■ Continuous Global Natural Disasters

This summer, abnormal weather appeared in various places around the world.

The temperature of Europe has exceeded 40°C throughout August, showing newly recorded heat every day. In Germany, the temperature rose to about 40.3°C, reaching a record high since weather observations began. Britain issued a red alert on July 17th (local time) for the first time because the railroad tracks bent, and the airport runway melted. On August 9th, a large forest fire broke out in Girondins, France. About 12,000 people, including people from nearby Girondin province, were evacuated after more than three days of failure to control the blaze. Several rivers in Europe, including the Rhine and Thames, have been dried up by prolonged drought since July. Those rivers barely maintained water levels of 30 centimeters. Although supplies were reduced due to the inability to float ships, the worst scenario reached at last, due to the increased fares. 

The U.S. is also experiencing continuous disasters. On August 14th, the U.S. Meteorological Administration announced heavy rain warnings and sudden sectional flooding in the southern part of the country. Also, they warned of heat waves in California and the Central Valley.

In July, China's Sichuan province suffered from power shortages due to a series of heat waves, so the government suspended the use of electricity at the plan.

■Scotland provides free women's menstrual products for the first time in the world

In August, Scotland became a country providing free women's sanitary products.

One survey of 1,000 women conducted by the Scottish women's organization (Women for Independence) in 2018 found that one in five women suffered from menstrual poverty. And that year, in October, Scottish Labor Party Monica Lennon led a campaign to provide women's sanitary products for free. In April 2019, the Scottish Parliament enacted the world's first law to provide free sanitary products at middle and high schools and universities.

Representative Monica Lennon later proposed that all public institutions, such as schools and universities, be required to supply sanitary products, including tampons and sanitary pads. It presented the "Period Products Free Provision," a law that expands the scope and provides women's sanitary products for free in more places. The resulting bill was unanimously passed, approved by the state in January of the following year, and fully implemented in August. She revealed happiness on her personal SNS, "I'm proud of this achievement in Scotland. We're the first to implement it, but it won't be the last."

■ Attack on Ukraine's nuclear power plant, Who's responsible?

The area around Zaporizhzhia, where Europe's largest nuclear power plant is located, was bombed for the second time on the 11th, following August 6th. However, Ukraine and Russia are shifting the responsibility for the artillery fire.

The Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhia belongs to the Ukrainian state. But the area became a Russian-occupied region due to the continued war. Russia has deployed its troops around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and strengthened its military capabilities to interfere in the operation of the nuclear power plant. The Russian military blamed that it was the Ukrainian army's act when 25 artillery shells fell near the Zaporizhzhia atomic power plant on August 11th.

The expected damage is about ten times the Chernobyl crisis if there is an abnormality in the nuclear power plant in Province. Ukraine, on the other hand, claims it was attacked by Russia. There is no way they have attacked the nuclear power plant on their own. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video of himself, "The Russian military has not stopped threatening inside and outside the nuclear power plant area, and external sanctions are essential."

■ U.S. conflicts over abortion laws

Because of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned the precedent of allowing abortion rights, the aftermath is spreading across the United States.

The U.S. legalized women's abortion for embryos within 24 weeks of pregnancy through the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, but the U.S. Supreme Court overturned this precedent on June 25th. It changed to allow individual states to rule on abortion law independently.

After that, demonstrations by civic groups across the United States against the court's ruling continued. They claim that women will be deprived of their right to choose on their own whether to terminate a pregnancy if it were not legally guaranteed. President Joe Biden also appeared in favor of the executive order, which ensures economic support to secure abortion rights. Kansas, known for its conservative tendency, drew attention by guaranteeing its right to abort pregnancy through a referendum. On the other hand, Indiana became the first state to agree to outlaw abortion by passing the abortion law with a majority.

Reporter Shin Ji-Won

Translated by Shin Ji-Won