- Wall Street stocks retreat from records on US inflation data
- 'Like a quake': Beirut shaken after deadliest strikes on centre
- Fallen giants Ghana in AFCON trouble after Sudan draw
- Asian leaders meet in Laos with US, Russia on world turmoil
- England gamble backfires as Pavlidis fires emotional Greece to victory
- Obama stumps for Harris, Trump talks US protectionism
- New-look France ease past Israel in Nations League
- Belgium fight back to draw with 10-man Italy in Nations League
- 'Get a life': Hurricane whips up US election storm
- Japan stay perfect in World Cup qualifying
- Relief as Lebanon evacuees dock in Turkey
- Lebanon says 22 dead in Israeli strikes on central Beirut
- NBA boss Silver sees games back in China 'at some point'
- Israel strikes central Beirut, killing 22
- Table tennis and Netflix push Ukraine teen into French Open contention
- Civilians flee Gaza's Jabalia in tightening Israeli siege
- Israel strikes central Beirut, killing 18
- At least 10 dead in Florida from tornadoes caused by Hurricane Milton
- Warhol's rare 'Queen' collection opens at Dutch museum
- Three-time NBA champion Green retires
- MLB Twins up for sale after 40 years
- S.Sudan floods affect 893,000, over 241,000 displaced: UN
- Solar storm could impact US hurricane recovery efforts: agency
- Windies sweat on injury to 'crucial' Taylor at World Cup
- Lebanon says 11 dead, 48 injured in Israeli strikes on Beirut
- Panama lashes out at EU over tax haven 'outrage'
- Erdogan says Gaza 'shame of humanity', calls for permanent ceasfire
- TD Bank to pay more than $3 bn to US in money-laundering case
- SAfrica prosecutors drop criminal complaint against president
- 'Good opportunity': Nagelsmann upbeat despite Germany's long injury list
- Hurricane whips up bitter US election battle
- Cameroon bans media talk of president's health amid rumours
- NFL MVP Jackson and rookie phenom Daniels set for showdown
- Chad's capital under threat as floodwaters rise
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit central Beirut
- No answers on strike on reporters in Lebanon one year on: watchdog
- Ramharack picks four wickets as Windies beat Bangladesh in Women's T20 World Cup
- France's City of Light switches to climate-resilient power cables
- Djokovic hails Nadal 'legacy' as Alcaraz in 'shock' over retirement
- Obama hits campaign trail for Harris
- Delta eyes Election Day travel pullback as profits climb
- Djokovic tells Nadal: 'Your legacy will live forever'
- Ethel Kennedy, wife of RFK, dead at 96
- Zelensky denies ceasefire with Russia under discussion on trip
- Florida battered by hurricane, floods but spared 'worst-case scenario'
- After long fight for glory, Nadal leaves with a legacy of memories
- Home hopes Zheng and Wang through to last-eight in Wuhan Open
- UN peacekeepers say Israel fired on Lebanon HQ, injuring 2
- UK's William and Kate in first joint public engagement since cancer treatment
- Alcaraz out as top players pay tribute to Nadal at Shanghai Masters
NY 'trash revolution' targets overflowing waste, and the rats feasting on it
New York City is iconic for its yellow taxis, pizza slices, bright lights on Broadway and its rats.
Mountains of black garbage bags line cramped city sidewalks, a feast for the millions of rodents who call New York home.
But such unsanitary eyesores could soon be a remnant of the city's past, with local authorities launching a "trash revolution" to clean up the streets.
Since the beginning of March more than 200,000 food-selling businesses have been required to use hard-lidded bins to store the millions of tons of garbage they produce annually.
By 2026 residential buildings will also be required to use such containers, a plan inspired by the approach used in cities including Barcelona, Madrid and Buenos Aires.
A pilot program is underway in Manhattan's northern Harlem neighborhood.
The city will eventually lose some 150,000 parking spaces -- an eternal sore spot for many New Yorkers -- as a result of the new container rollout, but advocates say any protest might be diluted by the pleasing results of the clean-up.
"It's a change for me," said Ron James, a Harlem resident. "I come in at night, and a lot of times I have to walk in the streets to avoid the rats walking on the sidewalk.
Now, he added, "I'm barely seeing rats on the streets."
Another resident, Maxwell Rodriguez, said he's grateful his community has stopped getting fined when garbage bags end up in the street.
The hard-lidded containers should also dissuade human scavengers, who often rip open plastic bags while searching for bottles or cans to sell for cash.
The city of 8.5 million people and the millions of tourists who visit each year produce some 20 million tons of trash a day, more than half of it from businesses, according to City Council figures.
- 27 miles of trash -
If a day's trash bags were lined up, they would reach 27 miles (43 kilometers), five miles more than the perimeter of Manhattan island, the council said.
Businesses use a private waste-collection system, while the nearly 10,000 employees of the city's sanitation department deal with trash from residences, schools and hospitals.
New York is one of the most densely occupied cities on the planet -- particularly Manhattan, whose 1.7 million inhabitants mostly live in high-rise buildings with no space in between.
Finding room for large containers that can accommodate the buying habits of a consumption-crazed society, accustomed to using and then quickly discarding what they buy, is a complex challenge.
It is a "big problem," said Steven Cohen, a professor of environmental and public affairs at Columbia University.
Practically, the only place containers can be placed is on sidewalks, intruding on the space used by pedestrians, or in streets, further complicating traffic.
In some blocks, the containers will take up a full one-fourth of sidewalk space, experts estimate.
The city will have to introduce specially adapted trucks to lift and remove the new containers. At present, that work is done by hand, one bag at a time -- a demanding physical job that takes a toll on sanitation employees.
These workers "deserve a solution that protects their bodies," said city sanitation commissioner Jessica Tisch, just as "every New Yorker deserves a solution that cleans their streets."
- Limited recycling -
Since the closure of the world's largest landfill -- in the New York borough of Staten Island, in 2001 -- the city's trash has ended up in a network of waste-to-energy facilities or landfills in other states as far distant as South Carolina, more than 700 miles away.
"Nobody likes to be near a waste transfer station," said Columbia's Cohen, a specialist in sustainability.
But he sees hope in the mountains of trash. He believes a paradigm shift, aided by artificial intelligence, can turn waste into a major new energy source.
At present, he adds, less than 10 percent of all trash is recycled.
With less than three percent of organic waste currently being recycled, the city has begun a plan to provide special compost containers -- which will become mandatory starting next year.
Cohen said all food waste will be recycled, either turned into compost or converted by a so-called anaerobic digester into methane or nitrogen fertilizer.
It will take time for people to get used to the new approach, he said.
"Any change this big, with a city of this size, will take several years before it's really seen," he said.
"But I think it's going to happen."
T.Ward--AMWN