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Forest fires in France begin amid heatwave: 400 hectares burned due to BBQ on trailer
Official daily ‘forest-fire risk’ map is being published again for summer
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French weekly weather forecast June 30 - July 4: heatwave to continue then storms
84 departments are on heightened alert for the start of the week
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Map: the 151 areas of France chosen to get more doctors from September
Areas include parts of Lot-et-Garonne, Dordogne, Creuse, Allier and Nièvre
French MPs back plan to ban single-use plastic by 2040
... but critics argue the measures should be enforced much earlier
MPs have approved plans to ban single-use plastics in France from 2040, but critics argue the measures could be enforced much sooner.
A proposed ban on single-use plastics was presented to the Senate in September but was rejected after a second vote. Earlier this week, however, MPs backed an amendment to France's anti-waste law that sets five-year targets for plastic reduction ahead of a total ban in 2040.
The ban targets "all food packaging, bottles and everything in our cupboards to do with domestic and industrial consumption," said the MP behind the proposal, Laurence Maillart-Méhaignerie.
But green MP David Cormand said the amendment - which has the support of the government - still allowed companies to "carry on producing plastic for an entire generation".
The World Wildlife Fund, meanwhile, urged France to act faster. "We cannot wait until 2040 to ban plastic bags, bottles or other disposable plastics in public administrations," it said.
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