Worst World Cup...

We are only two days away from the start of what the Guardian calls “the least anticipated World Cup in history”. Qatar has spent about £200bn on building stadia and other infrastructure in a country which, despite its wealth, has next to no sporting history or tradition (compared to the £10bn that Russia spent to host the last World Cup in 2018). The games will take place in eight stadia, seven of them brand new, built with the blood of migrant workers. Talk of Qatar 2022 being “sustainable” is so meaningless as to make the head spin. There is nothing “sustainable” about working young men so hard that they die of heat and exhaustion, and there is no obvious use for these expensive stadia after the closing ceremony has taken place on December 18.

Licenced today: another view of Oundle Mill, Northamptonshire…

Solar power...

 Licenced today: new homes in Kendal, with all houses pre-installed with solar panels…

Cragg Vale...

Licenced today: the gloomy old church in Cragg Vale, Calderdale. While researching (ie Googling) captions for this pic, I discovered a web-page which linked the church with Jimmy Savile. Apparently, “he preached a sermon at the church, dressed in a lurid yellow and acid green hooded gown with a pom-pom brocade trim”. And, according to the Catholic Herald, he presented the BBC programme Songs of Praise, twice, from here. Yes, Jimmy Savile touched people in so many different ways...

Human wrongs...

The Taliban’s supreme leader in Afghanistan, Haibatullah Akhundzada, has ordered judges to enforce every aspect of Islamic law - sharia - which includes public executions, stonings, floggings and the amputation of limbs for thieves. In the past week, the Taliban has also banned women from entering parks, funfairs, gyms and public baths. Despite his hardline stance, Haibatullah Akhundzada looks like a man with a robust sense of humour, who enjoys a good joke…

Human rights...

We will soon discover whether it’s possible to play football with a clouded conscience. Qatar is a country where many basic human rights - as itemised in the 1948 Declaration of Human Rights - are denied. It’s illegal to be gay in Quatar, where the punishments for same-sex attraction are severe (and even if the morality police fail to act, a gay person’s family may decide to take the law into their own hands). Qatari women live under the oppressive custody of male guardians; in many areas of life they are not free to make their own choices.

The migrant workers who built the eye-catching stadia are mostly impoverished young men from Asia and Africa. They worked in blistering heat, for minimum wage, and, having had their passports confiscated, they were not free to negotiate better pay and conditions, or even to return home. Since the World Cup was awarded to Qatar, ten years ago, approximately 6,500 of these construction workers have died.

Human rights are abused, to some extent, in every country on the planet. Islam, however, is one of the few organisations which attempts to justify these abuses. FIFA and Qatar should fund a compensation scheme for these migrant workers and their families. Though that won’t ensure a clear conscience for players and spectators at the World Cup, it will at least be a start.

Licenced today: Glass Works Square in Barnsley, South Yorkshire… 

Happy birthday...

 Licenced last week: 18th birthday wishes on the door of number 18...

Springtime in Beccles...

Licenced today: boats moored on the River Waveney in Beccles, Suffolk…