IT MUST BE TRUE…

I read it in the tabloids

A city in China is tackling the menace of “smartphone zombies”, or phubbers, by giving them their own walkway. The 100-metre lane runs in front of a shopping centre in Xi’an, where pedestrians glued to phones were deemed at risk from traffic. While some locals said the move put their “minds at rest”, social media users pointed out that the phubbers on the walkway may now be at a greater risk of bumping into each other.

Hirsute men are putting their beards to novel use. Photographs of men with their heads thrown right back so that their beards look like a shock of hair – some complete the effect by drawing faces on their necks – are being shared using the hashtag #beardsfrombelow. It started in 2016, but a more recent image of four especially good examples has been retweeted 46,000 times.

A US state department official was mocked for her poor grasp of history last week, when she brought up the Second World War to emphasise Washington’s long, healthy relationship with Berlin. “Tomorrow is the anniversary of the D-day invasion. We obviously have a very long history... and a strong relationship with the government of Germany,” said Heather Nauert. Elsewhere, Donald Trump said he was “very seriously” considering pardoning the late Muhammad Ali, only to be told this was “unnecessary”. Ali’s conviction for evading the military draft was overturned in 1971.