The ban on single-use items begins in Mexico City
MEXICO CITY – One of the largest cities in the world, the Mexican capital, after more than a year of preparation, has put a comprehensive ban on disposable containers, forks, straws and other ubiquitous items in effect.
On Friday, the Environment Minister of Mexico City said on Twitter that "from today Mexico City without single-use plastics". The news prompted people to remember to carry reusable containers like never leaving the house without their cell phones.
Mexico City legislature passed the ban on plastic bags, utensils and other single-use plastic items in 2019. The city of 9 million people adjusted or in some cases ignored the upcoming change in law last year. The ban on plastic bags came into force last year.
Lightweight, biodegradable bags have become more common in the city's street vendors. Plastic straws are offered less often. Fresh tortillas are handed over wrapped in paper or towels that buyers have with them.
The ban also applies to disposable plastic cups, plastic stirrers, disposable coffee capsules and balloons.
According to the capital's environmental agency, Mexico City produced around 13,000 tons of garbage every day in 2019.
The Bosnian military works to protect migrants
BIHAC, Bosnia-Herzegovina – The Bosnian military attempted to pitch tents on Friday for hundreds of migrants trapped in a burned-out refugee camp with no facilities to ward off frost.
Bosnia has been internationally criticized for leaving around 1,000 migrants homeless over a week ago after a fire engulfed the dirty Lipa camp near the northwestern border with Croatia.
The military said on Friday that around 150 soldiers had arrived to set up tents for the migrants operated by the International Organization for Migration.
The migrants protested on Friday to highlight the conditions they are facing in Bosnia. Aid groups said hundreds of migrants turned down food and held banners calling for international help.
Authorities announced earlier this week that they would be moving migrants from Lipa to former military compound in central Bosnia. However, the plan was rejected after locals organized protests.
The migrants spent 24 hours in a bus convoy waiting to move, but instead ended up back in the destroyed camp.
Bosnia is grappling with the influx of thousands of people fleeing war and poverty in their countries in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Migrants mainly flock to the north-western corner of Bosnia, which borders the member of the European Union, Croatia, from where they hope to head towards richer European countries. However, many have reported violent refusals by Croatian border forces and hostilities on the part of the Bosnians.
The UK tax on sanitary products ends in 2021
LONDON – Great Britain became the youngest country to abolish the so-called tampon tax and the sales tax on feminine hygiene products on Friday.
The move received broad praise from both women's rights activists and supporters of the country's exit from the European Union.
Treasury chief Rishi Sunak had pledged to end the largely unpopular tax on tampons and pads in his budget in March, but the change couldn't take effect on Friday until after Britain left the European Union's economic orbit.
Under EU law, states cannot lower the VAT rate on menstrual products below 5% as they are considered luxury goods, not essential. Ireland is the only EU country that does not levy a levy on sanitary products as the zero tax rate was set before the EU was established.
The UK Treasury Department previously estimated that moving will save the average woman nearly $ 55 over the course of her life.
Many other countries, including Australia, Canada, and India, have also abolished the tampon tax. In the United States, several states including New York and Florida have also ended the tax.
Killing rebels, kidnapping villagers in the Congo
KINSHASA, Congo – At least 25 people were killed in a New Year's Eve attack by rebels in Congo's eastern Beni Territory, officials said Friday.
According to the region's governor's representative, Sabiti Njiamoja, farmers had gone to the fields in Tingwe village when they were attacked by rebels from the Allied Democratic Forces.
Some of the bodies were found in the bushes by rescue teams on Friday, he said.
Civil society representative Bravo Muhindo confirmed more than 25 dead and said many had been beheaded.
Other people have been kidnapped, said Muhindo.
The residents of Beni and the surrounding villages are demanding more security as the rebels carry out attacks in the region.
The group is originally from neighboring Uganda and has long been a threat in eastern Congo. The Islamic State Group has claimed some attacks from rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces, but the exact relationship between the groups is not clear.
Bosnian soldiers arrive at the Lipa refugee camp outside Bihac to erect tents in Bosnia on Friday, January 1, 2021 for a few hundred migrants who are stuck in a burned-out camp in winter weather and without facilities.The international criticism left around last month 1,000 migrants with virtually no protection after a fire engulfed the Lipa camp near the border with Croatia. (AP Photo / Kemal Softic)
A migrant is holding onto a fence at the Lipa camp outside Bihac, Bosnia, on Wednesday, December 30, 2020 after hundreds were not relocated from the burned out tent camp in the northwest of the country. The migrants were to be moved from the much-criticized Lipa camp to a new location in the central part of the country on Tuesday. Instead, they spent 24 hours on buses before being told to disembark on Wednesday afternoon and return to the now empty campsite. (AP Photo / Kemal Softic)
Migrants warm up around a fire in Lipa camp outside Bihac, Bosnia on Wednesday December 30, 202 after hundreds were not relocated from the burned-out tent camp in the north-west of the country. The migrants were to be moved from the much-criticized Lipa camp to a new location in the central part of the country on Tuesday. Instead, they spent 24 hours on buses before being told to disembark on Wednesday afternoon and return to the now empty campsite. (AP Photo / Kemal Softic)
Migrants are returning to Lipa camp outside Bihac, Bosnia, on Wednesday, December 30, 2020 after hundreds of unsettled from the burned out tent camp in the northwest of the country. The migrants were to be moved from the much-criticized Lipa camp to a new location in the central part of the country on Tuesday. Instead, they spent 24 hours on buses before being told to disembark on Wednesday afternoon and return to the now empty campsite. (AP Photo / Kemal Softic)
Migrants protest at the Lipa camp outside Bihac, Bosnia on Friday January 1, 2021. Aid groups said earlier Friday that several hundred people refused and held up banners calling for international aid during a protest highlighting poor conditions in Bosnia. (AP Photo / Kemal Softic)
Migrants stretch their hands over a fire in the Lipa camp outside Bihac, Bosnia, on Wednesday December 30, 202 after hundreds were unable to be relocated from the burned out tent camp in the northwest of the country. The migrants were to be moved from the much-criticized Lipa camp to a new location in the central part of the country on Tuesday. Instead, they spent 24 hours on buses before being told to disembark on Wednesday afternoon and return to the now empty campsite. (AP Photo / Kemal Softic)
Bosnian soldiers arrive at the Lipa refugee camp to pitch tents for several hundred migrants stuck in wintry conditions and with no facilities in a burned out camp outside Bihac, Bosnia, on Friday January 1, 2021. Bosnia has international problems Criticism that left around 1,000 migrants virtually unprotected after a fire ravaged the Lipa camp near the Croatian border last month. (AP Photo / Kemal Softic)
Migrants warm their hands in a fire in the Lipa camp outside Bihac, Bosnia, on Wednesday December 30, 202 after hundreds were not relocated from the burned-out tent camp in the north-west of the country. The migrants were supposed to be moved from the much-criticized Lipa camp to a new location in the central part of the country on Tuesday. Instead, they spent 24 hours on buses before being told to disembark on Wednesday afternoon and return to the now empty campsite. (AP Photo / Kemal Softic)