STATUS UPDATES
A week in which Morrissey meandered and bureaucrats blitzed a bakery
DIVING IN English singer Morrissey, into political controversy. He declared his belief that the recent UK Independence Party leadership vote was rigged to ensure an anti-Islam activist didn’t win, the Guardian reported. Morrissey said, live on BBC: “I was very surprised . . . to see Anne Marie Waters become the head of Ukip. Oh no, sorry she didn’t — the voting was rigged. Sorry, I forgot.”
NITPICKED A Massachusetts bakery, over its ingredients. Nashoba Brook Bakery in Concord has been told by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that the label on its Nashoba Granola can no longer list “love.” An FDA letter says ingredients must be listed by their common or usual name, and “love” is not a common or usual name of an ingredient. A backlash ensued.
DEFENDED A decision to have Barcelona play a home soccer game Sunday amid political unrest in Catalonia. The decision to play — behind closed doors — drew wide criticism, but Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu defended the move. “We very seriously considered the option of postponing the game, but we could not get the Liga de Futbol Profesional to approve our request,” said Bartomeu.
ACCEPTED Students who identify as female at a women-only Cambridge University college. Murray Edwards College changed its policy to expand beyond applicants “legally defined as female.” But the decision has raised questions about the purpose of the college, the Daily Telegraph reported. Feminist Germaine Greer, a former lecturer at the university, has described the decision as “ridiculous.”
WALKING AWAY About 10,000 people, from their homes in western Berlin. Specialists removed a Second World War-era bomb found during construction work, leading to the evacuation, trains being stopped and blocking of a highway. Police described the device as a German bomb with a Russian detonator, AP reported. More than 70 years after the war’s end, munitions remain a hazard.
PICKED ON Women’s rights activists in Poland, they say. They accuse the government of intimidation by raiding the offices of several groups, in four cities. The raids followed anti-government protests across the country that took aim at reproduction laws, including the restrictive abortion law. A prosecutor wouldn’t say what prompted the raids but insisted the timing was purely coincidental.
UPENDED The Columbus Day tradition in Los Angeles County. A motion passed by the county’s Board of Supervisors said starting in 2019, the second Monday in October will be observed as Indigenous Peoples Day. The county follows cities including Seattle, Denver and Albuquerque. “The motion, let me be clear, is not about erasing history,” said Supervisor Hilda Solis.”
REJECTED Official commemoration of Che Guevara, by Bolivian veterans. A spokesperson for army vets who fought against Guevara’s forces said they wouldn’t participate. Guevara, who had left Cuba to foment revolution in South America, was captured on Oct. 8, 1967, and killed the next day. Said Mario Moreira, who represents the vets: “We defended the nation and 59 soldiers gave their lives.”