Britain’s Prince William Wants to Help End Homelessness

Prince and Princess of Wales visit the Guildhall Windsor to thank volunteers and staff that worked on the funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth, in Windsor, Britain, September 22, 2022. Ian Vogler/Pool via REUTERS/File photo
Prince and Princess of Wales visit the Guildhall Windsor to thank volunteers and staff that worked on the funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth, in Windsor, Britain, September 22, 2022. Ian Vogler/Pool via REUTERS/File photo
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Britain’s Prince William Wants to Help End Homelessness

Prince and Princess of Wales visit the Guildhall Windsor to thank volunteers and staff that worked on the funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth, in Windsor, Britain, September 22, 2022. Ian Vogler/Pool via REUTERS/File photo
Prince and Princess of Wales visit the Guildhall Windsor to thank volunteers and staff that worked on the funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth, in Windsor, Britain, September 22, 2022. Ian Vogler/Pool via REUTERS/File photo

Britain's Prince William, heir to the throne, has told the Sunday Times he wants to help end homelessness across the country and is planning to launch "a really big project" later this month.

In an interview, the Prince told the newspaper that his and his wife's Royal Foundation would be behind the project.

William, 40, is a long term supporter of charities aimed at ending homelessness, a cause which was close to his mother's heart. As a young boy, Princess Diana took him to a homeless shelter and he is the patron of two charities focused on the issue, Reuters reported.

He said the project would provide "living conditions up and down the country that improve people’s lives who need that first rung of the ladder", according to the newspaper.

The Prince also suggested he would be prepared to build social housing on his land as a trial to see if it worked before scaling it up, according to the newspaper.

"Social housing. You’ll see that when it’s ready. I’m no policy expert, but I push it where I can," he is quoted by the Sunday Times as saying.

William took part in his father King Charles's first official birthday parade earlier on Saturday, riding on horseback to inspect soldiers with other members of the royal family.



New Delhi Vows to Flatten Monster Garbage Pile in Indian Capital

New Delhi says it plans to level the massive Bhalswa landfill by March 2026. Prakash SINGH / AFP/File
New Delhi says it plans to level the massive Bhalswa landfill by March 2026. Prakash SINGH / AFP/File
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New Delhi Vows to Flatten Monster Garbage Pile in Indian Capital

New Delhi says it plans to level the massive Bhalswa landfill by March 2026. Prakash SINGH / AFP/File
New Delhi says it plans to level the massive Bhalswa landfill by March 2026. Prakash SINGH / AFP/File

India's capital New Delhi has vowed to clear one of its largest trash piles by next year as part of a plan to eradicate unsightly landfills dotting the megacity's skyline.

Around 32 million people live in greater Delhi, where a slipshod approach to waste management has left numerous landfills with garbage piled up to 60 meters (200 feet) high and visible from miles away.

Regular spot fires during the capital's long and intense summer see the trash mounds turn into toxic conflagrations spilling dangerous chemical fumes into nearby neighborhoods, reported AFP.

Delhi environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa told reporters Tuesday that work was underway to process and dispose of waste at one of the city's biggest trash piles.

By the end of the year, waste at the Bhalswa dump on the city's northern outskirts "will be reduced to a point where it will no longer be visible" from a distance, he said.

"Our ultimate aim is to ensure that no new garbage mountains are formed," he added.

Local neighborhoods around the Bhalswa landfill are home to thousands of Delhi's poorest residents who have migrated from grinding rural poverty in search of work.

Sirsa said the Bhalswa site would be cleared by March next year with similar remediation work to follow at Delhi's other two main garbage dumps.

According to last reported estimates from 2023, Delhi generates more than 11,000 tons of solid waste each day, according to official estimates in 2023.

More than four million tons of waste sit at the Bhalswa dump according to official estimates.

Untreated domestic waste burns in the landfills during the hot summer months, producing excess methane which further pollutes India's already smog-choked urban centers.