Lagos (AFP) April 2, 2021 In blistering heat, several dozen volunteers are busy collecting plastic bottles, bags and polystyrene boxes as they launch a cleanup of the longest beach in Lagos. Nigeria’s megacity of 20 million people produces between 13,000 and 15,000 tonnes of waste per day, including 2,250 tonnes of plastic, according to a Lagos recycling startup, WeCyclers. Despite recent cleanup efforts and an … Continue reading Operation Cleanup on plastic-polluted Lagos beach

Major information technology providers opposed to the broadening of class action litigation related to consumer protections have taken their case to the U.S. Supreme Court. The companies are hoping the court will strike down a lower court ruling which makes it easier for consumers to file class action suits. The tech companies may not have to wait too long for a decision.http://dlvr.it/RwpTCg Continue reading Big Tech Urges SCOTUS to Ease Risk of Consumer Class Actions

Washington DC (UPI) Mar 29, 2021 Coffee pulp, a byproduct of the coffee production process, can aid the recovery of degraded forests in the tropics, according to a news study published in the journal Ecological Solutions and Evidence. For the study, researchers marked off two large test sites across plots of degraded forest in Costa Rica. On one site, researchers dumped a few dozen loads … Continue reading Coffee waste can accelerate the recovery of tropical forests

Sijoumi, Tunisie (AFP) March 30, 2021 Hundreds of flamingos wade past waste in the murky waters of the vast Sijoumi lagoon, a critical wetland in the heart of Tunisia’s capital threatened by overexpansion. Once set apart from the city, today half of Tunis’ residents live on the banks of the “sebkha”, or mudflat, where more than 100,000 birds of around 100 different species spend winter. … Continue reading In Tunis, flamingos wade past waste in key Africa wetlands

Kathmandu (AFP) March 29, 2021 Nepal on Monday ordered schools to close as choking smog enveloped the capital Kathmandu, in the first-ever shutdown of the country’s education sector because of pollution. Kathmandu is currently ranked among the most polluted cities in the world, with the air quality index (AQI) readings well above 300, the highest level of concern, during the weekend. “It has been decided … Continue reading Pollution forces Nepal schools to close for the first time

Beijing (AFP) March 30, 2021 Chinese leaders endorsed a sweeping overhaul of Hong Kong’s electoral system Tuesday, slashing its number of directly elected seats and ensuring a majority of the city’s lawmakers will be selected by a reliably pro-Beijing committee. The new measures, which bypassed Hong Kong’s legislature and were imposed directly by Beijing, are the latest move aimed at quashing the city’s democracy movemehttp://dlvr.it/RwfyTt Continue reading China approves radical overhaul of Hong Kong’s political system

Yangon (AFP) March 30, 2021 The death toll in the Myanmar military’s crackdown on protesters has passed 500, as armed rebel groups on Tuesday threatened the junta with retaliation if the bloodshed does not stop. World powers have ramped up their condemnation of the military’s campaign against the anti-coup movement that is demanding the restoration of the elected government and the release of civilian leader … Continue reading Myanmar crackdown death toll passes 500

Hong Kong (AFP) March 30, 2021 When dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei secretly snapped a picture of himself showing a middle finger in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, he knew it was provocative. But he never thought that picture would be at the heart of rising censorship fears in Hong Kong 26 years later. The former British colony’s reputation as a cultural gateway to China that is … Continue reading Ai Weiwei mourns Hong Kong freedoms but ‘proud’ of Tiananmen photo furore

Sousse, Tunisia (AFP) March 28, 2021 Dozens of Tunisian activists protested in the port city of Sousse on Sunday to demand the return of nearly 300 containers of household waste illegally imported from Italy. Tunisian customs officials last summer seized 282 containers that had been shipped from Italy in the guise of plastic scrap for industrial recycling. But the containers were found to contain household … Continue reading Tunisians demand Italy take back waste

Washington (AFP) March 26, 2021 The former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believes the coronavirus escaped from a laboratory in China, he said in an interview that aired Friday. Robert Redfield, who served in the top public health role under former president Donald Trump, told CNN: “If I was to guess, this virus started transmitting somewhere in September, October, in … Continue reading Former US CDC head thinks coronavirus came from Chinese lab