A GLANCE AT THE WEEK THAT WAS
Snack attack
The hosts of the G8 summit, Japan, were a little miffed that the worlds press concentrated on how the leaders broke into their discussion on global hunger in order to have an 18-course meal. Many of these dishes were quite light, they pointed out. Not full courses at all. There were only eight of those, and they included caviar, truffle soup and crab and clover ice cream. The G8 leaders met African representatives and made pledges on climate change, but the summit as a whole cost €350 million, and ultimately may have cost the meeting its integrity.
Bump slump
If the recession has any benefits, it may be in reducing the amount of bouncy castle-related injuriesafflicting our children. Over four months in 2006, 1,791 attended the orthopaedic departments of Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin and the National Children's Hospital in Tallaght. 34 of those were injured using bouncy castles; 120 were hurt from using trampolines; 56 presented with injuries from using rollerblades or roller skates; 56 were injured while using heelies; and 24 were injured using scooters. Santa Claus will face a moral conundrum when he draws up his lists later this year.
We now know
From next year, the EU plans to give fruit and vegetablesto the schoolchildren in every member state
Slovakiawill become the 16th member of the Eurozone from January 1st next
The final space shuttle flightwill be on May 31st 2010, when Endeavour goes on a mission to the International Space Station
The numbers
288 The number of minutes in the Federer v Nadal Wimbledon final - the longest in the tournament's history
€15m Jackpot won on Euromillions ticket
112 Number of years before Sellafield's nuclear reprocessing plant will be "clean", according to the UK parliament's Public Accounts Committee