Broadcaster apologises for ‘shocking’ Olympic stereotypes

And other stories from the stranger side of life

TOKYO, JAPAN - SEPTEMBER 08:Residents of Olympic bid city Tokyo celebrate while holding Tokyo signs after the announcement of the 2020 Summer Olympic Games host city at Komazawa Olympic Park
(Image credit: 2013 Getty Images)

A South Korean broadcaster has apologised after it used a pizza to depict Italy and Dracula to represent Romania during the Olympics opening ceremony. When Syrian athletes entered, the channel ran a caption that said: “Rich underground resources; a civil war that has been going on for 10 years.” For Ukraine’s athletes it showed an image of the Chernobyl disaster. After an outcry, MBS said: “We admit that there was a lack of consideration.”

Man builds Spitfire from baked beans can

A man in Cumbria has rebuilt a Spitfire in his back garden with original wheels, a baked beans can and a £7 joystick. David Price started building the model in 2018 and estimates that it has taken him 3,000 hours to complete at a cost of £5,000. He admits that “lots of people” have asked him why he has done it.

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Lincolnshire hosts ‘Lexi’ festival

Lincolnshire is to host what is believed to be the largest meeting of Lexus SC430 cars anywhere in the world. Chris Fixter, from Great Hale near Sleaford, expects more than 25 of the luxury cars at his house in the village next month. The event might attract the attention of Alan Partridge, who famously observed: “Since owning a Lexus, it’s amazing the number of Lexi you see around. Because that’s the plural.”

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Chas Newkey-Burden has been part of The Week Digital team for more than a decade and a journalist for 25 years, starting out on the irreverent football weekly 90 Minutes, before moving to lifestyle magazines Loaded and Attitude. He was a columnist for The Big Issue and landed a world exclusive with David Beckham that became the weekly magazine’s bestselling issue. He now writes regularly for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, Metro, FourFourTwo and the i new site. He is also the author of a number of non-fiction books.