Pope Francis hasn’t watched TV since 1990. Has he missed anything good?

Here’s a catchup guide to what the rest of us have viewed over the past 25 years
Pope Francis
On camera … Pope Francis, who watches no television. Photograph: Ettore Ferrari/EPA
If there’s a universal truth about people who don’t own a television, it’s that they’ll eventually tell you that they don’t own a television. Even Pope Francis is in on it. He’s just told an Argentinian newspaper that he hasn’t watched a single television programme since 1990.

Clearly, making this admission was a huge mistake on his part. It has made him look smug and out of touch – like everyone who doesn’t watch TV. There are certain things that a pope can get away with. Being God’s representative on Earth who lives in a gilded palace within his own independent city-state is one of them. But not knowing how Breaking Bad ends? Unforgivable.
So to help Pope Francis seem like a man of the people again, here’s a digest of everything that’s happened on television in the past 25 years. Your holiness, if you’re reading, please address the sainthood to the Guardian, London.
Aye caramba … Bart Simpson
Aye caramba … Bart Simpson Photograph: Alamy
1990-1995 – The Simpsons, a show you probably saw right before you stopped watching TV, has just got really funny. Where possible, show people that you’ve been watching by sporadically feeding the terms “D’oh”, “Aye caramba” and “Okily-dokily” into your sermons.
1996-2000 – By this point, The X-Files is in full swing. It’s a series about conspiracies and cover-ups and the bald denial of science. You’d probably get on quite well with it. By the end of 2000, the hot new sensation of the day is Weakest Link, a gameshow much like the ones you probably grew up with, but presented by a woman who appears to hate her own audience. Think Pope Benedict and you won’t be too far off.
2001-2005 – This era saw the debut of The Office, a sitcom set in a workplace much like yours, but with fewer lavish staircases and ceilings that are made of actual gold. Also, there’s a great new show called Lost. It’s bold, it’s mysterious, it looks like it could be a winner.
2006-2010 – Bailando por un Sueño debuts on Argentinian television, the latest in a wave of celebrity dancing shows to sweep the world following Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing With the Stars. However, Bailando por un Sueño stands out because most episodes tend to descend into outright nudity. Your holiness should probably avoid this. And, by the way, don’t bother with Lost. The ending makes absolutely no sense.
2011-2015 – The show everyone is talking about now is Game of Thrones, which is basically Bailando por un Sueño, but with dragons. There was also a show called Sex Box, which probably isn’t worth going into in any meaningful level of detail. And, for the love of God, you have to stop saying, “Aye caramba” in your sermons. The Simpsons has been rubbish for about 15 years. You just look foolish. Try to keep up.

theguardian.

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Sandhurst's sheikhs: Why do so many Gulf royals receive military training in the UK? A parade outside the building at Sandhurst Continue reading the main story In today's Magazine The death list that names 5,000 victims Is this woman an apostate? Voices from a WW1 prison camp The Swiss selfie scandal Generations of foreign royals - particularly from the Middle East - have learned to be military leaders at the UK's Sandhurst officer training academy. But is that still a good idea, asks Matthew Teller. Since 1812, the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, on the Surrey/Berkshire border, has been where the British Army trains its officers. It has a gruelling 44-week course testing the physical and intellectual skills of officer cadets and imbuing them with the values of the British Army. Alongside would-be British officers, Sandhurst has a tradition of drawing cadets from overseas. Many of the elite families of the Middle East have sent their sons and daughters. 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The Emir of Dubai Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum with his son after his Passing Out Parade at Sandhurst in 2006 Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Emir of Dubai, with his son in uniform at Sandhurst in 2006 Her Majesty The Queen's Representative His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, The Emir of Qatar inspects soldiers during the 144th Sovereign's Parade held at The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst on April 8, 2004 in Camberley, England. Some 470 Officer cadets took part of which 219 were commissioned into the British Army Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the Emir of Qatar until 2013, inspects soldiers at Sandhurst in 2004 Emotion doesn't always deliver. In 2013, despite the personal intervention of David Cameron, the UAE decided against buying the UK's Typhoon fighter jets. But elsewhere fellow feeling is paying dividends. 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In March 2013, Sandhurst's Mons Hall - a sports centre - was reopened as the King Hamad Hall, following a £3m donation from the monarch of Bahrain, who was educated at one of Sandhurst's affiliated colleges. The renaming proved controversial, partly because of the perceived slight towards the 1,600 British casualties at the Battle of Mons in August 1914 - and partly because of how Hamad and his government have dealt with political protest in Bahrain over the last three years. A critic might note that the third term of Sandhurst's Officer Commissioning Course covers counter-insurgency techniques and ways to manage public disorder. Since tension between Bahrain's majority Shia population and minority Sunni ruling elite boiled over in 2011, more than 80 civilians have died at the hands of the security forces, according to opposition estimates, though the government disputes the figures. Thirteen police officers have also lost their lives in the clashes. 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In 2013 he was one of the key figures in the Egyptian military's removal of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, now rewarded by a post in President Sisi's inner circle of advisers. In the late 1990s there were moves by the British government under Tony Blair to end Sandhurst's training of overseas cadets. Major-General Arthur Denaro, Middle East adviser to the defence secretary and commandant at Sandhurst in the late 1990s, describes the idea as part of the "ethical foreign policy" advocated by the late Robin Cook, then-foreign secretary. Tony Blair and Robin Cook Tony Blair and Robin Cook at one point planned to end Sandhurst's training of overseas cadets The funeral of King Hussein in 1999 appears to have scuppered the plan. "Coming to that funeral were the heads of state of almost every country in the world - and our prime minister was there, Tony Blair," says Major-General Denaro. 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