Tag Archives: pollution

Paris, France | AFP | Bits of plastic have been detected in the faeces of people in Europe, Russia and Japan, according to research claiming to show for the first time the widespread presence of plastics in the human food chain. All eight volunteers in a small pilot study were …

Berlin, Germany | AFP | Berlin could shut out diesel drivers from major arterial roads next year, after a court Tuesday ordered the German capital to follow in the footsteps of Hamburg, Frankfurt and Stuttgart with exclusion zones. A renewed focus on air quality in the wake of Volkswagen’s 2015 …

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria was on Friday urged to re-open investigations into 89 oil spills in its southern delta region, after claims that Shell and ENI misreported the causes. Rights group Amnesty International said there were “reasonable doubts” about how the spills happened, suggesting corrosion rather than oil …

Tehran, Iran | AFP | Primary schools will be closed on Monday in Tehran as thick fog caused by pollution smothers the Iranian capital and most of the surrounding province, local authorities said. They also announced Sunday they would impose traffic restrictions in Tehran, home to 8.5 million inhabitants, allowing cars …

Oslo, Norway | AFP |  Electric or hybrid vehicles accounted for more than half of all new cars sold in Norway last year, official data showed on Wednesday, confirming the country’s pioneering role in carbon-free transport. Zero-emission, mainly all-electric as well as a few hydrogen-powered cars, accounted for 20.9 percent …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Irene Akinyi Odinga has lead poisoning. With no money for treatment, the young mother of two stares death in the face. “I feel very bad,” the 25-year-old tells AFP on the sidelines of a UN pollution conference, shivering in a thick jacket in the warm Kenyan …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The world’s nations vowed Wednesday to curb plastic and chemical contamination of the air, soil, rivers and oceans, calling for a steep change in how goods are produced and consumed. Government envoys issued a political declaration outlining the path to “a pollution-free planet” at the third …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The UN warned Tuesday of a ticking time bomb of drug-resistant germs brewing in the natural environment, aided by humans dumping antibiotics and chemicals into the water and soil. If this continues, people will be at an even higher risk of contracting diseases, incurable by …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Humans are poisoning their environment and themselves at an alarming rate, with pollution of the oceans, soil and air now the biggest killer, a UN conference heard Monday. Urging rapid and united action from governments, businesses and individual consumers, envoys underlined that nine million people are …

New Delhi, India | AFP |  India’s Tata Motors has won a bid to manufacture thousands of electric cars for the government as part of a push to promote battery-powered vehicles as the nation grapples with soaring pollution levels. State-owned energy efficiency services limited (ESSL) will procure 10,000 cars from …