INTERNATIONAL: Migrants fleeing Syria continued to dominate our news this week and few of us could fail to be moved by the tragedies that have been reported on where very young children were among those who lost their lives following the capsize of a boat.
Europe needs to have a common policy on how to address the issue and quickly. The current situation whereby refugees (or migrants or whatever is the current acceptable word to use because even that keeps changing) should register for asylum in the first EU country they reach is not working. Hungary tried to keep migrants there this week but in the end gave in and allowed large numbers to travel on to Germany. Of course some countries are more able to accommodate an influx of refugees than others but if the schemes in place continue to be flouted what happens when Germany reaches its limits? And the UK needs to do its bit too. Just because it’s not so easy to get here doesn’t mean we shouldn’t accept refugees but they need to be accounted for.
Moving on to SPORTS: This is an interesting article about how elite Muslim sports people cope with fasting during Ramadan and carrying on with their activities. It seems that they can get a free pass to allow them to fast at an alternative time if Ramadan falls at a time when they really need to be focussing on their training, particularly around, for example, the Olympic games. One athlete also explains how he substituted fasting with paying to feed the poor for 30 days instead. I can’t even cope with the 5:2 diet let alone 30 days!
In LOCAL news, I came across this story of 6500 bottles of vodka being stolen from a parked lorry in nearby Essex. Admittedly it was done in the early hours of the morning but really? 6500 bottles? Say there were 12 in a box, that’s over 500 boxes. That must have taken some time to move. And no one noticed? And where was the driver? I know that vodka doesn’t really have a strong smell but it all smells a bit fishy to me!
In ENTERTAINMENT I’ve failed! I missed the first Strictly Come Dancing programme. Admittedly it’s only about who will be partnering who but I can’t believe I missed it. (Well of course I can, it’s been a busy day – more of that in my weekly round up.)
And finally MISCELLANEOUS: This is an article about the proposals to have GP services available 7 days a week. I think it’s important to have access to healthcare 7 days a week but I’m not convinced that making GPs available 7 days is the answer. But we seem to be moving towards a 24/7 society. If that’s the way forward it makes sense to have everything available on that basis: shops, healthcare, transport and so on. After all, if you’re working in a shop that opens all weekend you need to be able to get there and you need to fit in other things around your work pattern.
BUT we should not be having to work 24/7. There needs to be work life balance. The weekend may not always be Saturday and Sunday but there still needs to be a week break. Even if that break is Tuesday and Wednesday for example.
All links are courtesy of the BBC website. Opinions are my own.
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