Mexico City ban on one-use items starts
MEXICO CITY -- A broad ban on single-use containers, forks, straws and other ubiquitous items took effect in Mexico's capital, one of the world's largest cities, after more than a year of preparation.
On Friday, Mexico City's environmental secretary said on Twitter that "from today on Mexico City without single-use plastics." The message urged people to think of always carrying reusable containers like never leaving home without their cellphones.
Mexico City lawmakers passed the ban on plastic bags, utensils and other disposable plastic items in 2019. The city of 9 million people has spent the past year adjusting or in some cases ignoring the impending law change. The ban on plastic bags took effect last year.
Light, biodegradable bags have become more common at the city's street food stalls. Plastic straws are offered less often. Fresh tortillas are handed over wrapped in paper or cloths that buyers have with them.
The ban also covers disposable plastic cups, plastic stirrers, single-use coffee capsules and balloons among other items.
In 2019, Mexico City produced about 13,000 tons of garbage per day, according to the capital's environmental agency.
Bosnia military works to shelter migrants
BIHAC, Bosnia-Herzegovina -- Trying to resolve a humanitarian disaster, the Bosnian military set up tents Friday for hundreds of migrants who have been stuck in a burned-out refugee camp that has no facilities to fend off freezing weather.
Bosnia has faced international criticism for leaving about 1,000 migrants without shelter after a fire engulfed the squalid Lipa camp near its northwest border with Croatia over a week ago.
The military said Friday that about 150 soldiers had arrived to put up tents for the migrants, which will be run by the International Organization for Migration.
Earlier Friday, the migrants held a protest to highlight the conditions they are facing in Bosnia. Aid groups said hundreds of migrants rejected food and held up banners calling for international help.
The authorities announced earlier this week that they would move the migrants from Lipa to a former army compound in central Bosnia but the plan was rejected after locals organized protests.
The migrants spent 24 hours in a convoy of buses, waiting to move, but ended up back in the ruined camp instead.
Bosnia has struggled with the influx of thousands of people fleeing war and poverty in their countries in the Mideast, Africa and Asia. Migrants mostly flock to Bosnia's northwestern corner, which borders European Union member Croatia, from where they hope to move toward wealthier European countries. But many have reported violent refusals by Croatian border forces as well as hostility from Bosnians.
2021 ends U.K. tax on sanitary products
LONDON -- Britain on Friday became the latest country to abolish the so-called tampon tax, eliminating sales taxes on women's sanitary products.
The move was widely praised by women's-rights advocates as well as proponents of the country's departure from the European Union.
Treasury chief Rishi Sunak had committed to ending the widely unpopular tax on tampons and sanitary pads in his budget in March but the change could take effect Friday only after Britain had left the economic orbit of the European Union.
Under EU law, nations cannot reduce the rate of value-added tax on menstrual products below 5% as they are deemed to be luxury items and not essentials. Ireland is the only EU country that does not charge a levy on sanitary products as its zero tax rate was in place before the EU set its floor.
Britain's treasury has previously estimated the move will save the average woman nearly $55 over her lifetime.
Many other countries also have eliminated the tampon tax, including Australia, Canada and India. In the United States, several states including New York and Florida have also ended the tax.
Rebels slay, kidnap villagers in Congo
KINSHASA, Congo -- At least 25 people were killed in an attack on New Year's Eve by rebels in Congo's eastern Beni territory, officials said Friday.
Farmers had gone to the fields in the village of Tingwe when they were attacked by Allied Democratic Forces rebels, according to the representative of the governor in the region, Sabiti Njiamoja.
Some of the bodies were found by rescue teams in the bushes on Friday, he said.
Civil-society representative Bravo Muhindo confirmed more than 25 dead and said many had been beheaded.
Other people were kidnapped, Muhindo said.
Residents in Beni and surrounding villages have been calling for increased security as the rebels stage attacks in the region.
The group originated in neighboring Uganda and has long been a threat in eastern Congo. The Islamic State group has claimed some attacks carried out by Allied Democratic Forces rebels, but the exact relationship between the groups is not clear.
