Tall tales: Royal Navy recruits don't have to be able to swim
The Week's round-up of the latest odd news
Sink or swim
Royal Navy recruits will no longer need to be able to prove they can swim in order to join up. In a move described by a source as a "sign of true desperation to increase recruitment numbers", anyone seeking to join the aquatic wing of the British military won't have to pass a 30-minute swim test. Asked how the change had gone down internally, the source said there was "outrage, unadulterated, utter outrage" over the "race to the bottom – literally the bottom".
Period piece
The design of a new train station in the Chinese city of Nanjing has provoked ridicule for its likeness to a sanitary pad. The buildings of the North Nanjing station are meant to "take inspiration from plum blossoms, which the city is known for", said the BBC. But responses on the social media site Weibo have universally rejected that idea. "This is a giant sanitary pad. It's embarrassing to say it looks like a plum blossom," said one post. "I think we should take this chance to call for society to pay attention to period shaming. This design is ahead of its time," joked another.
Watching waste lines
A Cheshire dad has earned the unusual title of "Binfluencer" for publishing photographs of more than 100 bins in his local town. Andy Bailey, who documents his hobby at @bins_of_congleton on Instagram, snaps the refuse disposals before rating them out of 25 – with a potential top score of five for characteristics including "personality", "placement popularity" and "pristine". "I haven’t given a score of 25 yet," Bailey said. "Maybe I never will."
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Julia O'Driscoll is the engagement editor. She covers UK and world news, as well as writing lifestyle and travel features. She regularly appears on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast, and hosted The Week's short-form documentary podcast, “The Overview”. Julia was previously the content and social media editor at sustainability consultancy Eco-Age, where she interviewed prominent voices in sustainable fashion and climate movements. She has a master's in liberal arts from Bristol University, and spent a year studying at Charles University in Prague.
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