Hero
La Sombrita, a $10,000 Los Angeles bus shelter (above) that has been hailed by one of its designers as being able to “change the trajectory” of the lives of “women and gender minorities” by offering them shade. Others have pointed out that the pricey piece of infrastructure is little more than a pole with an 18-inch-wide lip, which can barely provide enough cover for two people. The next time bus passengers in England are huddling under shelter from the latest downpour, says David Millward in The Daily Telegraph, “they can always console themselves by knowing things could be worse. They could be in Los Angeles.”
Villains
White theatregoers, who are being asked not to attend a particular performance at London’s Theatre Royal Stratford East. The director of Tambo & Bones, about a duo of comedians turned activists, says he wants an “all black-identifying” audience to enjoy the show “free from the white gaze”. I could report this as a hate crime, says Rod Liddle in The Spectator, but I’d just be another busybody getting offended at something I’ve no intention of seeing. Because, if I’m honest, “I would rather have my wisdom teeth extracted without anaesthetic by Helen Keller than join Tambo and Bones on their remarkable journey”.
Hero
Italy, which is sticking up for its wine industry against an unlikely source of puritanism: Ireland. Proposed Irish legislation would force all bottles of wine and spirits to carry labels warning of the risks of alcohol consumption, including liver disease and cancer. Rome has teamed up with France, Spain and Portugal to argue that the policy would be against EU rules.