No more plastic bags at Aussie supermarkets

SYDNEY • Australia's biggest supermarket chains are scrambling to combat "bag rage" as frustrated shoppers vent their anger over the removal of single-use plastic bags.

One man put his hands around a supermarket worker's throat, the West Australian newspaper reported, while grocery stores are putting on more staff to help customers get used to the change.

The removal of single-use plastics is part of a national push to reduce waste. As of yesterday, major retailers in all but two Australian states will be fined if they supply single-use plastic bags.

REUTERS

Notorious criminal flees French jail by helicopter

REAU (France) • A notorious career thief who was once France's most-wanted man pulled off a daring jailbreak yesterday, fleeing a prison near Paris by helicopter in a commando-style operation.

Redoine Faid, 46, broke out of the prison with the help of three armed accomplices, according to sources close to the case.

It is the second time Faid has pulled off a spectacular jailbreak - in 2013, he blasted his way out of a prison in northern France using dynamite.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Unesco adds 8 Iranian sites to heritage list

MANAMA • Unesco on Saturday added eight pre-Islamic Iranian archaeological sites to its World Heritage List, the United Nations agency announced at a meeting in the Bahraini capital.

The sites collectively appear on the worldwide list as the "Sassanid Archaeological Landscape of Fars region (Islamic Republic of Iran)".

With the latest addition, Iran now has 24 sites on the heritage list of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE