On 18 February, 2022, six Filipino nationals from Ukraine arrived in the country after the Philippine government announced free repatriation flights for Filipinos living in the crisis-driven Eastern European state. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has estimated more than 350 Filipinos living in Ukraine.
With less than 10 percent of the plastic used across the world recycled, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), here are five things to know about recycling techniques and how they are evolving.Mechanical RecyclingSorting, shredding and heating are the three stages of mechanical recycling employed in 99 percent of operations worldwide, France's IFP Energies Nouvelles institute says.After collection and sorting into polymer groups by optical equipm
Putin has sent soldiers on a ‘peacekeeping mission’ but is likely to threaten Ukraine with a broader war.What Has Vladimir Putin Ordered?The Russian president has recognised the independence of two Russian-controlled territories in east Ukraine. They call themselves the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics. The territories have been armed, financed and politically controlled by Russia since 2014.
The world's biggest economies are committed to taking a careful approach to unwinding support introduced during the coronavirus pandemic, Indonesia said Friday at a meeting of G20 finance chiefs.Some central banks, including in the United States (US), are moving towards hiking rates and withdrawing stimulus as economies rebound strongly from COVID-induced downturns and inflation surges.But there are concerns that aggressive policy tightening could knock a fragile recovery off course, and
Outbreaks of Avian influenza (AI), commonly known as bird flu, have been reported to the World Organization for Animal Health across Europe and Asia, causing concern among experts. Whenever avian influenza viruses are circulating in poultry, there is a risk of sporadic infection and small clusters of human cases due to people’s exposure to infected poultry or contaminated environments.
United States (US) president Joe Biden has warned that “things could go crazy quickly” in Ukraine and again urged American citizens to leave immediately, as the United Kingdom’s (UK) defence secretary headed to Moscow in the latest round of diplomacy.“American citizens should leave, should leave now,” Biden said in an interview with NBC News. “We’re dealing with one of the largest armies in the world.
Last week, a commission set up by Stanford University and the Lancet found that the devastating opioid crisis in North America could happen again, and not just there. The unethical practices that Patrick Radden Keefe documented in his prize-winning 2021 book, Empire of Pain, were not restricted to one company, Purdue Pharma, and the part of the Sackler family that owned it.
In recent days, Beijing has called for calm on both sides and the end of a Cold War mentality, while also making it clear it supports Moscow's concerns.It would seem obvious that China would side with its long-time ally and former Communist comrade Russia.
Vaccine mandates have been divisive ever since the first rollout two centuries ago, and they continue to split public opinion today as governments scramble to inoculate populations against the coronavirus.With Austria set to become the first country in Europe to impose COVID-19 vaccinations on Friday, AFP looks at vaccine orders in Europe – and whether they work:Backlash, Workarounds In Austria, those who do not become vaccinated against COVID under the new mandate will face a 600 eu
Europe has recorded over 100 million coronavirus cases, more than a third of all infections worldwide, since the start of the pandemic, an AFP tally Saturday showed.The continent has once again become the pandemic's epicentre in recent months, and is battling an upsurge of cases spurred on by the highly transmissible Omicron strain of the virus.The European region, including 52 countries and territories from the Atlantic coast to Azerbaijan and Russia, has recorded 100,074,753 infections
The World Health Organization (WHO) Tuesday warned Omicron was spreading at an unprecedented rate and urged countries to act as drug maker Pfizer said its coronavirus pill was effective against the variant.Dutch primary schools will close early as Europe battles a fresh wave of infections and hospital admissions, while British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced a major parliamentary test seeking to impose fresh COVID curbs.Omicron, first detected by South Africa and reported to the WHO on 24
The Omicron coronavirus variant was present in Europe before the first cases were reported in South Africa, new data from the Netherlands showed Tuesday, as Latin America reported its first two cases in Brazil.In the week since the new virus strain was reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) by South Africa, dozens of countries around the world have responded with travel restrictions – most targeting southern African nations.But the WHO warned Tuesday – as Canada expanded its restrict
