Global plastic production must be cut to curb pollution, study says

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Analysis lays bare huge challenge of mismanaged waste on eve of UN plastic treaty talks in Busan

Global plastic production must be reduced to tackle the immense challenge of plastic pollution, according to an analysis published on the eve of crucial talks to hammer out the world’s first legally binding treaty on plastic waste.

Mismanaged plastic waste, which leaches into the environment and can be harmful to health, will double to 121m tonnes by 2050 if limits are not placed on the production of plastic, according to Samuel Pottinger, the lead author of the research.

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Biden’s Swan Song: A Diplomatic Trip Overshadowed by Trump’s Victory – The New York Times

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  1. Biden’s Swan Song: A Diplomatic Trip Overshadowed by Trump’s Victory  The New York Times
  2. Biden's trip to Peru will include last meeting with China's president  ABC News
  3. Biden heads to international summits in Peru and Brazil as world leaders brace for Trump presidency  The Associated Press
  4. Trump is back: how Biden will tweak his 'America's back' message at APEC and the G20  NPR
  5. Biden to make history in South America  FOX 32 Chicago
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IAEA Chief: Despite Iran attacks on Israel, no one should hit Tehran nuke facilities – The Jerusalem Post

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  1. IAEA Chief: Despite Iran attacks on Israel, no one should hit Tehran nuke facilities  The Jerusalem Post
  2. Iran military heads vow 'crushing' response to Israel as UN atomic chief says nuke sites shouldn't be attacked  Fox News
  3. Head of UN's nuclear watchdog visits Iran as Mideast wars and Trump's return raise worries  ABC News
  4. Iran tells IAEA chief it will negotiate but not under pressure  Reuters
  5. Head of UN nuclear watchdog: 'Dire straits dynamic' with Iran's nuclear program amid Mideast wars  The Associated Press
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Jailed Bosnian Serb general says he aided and abetted Srebrenica genocide

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Confession met with scepticism after other war criminals made similar statements to win early release from prison

A Bosnian Serb general jailed by the war crimes tribunal in The Hague for the 1995 Srebrenica massacre has confessed to having “aided and abetted the genocide”.

Survivors and families of the more than 8,300 people who died in the mass killing reacted with scepticism to the confession by Radislav Krstić, a corps commander who led the assault on the Muslim enclave of Srebrenica and oversaw the execution of captured men and boys.

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South Africa’s government says it won’t help a group of illegal miners inside a closed mine – The Associated Press

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  1. South Africa’s government says it won’t help a group of illegal miners inside a closed mine  The Associated Press
  2. South African government refuses to help hundreds of illegal miners in disused shaft  CNN
  3. South Africa Says It Won't Help Illegal Miners Inside Closed Mine  Newsweek
  4. South African authorities blockade illegal mine with 4,000 people inside  Al Jazeera English
  5. South African police in standoff with hundreds of illegal miners in disused shaft  Reuters
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India: Delhi shuts primary schools as hazardous smog worsens – BBC.com

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  1. India: Delhi shuts primary schools as hazardous smog worsens  BBC.com
  2. India's capital introduces stricter anti pollution measures as toxic smog hides Taj Mahal  Reuters India
  3. India’s capital New Delhi shuts all primary schools as air quality worsens  Al Jazeera English
  4. Thick smog shrouds Asian cities  The Associated Press
  5. Delhi air pollution blankets India's capital in dense smog, sparking emergency measures  CBS News
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Israel rejects HRW accusations of ‘forcible transfer,’ ‘ethnic cleansing’ in north Gaza – The Times of Israel

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  1. Israel rejects HRW accusations of ‘forcible transfer,’ ‘ethnic cleansing’ in north Gaza  The Times of Israel
  2. Human Rights Watch accuses Israel of mass displacement in Gaza amounting to a war crime  CNN
  3. Human Rights Watch accuses Israel of war crimes in Gaza Strip  The Hill
  4. “Hopeless, Starving, and Besieged”: Israel’s Forced Displacement of Palestinians in Gaza | HRW  Human Rights Watch
  5. Israel committing ethnic cleansing with mass forced displacements in Gaza, Human Rights Watch says  NBC News
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Israeli strikes intensify on three fronts as Lebanon talks reach critical stage

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IDF hits Gaza, Syria and Beirut suburbs, as analysts say raids could be aimed at forcing hand of Hezbollah in negotiations

Israel has intensified its air offensives on three fronts, launching dozens of new strikes in Lebanon, Gaza and Syria as negotiations for a ceasefire on its northern border reach a critical point.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said about 30 targets had been struck in the southern suburbs of Beirut in 48 hours and described continuing efforts to “dismantle and degrade” the military capabilities of the militant Islamist organisation.

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UK court sides with Icelandic firm over artist’s spoof corruption apology

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Judge considering complaint by fishing firm Samherji rules artist Odee unlikely to be able to defend work as parody

The property rights of Iceland’s largest fishing company prevail over the right to artistic expression of an artist who spoofed the firm’s website to draw attention to a high-profile corruption scandal, London’s high court has ruled.

For his 2023 work We’re Sorry, the Icelandic artist Oddur Eysteinn Friðriksson, who goes by the moniker Odee, copied the corporate identity of Samherji, a major supplier to Britain’s fish and chips industry, and uploaded on to the spoof website a statement titled “Samherji Apologizes, Pledges Restitution and Cooperation with Authorities”.

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Banana-phobe Swedish minister’s staff insisted on ‘no traces in the room’

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Colleagues speak up in Paulina Brandberg’s support after leaked emails reveal efforts to spare her from the fruit

A Swedish government minister’s fear of bananas has become a national talking point after emails revealed that such is the strength of her aversion that aides try to clear rooms of the fruit before she enters.

Paulina Brandberg, the minister for gender equality and work life, has previously spoken out about her issue with bananas, describing it as “the world’s weirdest phobia”.

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Hamas official says group is ready for ‘immediate’ ceasefire – report – The Jerusalem Post

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  1. Hamas official says group is ready for 'immediate' ceasefire - report  The Jerusalem Post
  2. Hamas ready for Gaza ceasefire 'immediately' - but claims Israel has put forward no 'serious proposals' in months  Sky News
  3. Claims Hamas called for end to war after Trump’s election are misleading  VERIFYThis.com
  4. Jake Sullivan: 'Israel not delaying deal - Hamas is'  Arutz Sheva
  5. Israel, US Say Hamas Blocking Hostage Deal  AllSides
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Almost half of Valencia’s flood victims were aged over 70, figures show

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Police reveal ages and genders of the 216 people who died in Valencia, along with eight other victims elsewhere in Spain

Almost half of the 216 people known to have died in the catastrophic floods that hit the eastern Spanish region of Valencia at the end of October were 70 or above, according to a police analysis.

Figures from the data integration centre set up after the disaster show that 131 of the victims were male, 85 were female and 104 were aged over 70, including 15 aged over 90.

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