Store ditches plastic forks

ASDA salads and protein bowls will not have disposable forks from June 25 in a bid to cut plastic use.

The store wants 30% of its plastic packaging to be recyclable by 2021.

The supermarket is aiming to use 41 tonnes less plastic a year.

Kevin Patel, Asda’s director of produce, said: “We have made the decision to remove plastic forks so our customers don’t have to choose between living sustainably and shopping with ease.”

NORTH Korea dramatically blew up a liaison office set up to calm tensions with the South, pushing the region closer to all-out war.

Kim Jong-un’s troops set off a “terrific explosion” demolishing the building in the border town of Kaesong.

It followed the North’s unsuccessful demands for the South to stop defectors sending propaganda balloons across the border. Messages slamming Kim’s regime have also been posted in bottles floated to the North. The dictator has called the defectors, “human scum”.

The explosion was followed up by a threat to order NK forces to advance into the “no-man’s land” demilitarised zone on the border, escalating war fears.

Hundreds of thousands of Korean troops on both sides are on high alert, as well as 25,000 US troops in the South. An American carrier strike force is thought to be deploying to the region.

In the South, Seoul has launched a huge surveillance operation to watch for NK troop movements.

Video released by the South showed a large explosion that brought down the four-storey structure. The office served as an embassy for the rival Koreas.

The South’s national security council held an emergency meeting yesterday and said it would sternly respond if NK continued to raise tensions.

Deputy national security adviser Kim You-geun said the destruction of the office, “broke the expectations of all people who hope for the development of inter-Korean relations and lasting peace on the peninsula”.