Friday Five News 10/6/16

 
Well I’m a day late with this but it’s been a busy week.


The INTERNATIONAL news continues to report on the American elections.  I think many Americans would be surprised at how much coverage it gets over here in the UK.  But like the European referendum it does get boring after a while. 
 
It’s difficult to pick out international stories that are not full of doom and gloom, especially when you read about more attacks in Syria claiming lives.  The fight against ISIS seems to be on many fronts.  There are stories of how a port in Libya has been reclaimed from ISIS.  Clearly a victory but again, at what cost. 

I tried to find a positive or fun story but even this one that caught my eye Spongebob Square Pants causing furore in Iran turned out to be quite depressing.  This was a case of an Iranian footballer being suspended, allegedly, for wearing trousers with a motif similar to the Spongebob SquarePants motif which were deemed inappropriate and against Islamic values. 
“The public furore around the Makani case has caused a stir among the authorities who fear it could put the cultural integrity of the country in jeopardy.

Observers have suggested that to the government, Makani's trousers represent a step towards individuals straying from conservative religious teachings of the clergy and how Islam should govern their daily lives.”

I don’t think drawing attention to these and other cases and inciting international input, particularly on social media, will help the authorities' cause. 

The LOCAL news is much more positive as the Queen continues to celebrate her 90^th birthday.  Yesterday saw the Trooping of the Colour and other events are taking place this weekend.

Not everyone is a fan of the Royals but I think it’s good we still have a monarchy and when it comes to celebrations and events I think we do a pretty good job

SPORT news will be dominated by the European Football Championships for the next couple of weeks.  My TV will no doubt be dominated by my son and others watching a variety of games.   

Unfortunately the news will also contain the sort of story I’ve highlighted where fans get out of control and trouble follows.

For ENTERTAINMENT I’m continuing with the football theme and giving you “8 artists you didn’t know had made football songs.”  Not that you’ll thank me for the information and the only song on the list worth a listen is the one by R Kelly.  It could be about any victory, the football content is limited.

For a MISCELLANEOUS  story I went to the BBC’s 10 Things we didn’t know last week as it’s usually good for something out of the ordinary.  It mentions Pigs and Kangaroos being able to make intimate relationships, how a seagull will turn orange if it falls into a vat of chicken tikka marsala (really?  Have they never noticed how stained the plastic containers of takeaway food get?!) but the one I’ve linked to is how The Tattoo policy of the US Marine Corps is 32 pages long!  It is VERY specific.  It only takes them an extra 56 pages to detail how to use a tank, in combat.  Must be a good job working in admin in the military.

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