2017 during the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte. This was when the Commission on Appointment rejected the ad interim appointment of Perfecto Yasay Jr. […]
Ecuador government, Indigenous leaders sign deal to end protests
QUITO, July 1, 2022 (AFP) – Thousands of Indigenous protesters left the Ecuadoran capital of Quito Thursday evening after their leaders and the government signed a deal that would cut fuel prices and end their cost-of-living demonstrations that largely paralyzed the country for 18 straight days. The agreement, mediated by the Catholic Church and signed in Quito, provides for a five-cent-per-gallon reduction in the price of diesel and gasoline on top of a 10-cent cut […]
Europe to see ‘high levels’ of Covid this summer: WHO
Copenhagen, Denmark (AFP) – The World Health Organization said Thursday it expected “high levels” of Covid-19 in Europe this summer and called on countries to monitor the spread as cases tripled in the past month. “As countries across the European region have lifted the social measures that were previously in place, the virus will transmit at high levels over the summer”, WHO Europe regional director Hans Kluge told AFP. “This virus won’t go away […]
Japan warns on ‘interests’ after Russia gas project decree
TOKYO, July 1, 2022 (AFP) – Japan‘s energy “interests must not be undermined”, Tokyo said Friday, after Moscow issued a decree transferring operations of a key oil and gas project to a new Russian company. Japanese trading houses Mitsui and Mitsubishi Corp own 12.5 and 10 percent stakes respectively in the Sakhalin-2 project, but the future of their investments appears uncertain after the Russian decree. It calls for the establishment of a new Russian operator […]
PNP: P3.4 million worth of shabu seized in Naga City buy-bust; 1 nabbed
(Eagle News) — Around P3.4 million worth of shabu was seized in a buy-bust operation in Naga on June 28, the Philippine National Police said. According to the PNP, also seized in the joint operation between the PNP and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Brgy. Peñafrancia was Eymard Rey Batan, 43. The PNP said the seized shabu from the operation amounted to 500 grams. No other details were given about the operation. “We see […]





