PFAs (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are a group of some 10,000 human-manufactured chemicals used in everything from pizza boxes to cookware, to waterproof clothing.

They take an extremely long time to break down -- earning them their "forever" nickname -- and instead build up in the environment.

There is growing evidence their widespread use has created risks that "will likely remain for hundreds of years", according to the UK's Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs.

It said in a statement the new government plan aims to "understand where these chemicals are coming from, how they spread and how to reduce public and environmental exposure".

The full extent of PFAs in England's estuaries and coastal waters "will be assessed for the first time," it added.

PFAs are present in food and drinking water.

Chronic exposure to even low levels has been linked to liver damage, high cholesterol, reduced immune responses, low birth weights and several kinds of cancer.

Under the plan, "a consultation will be launched later this year on introducing a statutory limit for PFAS in England's public supply regulations."

Should permitted levels be exceeded, this would make it easier for regulators to "enforce against water companies breaking the rules".

"It's crucial that we protect public health and the environment for future generations," said Environment Minister Emma Hardy in the statement.

She noted the government would work with regulators, industry, and local communities "to ensure 'forever chemicals' are not a forever problem".

Safer alternatives to everyday items, such as period pads and waterproof clothing, could also be developed.

Traces of the chemicals have been found everywhere from Tibet to Antarctica and contamination scandals have gripped Belgium and the United States among other nations.

Their use is increasingly being restricted across the world due to adverse health effects.

A handful of US states, including California, implemented a ban on the intentional use of PFAS in cosmetics beginning in 2025, and several other states are slated to follow in 2026.

The European Union has also been studying a ban on the use of PFAs in consumer products.

A report last week said their continued use could cost Europe up to 1.7 trillion euros ($2 trillion) by 2050 because of their impact on people's health.

]]> Sat, 07 FEB 2026 10:20:10 AEST Los Angeles CA (SPX) Feb 03, 2026 - Some brands of bottled water contain far more microplastics and nanoplastics than municipal tap water, according to a new study led by researchers at The Ohio State University. The work compares treated drinking water from four U.S. water treatment plants near Lake Erie with six brands of bottled water and introduces an analytical approach that can detect plastic particles down to the nanoscale.

Microplastics and nanoplastics form as larger plastic items weather, fragment, and degrade during use and disposal. These small synthetic particles have now been documented across the environment, including in the nation's waterways, prompting concern about how common they are in drinking water sources.

In the study, researchers collected water samples from the treatment plants and from popular bottled water products, then quantified the plastic particles present. They determined that bottled water contained roughly three times as many nanoplastic particles as the treated drinking water samples.

Lead author Megan Jamison Hart, a PhD candidate in environmental sciences at Ohio State, said the results underline how everyday choices can influence exposure. "We can make educated choices to try and reduce our daily exposure to these harmful chemicals," Hart said. "For the average person who is thirsty and wants a drink, the best way to do that would be drinking it straight out of the tap rather than grabbing pre-bottled water."

Previous investigations have mainly focused on microplastics and have often struggled to characterize nanoplastics because of their extremely small size. To overcome this challenge, the Ohio State team combined scanning electron microscopy for imaging with optical photothermal infrared spectroscopy for chemical identification, allowing them to detect and classify plastic particles at very small size scales.

The analysis revealed that more than half of all particles detected in the samples were nanoplastics, underscoring how pervasive these tiny contaminants can be, even in finished drinking water. In bottled water, the most common plastic types originated from the packaging, consistent with the idea that bottles and caps shed particles into the liquid during production, storage, and handling.

By contrast, the sources of plastics in treated drinking water were less clear. Particles may enter through source waters, aging infrastructure, or contact with plastic materials used in treatment and distribution, but the study did not pinpoint specific pathways. The findings indicate that tap water systems can still contain microplastics and nanoplastics, even when conventional treatment steps are in place.

Senior author John Lenhart, a professor of environmental engineering at Ohio State, said the concentrations they measured exceeded expectations once nanoplastics were included in the counts. "The concentrations we saw were higher than anticipated, which, unlike prior studies, we were able to attribute to the inclusion of the nanoplastics," Lenhart said. "That emphasis validates a lot of the information we have learned."

The study appears in the journal Science of The Total Environment and, according to the authors, highlights how important it is to account for nanoplastics when assessing overall plastic contamination. Because smaller particles are more likely to cross biological barriers and interact with tissues, understanding their abundance is especially important for evaluating potential health risks.

Scientists still do not fully understand how chronic exposure to microplastics and nanoplastics affects human health. Many experts, including the authors of this study, suggest that the particles and the chemicals associated with them may pose long-term risks as they accumulate in the body and the environment. Hart noted that, although uncertainties remain, it makes sense for people and policymakers to pursue ways to reduce exposure wherever possible.

The research also suggests that treatment and remediation strategies should explicitly target nanoplastics, not just larger particles that are easier to see and filter. By characterizing the types and sizes of plastics present in drinking water, the team believes utilities and engineers will be better positioned to evaluate which processes remove plastics most effectively and where improvements are needed.

Lenhart said that understanding the basic composition of materials in water and the reactions that control that composition is key to designing better treatment systems and environmental cleanup strategies. "By understanding the basic composition of the materials in water and the reactions important for controlling that composition, we can make better design decisions for future treatment or for remediation," he said. "That is why analyses like these are so promising."

The work was supported by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration through its Ohio Sea Grant College Program and by the National Science Foundation. The authors emphasize that their findings provide a snapshot of conditions in selected systems and brands, and that broader surveys will be needed to capture how plastic levels vary across regions and over time. Even so, the study adds to growing evidence that bottled water, in particular, can be a significant source of nanoplastic exposure compared with drinking water supplied through municipal systems.

Research Report:What's in your water? A comparative analysis of micro- and nanoplastics in treated drinking water and bottled water

]]> Sat, 07 FEB 2026 10:20:10 AEST San Francisco, United States (AFP) Jan 27, 2026 - A federal court in San Francisco began hearing a case Monday brought by fishermen against tire companies over a chemical additive which plaintiffs allege can be deadly to endangered salmon.

Bridgestone, Michelin, Pirelli and 10 other tire manufacturers in the United States are facing off in court against the Institute for Fisheries Resources and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, who are represented by the environmental group Earthjustice.

Plaintiffs argue that usage of the additive 6PPD can devastate coho salmon and other fish populations who live off the coasts of California and Alaska.

The suit charges that the use of the additive constitutes an illegal "taking" under the US Endangered Species Act, affecting 24 populations of coho, Chinook salmon and steelhead trout listed as threatened.

The 13 tire companies have argued that 6PPD provides an essential safety function by ensuring the integrity of tires when they come into contact with ozone and oxygen.

But plaintiffs say the use of 6PPD, when combined with ozone, produces 6PPD-quinone or 6PPD-q, which moves into waterways after storm events, with devastating consequences for fish populations.

Scientific studies published by prestigious journals have shown such substances to be damaging to fish populations, even at low doses.

6PPD-q "can kill coho salmon within hours and the chemical is largely responsible for 'urban runoff mortality syndrome,' which can kill up to 100 percent of salmon returning to freshwater streams to spawn in the Pacific Northwest before they can lay eggs," Earthjustice says on its website.

On Monday, researcher Edward Kolodziej testified before US Judge James Donato that just one automobile could do tremendous damage.

A car contains four tires with enough of the chemical that, after interacting with ozone, could produce enough to 6PPD-q to kill more than 11 million salmon, said Kolodziej, whose testimony followed video of a salmon flailing in the water in distress.

Countering that testimony were remarks from scientist Tiffany Thomas of consultancy Exponent, who told the court that the findings presented by plaintiffs' scientists were based on laboratory conditions rather than real life and therefore were "limited and speculative."

Concentrations of 6PPD-q found in waterways are well below lethal doses, according to Thomas.

Tire companies maintain, further, that there is no substitute for 6PPD, adding that other possible options would have worse environmental impacts.

Hearings in the case will continue on Wednesday and Thursday with further testimony from scientists. A ruling is expected at a later time.

Beyond the California case, the European Chemicals Agency is also weighing potential restrictions on 6PPD in tires.

Health threat of global plastics projected to soar
Paris, France (AFP) Jan 26, 2026 - The threat posed by plastic production, usage and disposal to human health will skyrocket in the coming years unless the world does something to address this global crisis, researchers warned Tuesday.

A British-French team of researchers attempted to cover all the different ways that plastic affects health, from oil and gas extraction during production to all the products that end up in landfills.

However they said that their modelling study still does not take into account an array of other ways plastic could harm health, such as microplastics or chemicals that can leach out of food packaging.

"This is undoubtedly a vast underestimate of the total human health impacts," lead study author Megan Deeney of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine told AFP.

The study, published in The Lancet Planetary Health, said it was the first to estimate the number of healthy years of life lost due to the lifecycle of plastic worldwide.

The researchers used a measure called DALYs, which represents the number of years lost to either early death or diminished quality of life from illness.

Under a business-as-usual scenario, the number of DALYs caused by plastic was projected to more than double from 2.1 million in 2016 to 4.5 million in 2040.

Planet-heating greenhouse gas emissions from plastic production had the biggest health impact, followed by air pollution and toxic chemicals.

- 'Public health crisis' -

Deeney gave the example of a plastic water bottle.

Like more than 90 percent of all plastic, its production begins with the extraction of oil and gas.

A series of chemical processes then transform those fossil fuels into Polyethylene terephthalate -- or PET -- which the bottle is made from.

Deeney pointed out that a stretch of more than 200 petrochemical plants involved in plastic production in the US state of Louisiana is known as "cancer alley".

Once made, the plastic bottle is transported across the world to a shop.

Then it gets chucked in the rubbish -- or littered.

Despite recycling efforts, most plastic ends up in landfills where it can take centuries to decompose, leaching out chemicals during that time, Deeney said.

The researchers also modelled a scenario where the world tried harder to fight the health effects of plastic.

They found that plastic recycling made little difference.

The most effective measure was reducing the amount of "unnecessary" plastic created in the first place, Deeney said.

Talks to seal a world-first treaty to fight plastic pollution fell apart in August under opposition from oil-producing countries.

However Deeney emphasised that countries can still act at a national level to address this "global public health crisis".

]]> Sat, 07 FEB 2026 10:20:10 AEST Wellington (AFP) Jan 28, 2026 - Microplastics were found in a third of hundreds of fish surveyed in the coastal waters of several Pacific Island nations, researchers said in a study published Thursday.

The scale of contamination varied significantly across locations however, and the researchers warned against "alarmist" interpretations.

"We have to accept that almost everything, whether it's table salt or beverages, people are finding plastics in all kinds of different sources," said co-author Amanda Ford, a senior lecturer at the University of the South Pacific.

The research examined nearly 900 fish from 138 species -- all of them consumed locally -- taken from waters off Fiji, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

Overall, just under a third contained some microplastics, less than the global average of 49 percent.

But almost 75 percent of fish samples from Fiji's waters were affected, while just five percent were in Vanuatu.

Ford said the low levels there were "surprising" and potentially the result of different waste practices or ocean currents.

Pacific nations may be particularly vulnerable to microplastic pollution given limited waste management systems and rapid urban growth on some islands, the study said.

And the findings, published in the PLOS One journal, are especially relevant given most Pacific communities rely on fish as a key source of nutrition and livelihood.

Still, Ford warned "it's important we're not alarmist with this."

The findings are simply "evidence that plastic that ends up in the ocean breaks down into smaller pieces -- it can get into food," she told AFP.

The health implications of consuming microplastics remain unclear, especially at the low levels of contamination seen in many of the samples.

"We can't draw clear conclusions yet on the risks," she said.

A series of headline-grabbing studies in the last few years have reported detecting microplastics throughout human bodies -- inside blood, organs and even brains.

However, some of this research has been criticised recently by scientists warning the results could be detecting plastic from laboratories or confusing human tissue with plastic.

No one disputes however that these mostly invisible pieces of plastic are ubiquitous throughout the environment -- they have been found everywhere from the tops of mountains to the bottom of oceans.

The volume of plastic in the ocean is estimated to be anywhere between 75 and 199 million tonnes, according to the United Nations Environment Programme.

]]> Sat, 07 FEB 2026 10:20:10 AEST Paris, France (AFP) Jan 26, 2026 - The threat posed by plastic production, usage and disposal to human health will skyrocket in the coming years unless the world does something to address this global crisis, researchers warned Tuesday.

A British-French team of researchers attempted to cover all the different ways that plastic affects health, from oil and gas extraction during production to all the products that end up in landfills.

However they said that their modelling study still does not take into account an array of other ways plastic could harm health, such as microplastics or chemicals that can leach out of food packaging.

"This is undoubtedly a vast underestimate of the total human health impacts," lead study author Megan Deeney of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine told AFP.

The study, published in The Lancet Planetary Health, said it was the first to estimate the number of healthy years of life lost due to the lifecycle of plastic worldwide.

The researchers used a measure called DALYs, which represents the number of years lost to either early death or diminished quality of life from illness.

Under a business-as-usual scenario, the number of DALYs caused by plastic was projected to more than double from 2.1 million in 2016 to 4.5 million in 2040.

Planet-heating greenhouse gas emissions from plastic production had the biggest health impact, followed by air pollution and toxic chemicals.

- 'Public health crisis' -

Deeney gave the example of a plastic water bottle.

Like more than 90 percent of all plastic, its production begins with the extraction of oil and gas.

A series of chemical processes then transform those fossil fuels into Polyethylene terephthalate -- or PET -- which the bottle is made from.

Deeney pointed out that a stretch of more than 200 petrochemical plants involved in plastic production in the US state of Louisiana is known as "cancer alley".

Once made, the plastic bottle is transported across the world to a shop.

Then it gets chucked in the rubbish -- or littered.

Despite recycling efforts, most plastic ends up in landfills where it can take centuries to decompose, leaching out chemicals during that time, Deeney said.

The researchers also modelled a scenario where the world tried harder to fight the health effects of plastic.

They found that plastic recycling made little difference.

The most effective measure was reducing the amount of "unnecessary" plastic created in the first place, Deeney said.

Talks to seal a world-first treaty to fight plastic pollution fell apart in August under opposition from oil-producing countries.

However Deeney emphasised that countries can still act at a national level to address this "global public health crisis".

Tire companies face US trial on additive said to kill salmon
San Francisco, United States (AFP) Jan 27, 2026 - A federal court in San Francisco began hearing a case Monday brought by fishermen against tire companies over a chemical additive which plaintiffs allege can be deadly to endangered salmon.

Bridgestone, Michelin, Pirelli and 10 other tire manufacturers in the United States are facing off in court against the Institute for Fisheries Resources and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, who are represented by the environmental group Earthjustice.

Plaintiffs argue that usage of the additive 6PPD can devastate coho salmon and other fish populations who live off the coasts of California and Alaska.

The suit charges that the use of the additive constitutes an illegal "taking" under the US Endangered Species Act, affecting 24 populations of coho, Chinook salmon and steelhead trout listed as threatened.

The 13 tire companies have argued that 6PPD provides an essential safety function by ensuring the integrity of tires when they come into contact with ozone and oxygen.

But plaintiffs say the use of 6PPD, when combined with ozone, produces 6PPD-quinone or 6PPD-q, which moves into waterways after storm events, with devastating consequences for fish populations.

Scientific studies published by prestigious journals have shown such substances to be damaging to fish populations, even at low doses.

6PPD-q "can kill coho salmon within hours and the chemical is largely responsible for 'urban runoff mortality syndrome,' which can kill up to 100 percent of salmon returning to freshwater streams to spawn in the Pacific Northwest before they can lay eggs," Earthjustice says on its website.

On Monday, researcher Edward Kolodziej testified before US Judge James Donato that just one automobile could do tremendous damage.

A car contains four tires with enough of the chemical that, after interacting with ozone, could produce enough to 6PPD-q to kill more than 11 million salmon, said Kolodziej, whose testimony followed video of a salmon flailing in the water in distress.

Countering that testimony were remarks from scientist Tiffany Thomas of consultancy Exponent, who told the court that the findings presented by plaintiffs' scientists were based on laboratory conditions rather than real life and therefore were "limited and speculative."

Concentrations of 6PPD-q found in waterways are well below lethal doses, according to Thomas.

Tire companies maintain, further, that there is no substitute for 6PPD, adding that other possible options would have worse environmental impacts.

Hearings in the case will continue on Wednesday and Thursday with further testimony from scientists. A ruling is expected at a later time.

Beyond the California case, the European Chemicals Agency is also weighing potential restrictions on 6PPD in tires.

]]> Sat, 07 FEB 2026 10:20:10 AEST Tirana, Albania (AFP) Jan 24, 2026 - A luxury Albanian island resort project by Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner has sparked outrage from dozens of environmental NGOs calling for its suspension, a statement seen Saturday by AFP said.

Albania -- one of the poorest European countries -- recently joined the US president's newly created "Board of Peace" aimed at resolving conflicts.

Kushner plans to transform the uninhabited southwest island of Sazan -- once home to a secret communist military base -- into a luxury tourist destination, estimated to cost around 1.4 billion euros ($1.2 billion).

But 41 environmental groups from 28 countries voiced their concern over the plans in a letter to Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and Environment Minister Sofjan Jaupaj this week.

"The project proposes interventions across 45 hectares (111 acres), posing serious risks to the biodiversity and critical habitats of the area," the statement accompanying the letter said.

Sazan and its surrounding waters "provide crucial habitats for some of the world's most endangered marine species", it added.

The NGOs stressed the construction of a luxury resort "poses a serious threat to these delicate habitats" and urged the "immediate suspension of any decisions advancing the project".

Earlier this week, the US president's daughter Ivanka Trump also visited several sites in the Vlora region, where the island is located, accompanied by around 60 architects.

The Trump family has built a massive real estate empire of luxury resorts and hotels around the world.

In December, an investment firm linked to Kushner ditched plans to build a hotel on the site of Belgrade's bombed-out Yugoslav army headquarters.

The move came after Serbia's culture minister was indicted over alleged abuse of office and forgery of an official document that had allowed the removal of the site's "cultural-heritage status".

]]> Sat, 07 FEB 2026 10:20:10 AEST Karachi (AFP) Jan 21, 2026 - With pollution in Pakistan hitting record highs in recent years, citizens clutching air monitors and legal papers are taking the fight for clean air into their own hands.

More than a decade ago, engineer Abid Omar had a "sneaking suspicion" that what the government described as seasonal fog was actually a new phenomenon.

"It wasn't there in my childhood" in Lahore, said the 45-year-old who now lives in coastal Karachi, where the sea breeze no longer saves residents from smog.

With no official data available at the time, Omar asked himself: "If the government is not fulfilling its mandate to monitor air pollution, why don't I do that for myself?"

His association, the Pakistan Air Quality Initiative (PAQI), installed its first monitor in 2016 and now has around 150 nationwide.

The data feeds into the monitoring organisation IQAir, which in 2024 classified Pakistan as the third most-polluted country in the world.

Levels of cancer-causing PM2.5 microparticles were on average 14 times the World Health Organization's recommended daily maximum.

Schools are often shut for millions of children and hospitals fill up when the smog is at its worst, caused by a dangerous combination of poor-quality diesel, agricultural burning and winter weather.

PAQI data has already played a key role in the adoption of pollution policies, serving as evidence during a 2017 case at Lahore's high court to have smog recognised as air pollution that is a danger to public health.

Using one of their air monitors, PAQI demonstrated that "the air quality was hazardous inside the courtroom", Omar said.

The court then ordered the regional government of Punjab to deploy its own monitoring stations -- now 44 across the province -- and make the data public.

But the government also says private monitors are unreliable and cause panic.

Researchers say, however, that these devices are essential to supplement official data that they view as fragmented and insufficiently independent.

"They got alarmed and shut down some stations when the air pollution went up," Omar said.

- 3D-printed monitors -

Officials have overhauled the management of brick kilns, a major source of black carbon emissions, and taken other measures such as fining drivers of high-emission vehicles and incentivising farmers to stop agricultural burning.

Worried about their community in Islamabad, academics Umair Shahid and Taha Ali established the Curious Friends of Clean Air organisation.

In three years, they have deployed a dozen plug-sized devices, made with a 3D printer at a cost of around $50 each, which clock air quality every three minutes.

Although they do not contribute to IQAir's open-source map or have government certification, their readings have highlighted alarming trends and raised awareness among their neighbours.

An outdoor yoga exercise group began scheduling their practice "at times where the air quality is slightly better in the day", said Shahid.

He has changed the times of family outings to minimise the exposure of his children, who are particularly vulnerable, to the morning and evening pollution peaks.

Their data has also been used to convince neighbours to buy air purifiers -- which are prohibitively expensive for most Pakistanis -- or to use masks that are rarely worn in the country.

- 'Right to breathe' -

The records show air quality remains poor throughout the year, even when the pollution haze is not visible to the naked eye.

"The government is trying to control the symptoms, but not the origin," said Ali.

Pollution exposure in Pakistan caused 230,000 premature deaths and illnesses in 2019, with health costs equivalent to nine percent of GDP, according to the World Bank.

Frustrated with what they see as government inaction, some citizens have taken the legal route.

Climate campaigner Hania Imran, 22, sued the state in December 2024 for the "right to breathe clean air".

She is pushing the authorities to switch to cleaner fuel supplies, but no date has been set for a verdict and the outcome remains unclear.

"We need accessible public transport... we need to go towards sustainable development," said Imran, who moved from Lahore to Islamabad in search of better air quality.

Pollution has multiple causes, she said, and "it's actually our fault. We have to take accountability for it."

]]> Sat, 07 FEB 2026 10:20:10 AEST Brussels, Belgium (AFP) Jan 19, 2026 - EU plans to ban "forever chemicals" will likely not see the light before the tail end of the year, EU officials said Monday, foreshadowing a possible delay.

Brussels has said that prohibiting per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in everyday consumer goods -- from pizza boxes to clothing -- is a "priority".

But the related proposal promised for this year is unlikely to be ready before the end of 2026 as it is dependent on external assessments, according to officials with knowledge of the file.

Environment commissioner Jessika Roswall told a press briefing in Brussels that coming up with a legal text was "complicated" but "doable", adding industry was "already preparing" for a ban.

Often called "forever chemicals" as they take an extremely long time to break down, PFAS are increasingly being restricted across the world due to adverse health effects.

Chronic exposure to even low levels has been linked to liver damage, high cholesterol, reduced immune responses, low birth weights and several kinds of cancer.

Brussels is looking to restrict about 10,000 PFAS used in consumer goods like nonstick pans and stain-proof carpets, with exceptions for certain areas including medical equipment.

A proposal was initially promised for the end of 2025, then pushed back to 2026.

On Monday, Roswall remained vague on a timeline, but said the commission was waiting to hear from the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).

The Helsinki-based agency is conducting a risk assessment, due in March, and a socio?economic assessment, which it said would not be ready before the end of 2026.

Only once that is ready, the commission will be able to put a plan on the table -- making it difficult for Brussels to stick to its 2026 goal.

Negotiations with the European Parliament and member states, which often take months, will follow.

Last year Roswall revealed she had tested positive for "toxic" PFAS after undergoing screening to raise awareness of the health risks linked to the man-made pollutants.

]]> Sat, 07 FEB 2026 10:20:10 AEST London (AFP) Jan 17, 2026 - Hundreds of people on Saturday rallied in London against Beijing's controversial new "mega" embassy, days ahead of a decision on the plan.

Protesters, their faces mostly covered with scarves or masks, chanted "No to Chinese embassy" and waved flags reading "Free Hong Kong. Revolution now".

Others held up placards with slogans such as "MI5 warned. Labour kneeled", referring to the UK's domestic intelligence agency and Prime Minister Keir Starmer's ruling party.

Others read: "CCP (Chinese Communist Party) is watching you. Stop the mega embassy."

China has for several years been trying to relocate its embassy, currently in the British capital's upmarket Marylebone district, to the sprawling historic site in the shadow of the Tower of London.

The move has sparked fierce opposition from nearby residents, rights groups and critics of China's ruling Communist Party.

The latest protest came ahead of an expected decision this week.

Benedict Rogers, head of the human rights group Hong Kong Watch said if it got the go-ahead it was "highly likely" that the site "will be used for espionage", citing the sensitive underground communications cables close to the site.

He said China had already been "carrying out a campaign of transnational repression against different diaspora communities" and other critics and predicted that that would "increase and intensify".

Beijing 'operations base' -

A protester who gave his name only as Brandon, for fear of reprisals, said the plans raised a "lot of concerns".

The 23-year-old bank employee, originally from Hong Kong but now living near Manchester in northwestern England, said many Hong Kongers had moved to the UK "to avoid authoritarian rule in China".

But they now found there could be an embassy in London serving as an "operations base" for Beijing.

"I don't think it's good for anyone except the Chinese government," he said.

Another demonstrator, who did not to give her name, called on Starmer to "step back and stop it (the plan) because there is a a high risk to the national security of the UK, not only Hong Kongers".

The 60-year-old warehouse worker, also originally from Hong Kong and now living in Manchester, said the embassy would be a "spy centre not only to watch the UK but the whole of Europe".

Speakers at the rally throwing their weight behind the campaign to stop the embassy included Kemi Badenoch, leader of the main opposition Conservative Party.

British MPs voiced major security concerns earlier this week after a leading daily reported the site would house 208 secret rooms, including a "hidden chamber".

The Daily Telegraph said it had obtained unredacted plans for the vast new building which would stand on the historical site of the former Royal Mint.

It showed that Beijing reportedly plans to construct a single "concealed chamber" among "secret rooms" underneath the embassy which would be placed alongside the underground communications cables.

]]> Sat, 07 FEB 2026 10:20:10 AEST Tirana, Albania (AFP) Jan 13, 2026 - As flooding receded in parts of Albania on Tuesday, the Balkan nation's polluted waterways are being blamed for worsening the impacts amid fears that floodwaters filled with plastic waste could reach the Adriatic Sea.

Since early January, torrential downpours have left 14,000 hectares flooded, around 1,200 homes inundated and at least one person dead in Albania.

Although floodwaters are falling in parts of the country, the force of the torrents has damaged dams and some areas remain underwater.

But locals and the country's prime minister said the flow of waste into waterways exacerbated the problem, clogging already swollen rivers.

-'Completely choked' -

"This year it was a real disaster. The riverbed was completely choked with plastic waste, swept away by the overflowing waters," Ramazan Malushi, a resident of Shkozet, near the Adriatic coast, told AFP.

In the wake of the floods, which forced hundreds of evacuations, the country's prime minister, Edi Rama, posted a photo of a waste-clogged river.

"This is what happens if you throw the bottles on the side of the roads," the leader said in his post.

The left-wing leader has been criticised by the country's opposition for his handling of the floods and alleged neglect of drainage canals and waterways, after Rama rejected calls to declare a state of natural disaster.

But Mihallaq Qirjo from the NGO Environmental Resource Centre said the issue of poor river management was long-standing.

Alongside waste, decades of gravel and sediment had accumulated in the country's rivers, narrowing their flow, Qirjo said.

- 'Collapsing' under waste -

Floodwaters in the port city of Durres, which had been hit hard during the downpours, left behind mounds of mud-slicked waste on many of the city's river banks, according to an AFP journalist on Tuesday.

Discarded plastic bags, filthy toys, bottles and other trash could also be seen clogging waterways in parts of the city.

As floodwaters move downstream toward the sea, there are fears that, as in previous storms, the waste will be dumped into the Adriatic and could be carried by currents to other countries.

A storm that hit the region in late November left beaches as far away as Dubrovnik in Croatia polluted with waste believed to be from Albania -- over 100 kilometres (62 miles) to the south.

"Rivers and streams are collapsing under hundreds of tons of waste," University of Tirana biologist Ferdinand Bego.

As floods become more frequent due to climate change, the low recycling rates in Albania were deepening their impact, Bego said.

The country recycles only about 15 per cent of its plastic waste, he said, with the rest dumped in landfills or illegally in nature.

He said the effect of plastic pollution was far-reaching and "severely pollutes all ecosystems -- soil, water, air -- with serious health consequences."

Rama's government has adopted a national strategy on climate and energy and also plans laws to punish environmental crimes more severely, such as illegal dumping.

Albania is among the most at-risk European nations to climate disasters, according to a 2024 World Bank report.

]]> Sat, 07 FEB 2026 10:20:10 AEST Subscribe to our daily selection of space, military, environment and energy newsletters responseText http://visitor.constantcontact.com/manage/optin/ea?v=0016gbbKsaiGSpQFojVO8ZoHw%3D%3D