DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
• The Three Wise Men have something extra to carry along with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh when they travel to visit Baby Jesus this year: their COVID-19 health pass. Craftsmen in Naples have adorned their figurines with proof of immunity to reflect the government’s introduction of the COVID pass which was made mandatory in the workplace on 15th October. “Basically, the craftsmen of San Gregorio Armeno street are trying to modernize the nativity scenes,” said craftsman Marco Ferrigno. “Last year was the year of the masks, so the figurines of Mary, Joseph and the Three Wise Men were wearing masks and carrying auspicious gifts for baby Jesus. This year it seemed like the right thing to keep following this direction. So, because the Three Wise Men have to take a long journey to the crib, I gave them all their own Green Pass so that they have the proper documents for traveling.” Each Biblical character carries its own certificate complete with a QR code ready for scanning.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks as he stands near a slogan that reads ‘We love you in your madness’ displayed on a screen at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon, on 4th November. PICTURE: Dalati Nohra/Handout via Reuters.
• “We love you in your madness”. That’s one translation of the recently unveiled slogan for crisis-swept Lebanon which aims to portray the precarity of life there as a point of pride. Lebanon is suffering a financial and economic meltdown which the World Bank has labelled as one of the deepest depressions of modern history, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and a massive explosion at Beirut’s port that destroyed large parts of the city and killed more than 215 people. “This will be our touristic identity that the world will see,” Tourism Minister Walid Nassar said at a news conference with other senior ministers in Beirut last week. The slogan was developed cost-free for Lebanon by Dubai-based advertising company TBWA. TBWA Chief Creative Officer Walid Kanaan said it was “near-impossible” to find ways to market a country in the grip of multi-layered economic and political crises, but that he had found inspiration in Lebanon’s people. “This is our country, a crazy country…crazy in its nightlife, crazy in its food and generosity. And no matter how crazy the situation in Lebanon is, we can only say, ‘we love you in your madness,'” Kanaan said. Originally a lyric in a song by Lebanese star singer Fairuz released before the outbreak of Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war, the new catchphrase will be displayed on planes of Lebanon’s national carrier Middle East Airlines and used in social media campaigns. The official English translation will be “A crazy love.”
• Curiosity almost killed the cat in the southern Polish city of Rzeszow, when one spent at least 10 days stuck in a pipe before being rescued from an ordeal that could have cost him one of his nine lives. Local authorities were informed that a cat could have become stuck in one of the pipes used in the city’s heating system on 24th October, state-run news agency PAP reported, and on Tuesday he was rescued thanks to the efforts of the fire service and workers from heating and water companies. Artur Gernand from the Rzesow mayor’s office told PAP the cat had become trapped between the heating pipe and the protective installation around it, adding that last week rescuers had managed to bend back the protective elements, increasing the space, thanks to which the cat could get out,” Gernand was quoted as saying. After his escape the cat, named Rurek after the Polish word for pipe, was taken in by animal charity Fundacja Felineus, which on Friday said he had left a hospital for cats.
– Reuters TV, TIMOUR AZHARI and ALAN CHARLISH, Reuters.
