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U.K.

Sex Ed Gets Really, Really Complicated


The BBC has produced a film for children ages 9 to 12 telling them there are more than 100 gender identities. According to The Times of London, in one scene a young boy asks his teacher, “What are the different gender identities?” She tells him this is a “really, really exciting question,” at which point the film cuts to a public-health teacher, who informs him, “We know that we have got male and female, but there are over 100, if not more, gender identities.” Britain’s Royal College of General Practitioners recognizes six genders: male, female, gender-neutral, non-binary, gender-fluid, and genderqueer.

FRANCE

The French Burst Brits’ Bubbles


As Brexit looms, cosmopolitan Brits now have yet another reason to fret. Badoit, the French water that comes from a naturally carbonated spring, has ceased exporting to the U.K. Due to concerns about how drought in France has affected this natural resource, the company has decided to limit its production. The spring that, according to Louis XVI’s physician, “made cheerful the spirit” was first bottled in 1837, and the brand now has a set of dedicated followers who crave its mildly carbonated mineral flavor. A supermarket chain in the U.K. has begun limiting how many bottles of the remaining stock customers may buy, and one shopper told The Times of London, “I should fill my garage.”

Russia

All Aboard the S.S. Chernobyl!


What could possibly go wrong? A Russian nuclear plant is on the move: the Akademik Lomonosov, the first floating nuclear reactor, is in the East Siberian Sea, headed toward the Russian outpost of Pevek. After a 3,000-mile voyage, the plant will be installed in an Arctic mining town, where it is expected to provide power for 12 years, according to The Moscow Times. Dubbed a “Chernobyl on ice” by Greenpeace, the plant will be removed from Pevek at the end of its run, so its spent nuclear fuel can be unloaded.

Japan

Whale Slaughter Resumes


In defiance of international restrictions, Japan has resumed commercial whaling. They’ve also wasted no time: as of late August they have killed 150 Bryde’s whales and were on pace to kill more than 50 minke whales by September’s end. As Yoshifumi Kai, head of Japan’s Small-Type Whaling Association, said, “September is the best season, when whales with plenty of fat are caught. I’m looking forward to the hunt.” Japan broke from the International Whaling Commission, a coalition of 87 countries that regulates whaling and conserves populations, after it vetoed their proposal to hunt species “considered abundant.” Conservationists are concerned that Japan’s exit from the I.W.C. may prompt South Korea, Russia, Norway, and Iceland to leave the group as well.

Issue No. 9
September 14, 2019
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Issue No. 9
September 14, 2019