Weekly Briefing: Plastic bans; congestion pricing; cauliflower rice

Top Stories

Can behavioural insights be used across different cultures? Having now run projects in more than 20 low- and middle-income countries, the ‘nudge unit’ is increasingly confident that the answer is ‘yes’. It seems that people all around the world are prone to the same decision-making biases. (Kizzy Gandy, Behavioural Insights Team)

A vast, new study links growing up in greener areas with improved mental health. Years of research have shown that mental illness is more prevalent among urban populations than rural ones. Now, data on a million Danes suggests the reason is not economic status or family history, but lack of green space. (Apolitical)

Cast your vote in 'The Public Service Workplace Awards.' Government needs to think about ways to improve the health and wellbeing of staff. Check out the exciting teams and initiatives going above and beyond to make the public service a great place to work. (Apolitical)

Buenos Aires is being redesigned so that it works better for women. Cities were largely built by and for men, and many urban spaces still don’t meet women’s needs. From involving more women in the transport sector to a new anti-harassment phone line, Buenos Aires is trying to change that. (Paula Bisiau, Buenos Aires City Government)

Four surprising ways that your identity affects your health outcomes. Did you know that race changes your likelihood of exposure to the most toxic air pollution, or that gender affects how early life-threatening diseases are diagnosed? Here’s how different countries are tackling it. (Apolitical)

Evolving Cities

Amsterdam is stripping its city centre of all car parking spaces. Some 11,000 spaces will be replaced by trees, wider sidewalks and bike parking. Only a fifth of Amsterdam’s journeys take place by car, yet drivers still enjoy access to the vast majority of road space. (CityLab)

New York will be the first US city to charge for driving in its busiest areas. The congestion pricing — $11 per car or $25 per truck — aims to reduce traffic and pollution and raise funds for the city’s public transport system. London and Stockholm already have similar schemes. (ABC)

Health and Ageing

Kenya is stepping up the fight against AIDS by building a $100m drug factory. The Nairobi facility, which opens later this year, will be the largest of its kind in Africa and will reduce the continent’s reliance on European drug imports. Some 1.5 million Kenyans are living with HIV. (The Guardian)

Japan has introduced a legal cap on working hours to combat a culture of overwork. Companies that violate the new rules on overtime will be punished with possible fines of around $2,700. In 2017, there were 190 recorded deaths from overwork in Japan, including suicides. (Japan Today)

Energy, Environment and Economic Opportunity

The EU will ban disposable plastics like straws, forks and knives by 2021. To reduce marine litter, which is 85% plastic, the Parliament voted to outlaw the 10 most-found plastics on European beaches. Tobacco firms will also now have to pay for government collection of cigarette stubs. (Reuters)

Safety and Justice

Inmates in Finland are training AI algorithms as part of prison labour. Two prisons have been equipped with computers so that inmates can classify data on thousands of articles scraped from the internet. Critics argue that the scheme is economically exploitative. (The Verge)

Singapore is cracking down on fake news with a far-reaching bill. Sites like Facebook will have to show corrections and take down false information, and those spreading fake news could face fines of up to $750,000 and 10 years in prison. Some worry the bill will limit free speech. (Bloomberg)

And finally

Arkansas has passed a law against ‘cauliflower rice’. The state has banned food companies from marketing shredded cauliflower as ‘rice’ or plant-based meats as ‘meat’. US sales of cauliflower-centric dishes rose 108% from 2016 to 2017. (Quartz)

(Picture credit: Unsplash)