This Week in Culture: August 8 - August 15

From Australia

Australian activists wrote a rap urging the Australian government to drop “the tampon tax’, a 10% tax on women’s sanitary products. According to the Australian goods and services tax, consumers must pay a 10% on all everything but essentials, and women’s sanitary products are not currently classified as essential products.

From Germany

According to a study conducted by the Halle Institute for economic research, a German think tank, the German government profited from Greece’s debt crisis. Because of the debt crisis, German bond rates were reduced which yielded interest savings of over 100 billion euros.

From South Africa

International rugby players have voiced their complaints of the lack of diversity on the South African national team to the country’s largest union. They have alleged that the formation of the team has been influenced by “racist choices”.

From Japan

Four years after the Fukushima disaster of 2011, Japan is beginning to return to nuclear power with the reactivation of a reactor at the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant.

From South Korea

In response to the explosion of land mines planted by North Korea, South Korea has resumed anti-North Korea propaganda broadcasts after 11 years. The explosion injured two soldiers who were patrolling the southern part of the demilitarized zone that is controlled by Seoul.

Erin O’Malley is a teenage writer from York, Pennsylvania. Her work has been recognized by the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, her local library, and the York Arts Association. She is an editor of Polyphony H.S., an international literary magazine for high school students and the Co-President of her library’s teen advisory board.

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