Arnold, U.K.
Smart as a wizard: A primary school in a deprived suburb of Nottingham has jumped from the bottom 25 percent of British schools to the top 25 percent by transforming itself into Hogwarts from the Harry Potter books. For the past three years, Robert Mellors School has allowed students to choose a theme for their classes, and this year, the students chose Harry Potter. They dress as witches and wizards, call out spells such as “numerus subtracticus” when doing math problems, and compete as members of Gryffindor, Slytherin, and the other Hogwarts houses. “It’s made school a lot easier and better,” said a 10-year-old student. The children do Potter-themed art, geography, and science projects, and “don’t realize we’re ticking off boxes in the national curriculum,” said head teacher Donna Chambers.
Paris
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Strikes snarl city: Hundreds of thousands of French civil servants walked off the job this week to protest proposed economic reforms by President Nicolas Sarkozy. The walkout came atop a weeklong transportation strike that had already left Paris snarled in traffic. Although bus, train, and metro lines were still running, albeit on reduced schedules, the transportation strike was costing the government more than 300 million euros a day, said Finance Minister Christine Lagarde. Parisians turned to bicycles, scooters, and foot-power to get around. The striking workers are protesting pension reforms and seeking higher wages. “They seem to believe this is just a movement of anger that will pass,” said union organizer Gerard Aschieri. “This is to underestimate the discontent.”
Amsterdam
Reprieve for Anne Frank’s tree: A judge granted a last-minute stay of execution to a 150-year-old chestnut tree that Anne Frank rhapsodized about in her famous diary. The tree, which was the only thing visible from the attic where the Frank family hid from the Nazis during World War II, is rotting and diseased, and was to have been cut down this week to prevent it from falling. But after a public uproar, Judge Jurjen Bade inspected the tree and ordered the city to explore other options, such as anchoring it with cables. “This is a monumental tree of unusual cultural and historical value,” said a spokesman for the Netherlands’ Trees Institute. The Anne Frank House has taken grafts from the tree in order to replace it with a genetic replica, if and when it comes down.
Naples, Italy
Outdoor smoking ban: Naples this week banned smoking in public parks, at outdoor cultural events, or anywhere near pregnant women or children under 12. “Smoking—either active or passive—is one of the most harmful things for our health,” said Italian Health Minister Livia Turco. But many Neapolitans scoffed at the new city ordinance. “How can they assess who’s smoking too close?” said Councilor Gennaro Capodanno. “And how do we know if a kid is more than 12? Does he have to carry documents on him?” Anyone attempting to enforce the law, which carries a fine of up to 250 euros, “will meet with laughter,” said Capodanno.
Svalbard, Norway
Agricultural Noah’s Ark: Engineers last week switched on the massive refrigeration units at a new “doomsday vault” designed to protect seed samples in the event of a worldwide catastrophe. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, near the North Pole, will hold 4.5 million seeds that can be used to restart food production if climate change or nuclear war wipes out existing food sources. The cooling units will bring temperatures down to zero degrees Fahrenheit. “At these temperatures, seeds for important crops like wheat, barley, and peas can last for up to 1,000 years,” said Cary Fowler, executive director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust. If the cooling units fail, the surrounding permafrost will keep the seeds at about 23 degrees, even in the event of worst-case global-warming scenarios.
Donetsk, Ukraine
Mine disaster: At least 90 miners were killed and 28 injured this week in an underground explosion at a massive coal mine. Nearly 400 survivors clambered over the bodies of their co-workers to escape the inferno. The blast occurred some 3,000 feet below the surface, apparently when a spark from miners’ equipment ignited a pocket of methane gas. The disaster is the worst in the history of the troubled Ukrainian mining industry. Miners’ representatives said workers often ignore unsafe conditions because they are paid by the volume of coal they produce, and stopping for inspections hurts their wages. “Everyone tries not to pay attention to small problems,” said union leader Anatoly Akimochkin.
