Environment

TOKYO (AP) — Japan has a plastic problem.

In a country where cleanliness and neat packaging have long been considered good service, almost everything, from single bananas to individual pieces of vegetables, pastries, pens and cosmetics is sold plastic-wrapped.

But as world leaders descend on Osaka for the two-day G-20 summit that starts Friday, Japan will attempt to become a leader in environmental policy at the same time it plays catch-up with countries that already have well-defined goals in place.

25 June 2019; DW: A searing heat wave has begun to spread across Europe, with Germany, France and Belgium likely to experience extreme temperatures in the coming days.

In Germany, temperatures are expected to exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) on Wednesday, topping the country's previous June record of 38.2 degrees Celsius set in Frankfurt in 1947.

Fire fighters braced for busy week

PARIS (AP) — The sunset had an orange glow. So did the extreme weather warning for Paris.

Meteorologists placed more than half of France, including around the capital, on alert for high temperatures Monday as a heatwave was expected to spread across continental Europe this week.

National weather agency Meteo France predicted the hot weather could produce temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 Ft) across the country just as the summer tourist season shifts into high gear.

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Federal officials have released their review on removing or changing vegetation over a huge swath of the U.S. West to stop wildfires on land used for cattle ranching, recreation and habitat for imperiled sage grouse.

The work would occur on strips of land up to 165 yards (150 meters) wide and up to 11,000 miles (18,000 kilometers) long in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada and Utah, according to an environmental analysis released Friday. It didn’t give specific details on what the impact to the land could be.

Bhopal, Jun 24 (PTI) Monsoon Monday hit the eastern and southern parts of Madhya Pradesh and was likely to cover more parts of the state in the next 48 hours, IMD Bhopal Office Duty Officer Gurudutt Mishra said.

He told PTI that Balaghat, Mandla, Chhindwara and Khandwa districts of MP experienced monsoon rains as well as parts of Jabalpur, Indore and Ujjain divisions in the last 24 hours.

Mishra said heavy rainfall is expected in Ratlam, Jhabua, Alirajpur, Dhar, Barwani, Ujjain, Agar-Malwa and Indore districts in the next 48 hours.

BEIJING, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Beijing's observatory issued a blue alert on Monday for high temperatures over the next two days.

The temperature could rise to over 35 degrees Celsius in most parts of Beijing from Monday to Tuesday and could top 38 degrees Celsius in parts of the city on Monday.

The observatory advised residents to guard against the heat wave and said workers exposed to high temperatures should take protective measures.

New Delhi, Jun 23 (PTI) South Korean auto major Kia Motors Corporation is considering a low-cost electric vehicle (EV) for India in collaboration with group firm Hyundai Motors and wants personal usage for EVs to be included for government support under the FAME II scheme in India, according to a top company official.

The company, which is a part of the Hyundai Motor Group, plans to launch four new models, including its upcoming SUV Seltos, in the next two years in India but said the low-cost EV would be a separate project.

BERLIN (AP) — Hundreds of climate activists are keeping up their protest inside one of Germany’s biggest open-pit mines despite police orders to leave the place immediately, citing life-threatening danger.

Authorities pulled out some of the protesters from the Garzweiler lignite coal mine in western Germany on Sunday, the third day of protests in the Rhineland region since Friday, when 40,000 students rallied for more action against climate change in the nearby city of Aachen.

TRENTON, N.C. (AP) — Nine months after Hurricane Florence inundated much of eastern North Carolina, the tiny town of Trenton is still struggling to rebuild as a new hurricane season begins.

The Jones County courthouse and jail have yet to reopen. Judges hear cases in county office buildings and inmates are housed in another county. Even the mayor has yet to move back into her house, because construction workers are in short supply.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The Oregon Capitol will be closed Saturday due to a “possible militia threat” from right-wing protesters as a walkout by Republican lawmakers over landmark climate change legislation drags on.

Republican state senators fled the Legislature — and some, the state — earlier this week to deny the majority Democrats enough votes to take up the climate bill, which would dramatically reduce fossil fuel emissions by 2050. It would be the second program of its kind in the nation after California if passed.