FROM Boris Johnson's pick for the Grenfell inquiry raising an impartiality query, to whether presenter Sandi Toksvig is really leaving the Great British Bake Off, This Reporter brings you the news headlines on Friday 17th January 2020.
One would have thought out of all the potential panellists for the Grenfell Tower inquiry, Boris Johnson would have found one without links to the cladding firm who, arguably, accelerated the tragedy, but it does appear, such is life.
The Prime Minister has picked Benita Mehra, an engineer, to assist retired judge Sir Martin Moore-Bick, who is leading the inquiry into the fatal fire, despite the fact Mehra previously ran an organisation which received a £71,000 grant from Atomic, the US conglomerate that made the cladding panels used on Grenfell.
The inquiry has already found Atomic's panels were "the principal reason why the flames spread so rapidly up the building" and survivors and the bereaved said the grant created a conflict of interest and described Mehra's appointment as "a slap in the face".
The US Ambassador to South Korea has been causing much offence, apparently, due to his facial furniture, namely a large moustache. Harry Harris, a former navy admiral, has been accused of insulting his hosts in South Korea by growing a moustache that reminds many of them of the days of Japanese colonial rule.
Mr Harris, who happens to be half -Japanese, half-American, said he believed he had been singled out because of his background and had grown the moustache simply to mark the start of his diplomatic career.
"I tried to get taller, but I couldn't grow any taller, and so I tried to get younger, but I couldn't get any younger. But I could grow a moustache, so I did that," he jested, simultaneously opening a further window onto his possible unpopularity.
Prince Harry has made his first - or should that be final - appearance since the "royal crisis", drawing the teams for the Rugby League World Cup 2021, at Buckingham Palace. He would not be drawn, however, by the gathered reporters to give comment on his decision to step back from life as a senior royal, as the press murmured amongst themselves that this may well be the last time they see him as Prince Harry.
He did however take time to speak to children from a local school who were playing rugby in the palace grounds and gave them a thumbs up, joking: "Look after the grass for me". Which, is it just This Reporter, or does this have the undertones of Captain Lawrence Oates, when he told his fellow explorers, "I may be some time".
And finally, presenter Sandi Toksvig, has announced she is quitting her role as presenter on the Great British Bake Off after three series, to focus on other projects. In a statement, she celebrated her time on the baking show, joking it was all-consuming, "as my waistline will testify".
There has been no word on whether her co-presenter, comedian Noel Fielding will continue presenting the programme without her, but it is here This Reporter would like to inject a theory. That there is an outside possibility that the diminutive Sandi is not leaving the show but this announcement is just the start of a rather convoluted opening sequence to the next edition of the programme, which will see Mr Fielding - over the course of a time lapse period - seeking out the missing Sandi.
Until he tracks her down inside a saucepan, encumbered by a rather large novel. And when Noel asks her why she has been hiding, she will explain her ruse was the only way should could make time for a spot of reading, namely Hanya Yanagihara's "A Little Life".
One would have thought out of all the potential panellists for the Grenfell Tower inquiry, Boris Johnson would have found one without links to the cladding firm who, arguably, accelerated the tragedy, but it does appear, such is life.
The Prime Minister has picked Benita Mehra, an engineer, to assist retired judge Sir Martin Moore-Bick, who is leading the inquiry into the fatal fire, despite the fact Mehra previously ran an organisation which received a £71,000 grant from Atomic, the US conglomerate that made the cladding panels used on Grenfell.
The inquiry has already found Atomic's panels were "the principal reason why the flames spread so rapidly up the building" and survivors and the bereaved said the grant created a conflict of interest and described Mehra's appointment as "a slap in the face".
The US Ambassador to South Korea has been causing much offence, apparently, due to his facial furniture, namely a large moustache. Harry Harris, a former navy admiral, has been accused of insulting his hosts in South Korea by growing a moustache that reminds many of them of the days of Japanese colonial rule.
Mr Harris, who happens to be half -Japanese, half-American, said he believed he had been singled out because of his background and had grown the moustache simply to mark the start of his diplomatic career.
"I tried to get taller, but I couldn't grow any taller, and so I tried to get younger, but I couldn't get any younger. But I could grow a moustache, so I did that," he jested, simultaneously opening a further window onto his possible unpopularity.
Prince Harry has made his first - or should that be final - appearance since the "royal crisis", drawing the teams for the Rugby League World Cup 2021, at Buckingham Palace. He would not be drawn, however, by the gathered reporters to give comment on his decision to step back from life as a senior royal, as the press murmured amongst themselves that this may well be the last time they see him as Prince Harry.
He did however take time to speak to children from a local school who were playing rugby in the palace grounds and gave them a thumbs up, joking: "Look after the grass for me". Which, is it just This Reporter, or does this have the undertones of Captain Lawrence Oates, when he told his fellow explorers, "I may be some time".
And finally, presenter Sandi Toksvig, has announced she is quitting her role as presenter on the Great British Bake Off after three series, to focus on other projects. In a statement, she celebrated her time on the baking show, joking it was all-consuming, "as my waistline will testify".
There has been no word on whether her co-presenter, comedian Noel Fielding will continue presenting the programme without her, but it is here This Reporter would like to inject a theory. That there is an outside possibility that the diminutive Sandi is not leaving the show but this announcement is just the start of a rather convoluted opening sequence to the next edition of the programme, which will see Mr Fielding - over the course of a time lapse period - seeking out the missing Sandi.
Until he tracks her down inside a saucepan, encumbered by a rather large novel. And when Noel asks her why she has been hiding, she will explain her ruse was the only way should could make time for a spot of reading, namely Hanya Yanagihara's "A Little Life".
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