Friday Five - in the news this week 14/8/15

Well it's Friday again and I'm getting used to not having my cat around the house.  Thank you to all who left me messages, much appreciated.

Here we go with another round up of news items that have caught my eye this week.

INTERNATIONAL:
The tragedy that occured in China's port of Tianjin is unlikely not to have been noticed around the world given that the extent of the explosions were picked up by space satellites.  The pictures of the devastation caused by the explosions at the port are horrific.  It seems a miracle that only 50 people died although I'm sure that number will increase as many of the 700 injured are listed as critical.  Some of those who lost their lives were firemen who had been called out to a fire on site and then got caught up in the following explosions.

Given that these events took place in China we may never know the full extent of just what chemicals were being stored in the warehouse at the centre of all this.  Or what safety provisions were in place to prevent such an occurrence.  My gut feeling is that their rules and regulations are probably not as stringent as ours.  Health and Safety can be a pain at times but if it prevents things like this happening it's a small price to pay.

Hopefully the might of the Chinese authorities will lead to a rapid clear up operation being put into effect for those who have lost their loved ones and homes but I'm sure many people will be living with the scars of this event for the rest of their lives.

Moving on to SPORTS:
What a parental dilemma?  Your two sons competing against one another in a major event, who do you support?

This is the story of Andy Murray, our #1 tennis player, facing his brother Jamie in a doubles competition.  Jamie is the less well known of the brothers but he is a force to be reckoned with in the doubles world.  Proving his point by beating his brother Andy yesterday at the Rogers Cup tournament in Montreal.  I don't know if their mother was there watching but I think I'd have to opt out.

Fortunately my own kids have tended to opt for team sports so I've not been in that situation.

In LOCAL news, shock horror!  The Greenwich Meridian line is in the wrong place!  We are only a few miles from Greenwich with it's lovely park and the observatory and it's famous meridian line which divides the world into East and West so this caught my eye.

Apparently, with advances in modern technology, namely GPS, it has been found to be about 100 metres out.  Maybe that's why when using a SAT NAV in your car and it tells you "You have arrived at your destination" sometimes you haven't! 

The ENTERTAINMENT item I picked out was coverage of the filming of the final episodes of Downton Abbey.  I have loved watching this series and have seen every episode.  I shall be sad to watch the final episode later this year and then the Christmas special but it will be interesting to see how it's brought to an end.

And finally MISCELLANEOUS: this is a lovely story about a group of Italian Grannies taking a coach trip to the sea.  Many of them had never seen the sea and it was a lifelong dream.  They were able to accomplish the trip to the Croatian island of Ugljan by using Crowd Funding.  

It's good to be reminded sometimes of how there are always people worse off than yourself.  I am about 90 minutes away from the nearest beach but many seaside resorts are within driving distance and we could just take a day trip/holiday whenever we wanted really.  

Some of these women had never really ventured far from their alpine village but they had a dream and they made it come true.  Well done them!

All links are courtesy of the BBC website. Opinions are my own.