15/08/2025

FRIDAY | AUG 15, 2025

8

Last chance for plastic pollution treaty

o French minister says deal still possible

our rivers and in our oceans. “But the text presented here makes that wound fatal and we will not accept it. This is simply repulsive. It is not ambition, it is surrender.” Kenya said the text had been “significantly diluted and lost its very objective”, having no “demonstrable value to end plastic pollution”. Afterwards, France’s Ecological Transition Minister Agnes Pannier Runacher told reporters the text needed rebalancing and it was still “possible to write a text of 10 pages that takes into account all the main points”. – AFP

Presenting his draft, Ecuadorian diplomat Vayas said the text was an attempt at capturing the elements that could lay the foundation for a treaty to be concluded yesterday, saying it “builds on those areas where convergence exists”. Colombia and Chile were first out of the blocks to brand the draft entirely unacceptable, while Panama said the red lines of the majority of countries were “not only stomped, they were spat on and they were burned”. “This is not about closing a treaty at any cost, it is about closing a wound that we’re leaving open in

Minded Group, with Gulf states leading the charge, it crossed too many of their red lines and did not do enough to narrow down the scope of what they might be signing up for. Negotiators from 184 countries have been working at the United Nations in Geneva since Aug 5 to try to conclude a first international accord on dealing with plastic pollution. A fifth and supposedly final round of talks in South Korea late last year broke up without agreement – meaning the Geneva talks are already stretching the limits.

three years of talks, seem low. With just over a day to go, the talks chair Luis Vayas Valdivieso produced a draft text based on the few areas of convergence, in an attempt to find common ground. But the draft succeeded only in infuriating virtually all corners and the text was immediately shredded as one country after another ripped it to bits. For the self-styled ambitious countries, it was an empty document shorn of bold action such as curbing production and phasing out toxic ingredients. And for the so-called Like

GENEVA: were scrambling to secure a global agreement on tackling the scourge of plastic pollution after the talks plunged into total disarray yesterday. Countries wanting bold action to turn the tide on plastic garbage are so far apart from a group of oil-producing nations that the prospects of finding meaningful common ground before Friday, after Negotiators

Baby Shark was not plagiarised, rules court

SEOUL: South Korea’s top court ruled yesterday that the globally popular South Korean children’s song Baby Shark was not plagiarised, rejecting a copyright claim filed by a US-based composer. With its catchy lyrics, the Baby Shark Dance video is the most viewed on YouTube, with more than 16 billion views, roughly double those of the runner-up, Despacito , and third-place Wheels on the Bus . In 2019, New York composer Johnny Only, whose legal name is Jonathan Wright, filed a lawsuit in Seoul, alleging that the 2015 hit Baby Shark by South Korean education startup SmartStudy copied a song he had released in 2011. Only demanded 30 million won (RM91,093) in compensation, accusing the firm of copying elements of his work, including its bassline and rhythm. SmartStudy, now known as The Pinkfong Company, argued that its version was an adaptation of a classic North American children’s tune that is not protected by copyright. A South Korean lower court initially cleared the company of the charges at a trial in 2021, finding that there was insufficient evidence of infringement. That ruling was upheld by an appeal court in 2023. Only then challenged the 2023 decision, but South Korea’s Supreme Court affirmed the lower court rulings yesterday. “All appeals were dismissed and the lower court’s rulings were upheld,” according to court documents seen by AFP. The Pinkfong Company said in a statement that the Supreme Court’s decision confirmed Baby Shark was “based on a traditional singalong chant that has entered the public domain”. The company said it had given “a fresh twist to the chant by adding an upbeat rhythm and catchy melody, turning it into the pop culture icon it is today”. Only did not immediately reply to an AFP request for comment. He told Canadian public broadcaster CBC in 2019 that he had created a toddler friendly version of Baby Shark in 2011, revising the original song, which was about a gory shark attack. “I was the first one that did that (rewriting the song). Pinkfong’s version does the same thing,” he said. – AFP

Greek firefighters make progress against wildfires ATHENS: Firefighters in Greece gained ground yesterday against a wildfire outside the third largest city of Patras, while water bombers battled blazes on three other fronts. area, Aegean island of Chios, Ionian island of Zakynthos and near the western city of Preveza had burned over 10,000ha. Residents trying to stop a wildfire from burning a house near the city of Patras on Wednesday. – AFPPIC

said forest fires in Greece were now regularly affecting urban areas. “We have seen it in (the greater Athens area) since 2021, now in Patras,” he told state TV ERT. Other important fires continued to burn yesterday on the Ionian island of Zakynthos, Aegean island of Chios and near the western city of Preveza, the spokesman said. Some 600 ground crews and nearly 30 water bombing aircraft were deployed from dawn at all locations. Reduced wind intensity was aiding firefighting efforts. Greece this summer has faced several major forest fires amid high temperatures. – AFP

Police said they had arrested a 25-year-old man on suspicion of starting one of four fires that erupted near Patras on Tuesday. Officials on Wednesday had evacuated a children’s hospital and a retirement home as the fire had moved dangerously close to the western Greek city. As the fire swept through the Patras outskirts on Tuesday, it gutted a Customs tow yard, destroying more than 500 vehicles inside. Alexandros Dimitrakopoulos, a forestry professor at Thessaloniki’s Aristotle University,

The situation in the country’s main port to Italy was much improved after an overnight struggle, fire department spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said in a televised address. Firefighters in Patras were facing “scattered” pockets of flames but the fire was “still active” in the eastern outskirts of the city of over 200,000, he said. Citing data from the EU’s Copernicus satellite monitoring programme, the Athens national observatory yesterday said fires in the Patras

Barbie screening in France cancelled after threats PARIS: Following violent threats against public service employees, the French town of Noisy-le Sec in the eastern suburbs of Paris has cancelled a planned screening of the film Barbie .

threats from the disruptive group were based on “flimsy arguments” that indicated politically motivated “obscurantism and fundamentalism”. He told the French newspaper Le Parisien that young people told the employees during the setup that they would prevent the screening and destroy the equipment. The opponents claimed that the film promotes homosexuality and violates the integrity of women. – Bernama

Mayor Olivier Sarrabeyrouse of the French Communist Party expressed regret on Monday that “a small group from the neighbourhood, under the pressure of an individual, has focused their energy on preventing the screening of this film”. The free open-air cinema event was supposed to take place last Friday. According to Sarrabeyrouse’s statement, the

Culture Minister Rachida Dati lamented in a post on X on Wednesday “a serious blow to programming, depriving families and children from a cultural activity”. She also announced legal action.