if it’s news to me, it must be news to you!
PC crossings: The traditional green man lights on pedestrian crossings around Trafalgar Square have been temporarily changed ahead of the London’s Pride Festival to show same-sex couples holding hands to form a heart shape and other LGBT symbols.
Whether that means that only gay, lesbian, bi or transgender couples are allowed to cross at the appropriately denoted crossing isn’t clear.
Clowning around: A sinister craze from America has crossed the Atlantic in which people dress up as clowns, then leap out of bushes to scare children, no doubt causing severe coulrophobia.
Alternative education: An elementary school in Portland, Oregon, is to run a Satanic after-school programme as an alternative to clubs run by evangelical Christians.
Murder most fowl: A murder mystery in the Yorkshire village of Thimbleby – who killed Pat the Peacock?
Meanwhile, a rare black dormouse is spotted in Britain for the first time. (Dormice aren’t really mice at all and get their name because they sleep a lot. They were also were considered a tasty treat by the Romans.)
What were her parents thinking: One of the world’s most successful women chess players will boycott the world championship in Iran because by law she would have to wear a headscarf. But why did her parents name her Nazi? (Actually, it’s Georgian and means ‘delicate’ or ‘tender’)
Man’s best friend: Gertie the pointer came to the rescue of a woman who had lost her artificial leg by retrieving it after it was lost to the sea. A cat wouldn’t do that.
Alternative medicine of the week: Taking a ride on a rollercoaster can be good for you, from shifting kidney stones to easing asthma.
Forgotten war: As the people of Colombia reject a ceasefire with Farc rebels, some moving images recorded over the last twenty-five years by Jesus Abad Colorado Lopez.
Binary notes: If the Windows start-up music drives you nuts (there hasn’t been any since Windows 8), then at least it’s an improvement on the first recorded computer generated music from Alan Turing’s computer at Manchester University in 1951.
Mexican wave: I hope Donald Trump isn’t reading this, but apparently Mexicans have 300 different words to describe corruption. Mind you, there must be quite a few words to describe the tricks Trump gets up to.
Wrong answer: A student at the at the University of Tennessee failed an exam by giving an answer that was deemed inappropriate by the examiner. I would have flunked the exam-setter for ‘if you don’t remember make something good up’.
Crimean shift: The disputed land of Crimea isn’t just moving politically towards Russia, but physically as well at the rate of 2.9mm a year.
World record of the week: A Whitstable woman set a new world record for the fastest mile on a space hopper, covering the distance in 17 mins 22.83 secs.
Brief lives: Mel Charles (brother of John), voted the best centre-half at the 1958 World Cup; George Barris who took some of the last photos of Marilyn Monroe;
Hermione Harvey, actress who appeared with Peter Sellers, Morecambe and Wise and Frankie Howerd; transgender performer, The Lady Chablis;
Col Anthony Fowle who fought at the Battle of the Imjin River in the Korean War; Spitfire pilot Colin Colquhoun; Cold War warrior Stephen De Mowbray;
British songwriter Rod Templeton who wrote Michael Jackson’s Thriller; Terence Bayler who memorably appeared in The Life of Brian; Hollywood child actor Bobby Breen;
And Manchester United stalwart, David Herd, who began his career at my local club Stockport County and scored twice in the first game I remember watching on tv – the 1963 Cup Final against Leicester City.