Sri Lanka gives government workers an extra day off a week

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Sri Lanka gives government workers an extra day off a week

In response to fears of a food shortage, Sri Lanka is offering government workers an extra day off per week to encourage them to grow food.

Around one million people work in the public sector in the country.

It comes at a time when the island nation, which has a population of roughly 22 million people, is experiencing its greatest economic crisis in more than 70 years.

Due to a severe currency shortage, Sri Lanka is unable to pay for crucial imports such as food, fuel, and medicine.

The government approved a plan for public sector workers to be granted Friday off for the next three months late Monday.

The decision was made in part to assist workers who are having trouble going to work owing to gasoline shortages, as well as to encourage them to cultivate fruit and vegetables to support themselves and their families.

“As a solution to the food shortage that is expected to occur in the future, it appears appropriate to grant government officials leave for one working day of the week and provide them with the necessary facilities to engage in agricultural activities in their backyards or elsewhere,” the government said in a statement on its online news portal.

Mr Wickremesinghe warned earlier this month that the country would need at least $5 billion (£4.15 billion) this year to pay for necessary imports.

An IMF group is slated to arrive in Colombo next Monday to discuss an economic bailout package with the government.

The depreciation of the Sri Lankan rupee, rising global commodity prices, and the lifting of a ban on chemical fertilisers all contributed to annual food price increases of more than 57% in April.

The country’s Agriculture Minister, Mahinda Amaraweera, called for farmers to cultivate more rice at the end of last month, stating, “It is apparent the food situation is getting worse.”

“We ask all farmers to plant paddy [rice] in their fields in the next five to 10 days,” he continued.

To assist in shore up its finances, the government hiked taxes at the same time.

Glastonbury: Sir Lenny Henry discusses festival diversity

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Glastonbury: Sir Lenny Henry discusses festival diversity

The apparent paucity of black individuals in the audience at Glastonbury Festival has been described as “curious” by Sir Lenny Henry.

The 63-year-old actor and comedian have expressed surprise at the lack of diversity at other UK events.

Stormzy’s appearance in 2019 was “a little bit late,” according to Emily Eavis, the event’s co-organiser.

The grime artist and rapper delivered a headline show, becoming the festival’s first black solo British headliner.

Ms Eavis explained: “He was representing the black community in a predominantly white festival, which is a significant occasion for us, but it may be a little late.”

Sir Lenny was talking about diversity and areas where individuals of different races don’t interact when he said: “It’s interesting to watch Glastonbury and notice that there are no black people in the audience.”

“The lack of black and brown faces at festivals constantly astounds me.” Wow, that’s still very much a dominating cultural thing, I believe.”

A representative from the Glastonbury Festival has been contacted for comment.

After being postponed due to the pandemic, the festival is finally celebrating its 50th anniversary at Worthy Farm in Somerset.

The headliners have been confirmed as Sir Paul McCartney, Billie Eilish, and rapper Kendrick Lamar.

Sir Lenny, who is starring in a two-part documentary about Caribbean culture in the United Kingdom, also spoke about Mr Myrie’s recent appointment as the first black host of the long-running BBC quiz game Mastermind.

He stated,” It’s fantastic to see David Olusoga on TV discussing black British history dating back to Hadrian’s Wall.

“Somewhere along the line, the gatekeepers have shifted,” because we can now have you on Mastermind. But how long did it take you to do that?

“We will continue to demand more representation because we are deserving of it.” We are both British citizens and colonial subjects.

We’ve lived in this nation, we’ve grown up in this country, we’ve contributed, and many of us believe we’re not getting enough in return.

“That is also the subject of this film.” It’s about the sense of ‘hey, come on, I fit in.’ So, what’s next? Now that I’ve integrated, what happens next”.

House of Commons to be ‘menopause friendly’, Speaker Lindsay Hoyle vows

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House of Commons to be ‘menopause friendly’, Speaker Lindsay Hoyle vows

Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Commons, has signed a pledge to make the House of Commons “menopause friendly” for workers.

Employers who sign the pledge agree to support employees going through menopause by offering fans or flexible work schedules, for example.

Sir Lindsay claimed that women ran his office and that he did not want to see them go due to menopause.

More than 600 organisations, including the civil service, Tesco, and John Lewis, have joined the Menopause Workplace Pledge, which was developed by the Wellbeing of Women charity.

It requires employers to recognise that women going through menopause may want assistance and to discuss the topic honestly and respectfully.

Hot flushes, sleeplessness, mood swings, and osteoporosis are all symptoms of menopause.

Sir Lindsay has stated that he believes that simple changes could make life easier for people who work in Parliament. Menopause awareness activities might be held, and employees could request breathable clothes.

The Speaker, speaking at a parliamentary function, said that when Carolyn Harris urged him to sign the pledge, he “had no option,” portraying the Labour MP as “a force to be reckoned with.” Ms.

Harris, a long-time campaigner on the issue, expressed her delight at seeing the pledge signed, saying she was “choked and honoured.”

She stated that menopausal women working in Parliament now had “a structure in place to look after them, which is great.”

The promise being signed in Parliament, according to broadcaster Mariella Frostrup, will send out a message that menopause is “no longer a toxic, terrible secret.”

The signing came at the end of a day of lobbying in Parliament, where activists such as Ms Frostrup and TV presenter Penny Lancaster urged the government to take HRT for menopausal treatment free in England, as it is in Scotland and Wales. Ms.

Frostrup spoke in favour of eliminating the fees, saying that “no woman should be priced out of her sanity.”

Maria Caulfield, the Minister for Health, has stated that she has a “laser focus” on improving the experience of women going through menopause and that measures to make HRT more affordable will be implemented next year.

England v New Zealand: ‘Right call’ to bowl first, says Jon Lewis

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England v New Zealand: ‘Right call’ to bowl first, says Jon Lewis

According to England’s fast bowling coach, Jon Lewis, bowling first in the second Test against New Zealand was the “correct call.”

With the Trent, Bridge surface looking green and some cloud overhead, Ben Stokes introduced the Kiwis; opposing captain Tom Latham would have done the same.

New Zealand, on the other hand, scored 318-4 on what turned out to be a dry surface.

“We chose the more forceful approach. We aimed to knock New Zealand out of the tournament. “It was the correct decision,” Lewis said.

After winning the first Test by five wickets at Lord’s, England is eager to wrap up the series.

“The most crucial aspect of the toss was the aggressive play following last week,” Lewis, who played one Test for England in 2006, added.

On the other hand, former captain Michael Vaughan thought England’s decision showed a lack of confidence, given that the victory at Lord’s was only they’re second in 18 matches.

Four failed catches did not improve England’s position at the end of the opening day.

Daryl Mitchell, who is now 81 not out, avoided a simple chance to first slip Joe Root when he only had three runs.

Root also squandered a more difficult chance against Tom Blundell, who later edged between second slip Zak Crawley and third slip Jonny Bairstow.

In a 149-run fifth-wicket stand with Mitchell, Blundell is undefeated on 67.

England’s dismal performance stands in stark contrast to their flawless fielding at Lord’s.

With a second new ball that is only seven overs old, England must now look to make inroads into New Zealand’s lower order on Saturday morning.

An erratic England batting line-up faces the threat of having to play Stokes’ side back into the match if they can wrap up the Black Caps’ first innings.

“Despite the triumph at Lord’s, England is still a side with flaws,” Vaughan, who played 82 Tests for England, remarked.

“England’s fielding today isn’t anything new. We had hoped to see something new at Lord’s, but it’s the same old stuff we’ve seen for the past few years. I’d be surprised if New Zealand fielded in that manner.

JJ Abrams: Filming for new project in Belfast scrapped

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JJ Abrams: Filming for new project in Belfast scrapped

JJ Abrams, the filmmaker of Star Wars, has cancelled a big television series that was set to film in Belfast.

Demimonde, a science fiction drama, was intended to air on HBO in the United States.

Crews who had begun work on the project in Belfast have been placed on leave.

Northern Ireland Screen expressed its “great disappointment” that the television series would not be filmed.

JJ Abrams is well known for his work on the Star Wars and Mission: Impossible franchises.

According to a report, crew members who were working on the project in pre-production were sent home, while negotiations between JJ Abrams’ production company, Bad Robot, and HBO took place.

The show was cancelled owing to “financial concerns,” according to the film industry journal The Hollywood Reporter.

The TV show was in pre-production at Belfast’s Titanic Studios, which also housed Game of Thrones and the impending blockbuster film Dungeons & Dragons.

He was expected to stay in the studios for more than a year, providing well-paid work for local film crews.

Northern Ireland Screen scored a major coup when Demimonde agreed to film in Belfast.

The screening agency stated that it would do everything possible to find a new production to fill the studio space.

A spokeswoman said, “This project has been prepping on the ground in Belfast for many months and was set to film its pilot soon.”

“Northern Ireland Screen is aware that in the screen sector, late and tough decisions do occur, particularly with the most expensive productions that have the highest stakes.”

“The cancellation of Demimonde has left a void in Northern Ireland’s production calendar, which Northern Ireland Screen will do all in its power to fill as soon as possible, knowing that much freelance crew and supply chain companies were counting on Demimonde for work in the months ahead.”

Major productions such as The Northman, The School for Good and Evil, Lift, and Dungeons and Dragons have recently improved Northern Ireland’s film and television sector.

In Syria, a Kansas lady admits to training an all-female IS brigade.

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In Syria, a Kansas lady admits to training an all-female IS brigade.

A US woman has admitted to directing an all-female squadron in Syria for the so-called Islamic State and preparing assaults on American soil.

Allison Fluke-Ekren admitted to preparing over 100 women and girls for violence and pleaded guilty to one count of providing support to the gang.

After leaving the United States in 2011, the mother and teacher-turned-IS leader worked with a terror cell in Libya before heading to Syria.

When she is sentenced in October, she might face a maximum of 20 years in prison.

After living in Egypt and Turkey, Fluke-Ekren, 42, a former biology student and school teacher, travelled to Syria to join the group.

She was the commander of Khatiba Nusaybah, an all-female battalion located in Raqqa, Syria, before she joined IS.

According to police, her primary task was to educate women and children on how to use weaponry ranging from AK-47 rifles and grenades to suicide vests.

She acknowledged training the all-female gang in a Virginia court on Tuesday but maintained she never attempted to recruit children.

Fluke-Ekren also lived in Mosul, Iraq, after it was captured by IS fighters under the alias Umm Mohammed al-Amriki.

One witness testified that her level of radicalization was “off the charts,” an “11 or 12” on a scale of one to ten, according to prosecutors.

She allegedly acknowledged talking about terrorist attacks in the United States, including at a university and a shopping mall.

Her second husband, according to the documents, was a member of Ansar Al-Sharia, the militant group that stormed a US compound in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012.

After analysing US documents recovered from the Benghazi attack, she and her husband, who was ultimately murdered in an airstrike, produced a report for the group’s leadership.

She sobbed in court when the judge asked if she was accepting the plea deal because of her huge family.

Her relatives had already petitioned the court to prevent her from contacting them.

The family claim she left a “trail of betrayal,” according to one US prosecutor, and they may testify against her during her sentence on October 25.

AstraZeneca boss: I don’t think I would do anything differently

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AstraZeneca boss: I don’t think I would do anything differently

Despite “setbacks,” the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine succeeded in saving a million lives, according to the CEO of the pharmaceutical firm.

Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca, also addressed studies that linked the vaccination to uncommon but serious blood clots.

The vaccine has been age-restricted in many European and Asian countries, and the United States has yet to authorise it.

Mr Soriot was knighted last week as part of the Queen’s Jubilee birthday honours for his services to science.

During a recent visit to Singapore, Mr Soriot, the British-Swedish firm’s chief executive, stated that the vaccine’s rapid development and distribution prevented a million people from dying from COVID-19.

Despite “setbacks,” he added, including concerns about rare but severe blood clots that surfaced last year.

The vaccine was developed in partnership with the University of Oxford by AstraZeneca. As governments raced to prevent the growing incidence of coronavirus infections, the UK was the first to approve it in December 2020.

In the United Kingdom, about half of the adult population has gotten two doses of the vaccine, which is thought to have saved more lives than the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines combined.

After the AstraZeneca jab was related to exceedingly rare blood clots, UK regulators recommended it for over-40s last year.

Many other European countries, on the other hand, have stopped using the vaccination. When European Union (EU) regulators concluded that the benefits outweighed the risks, they relaxed their prohibitions and placed age restrictions on the jab.

As a result of the restrictions, AstraZeneca’s vaccine is now approved for a narrower population than numerous other COVID vaccinations.

The vaccine’s use as a “third dose booster” for adults was just recently approved by EU regulators.

Despite the fact that the vaccine may be properly stored for up to six months in the refrigerator, numerous African countries have destroyed or returned their inventories, claiming they could not use the vaccine before it expired.

Because the disease was growing endemic, AstraZeneca announced in November that it would stop delivering its Covid vaccination to countries on a not-for-profit basis. Poorer countries will continue to receive the vaccine on a non-profit basis.

Digital fingerprints of a million child abuse images made

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Digital fingerprints of a million child abuse images made

According to the Internet Watch Foundation, digital fingerprints of a million images of child sexual assault have been created.

The fingerprints, known as hashes, will assist companies and police in identifying copies of the photographs, according to the UK organisation responsible for finding and removing such material online.

It is intended that this will prevent the photographs from being reused.

The photos are from the Child Abuse Image Database, which is maintained by the government.

The database contains some of the most heinous online materials, referred to as category A and B stuff.

The hashes are an algorithm-generated identifying code that acts as a fingerprint for each image or video.

Many computer companies compare hashes of photographs to lists of hashes provided by organisations like the IWF to search for child abuse content on their systems.

However, the system is not without flaws. Changes to images can alter the hash value, allowing an image to elude detection. However, the IWF claims that the technology it employs allows an image to be resized, cropped, or have its colours changed without changing the hash value.

Lists of hashes cannot be used to identify encrypted images.

A human assessor will determine which category unlawful material fits into before making hashes, according to UK law.

The charity also creates metadata that reveals the specific nature of the abuse being perpetrated on the child, with the goal of speeding up enforcement action.

The IWF’s chief executive, Susie Hargreaves, said in a statement that the nature of the material required analysts to work four-hour shifts with regular breaks and have access to the best counselling and support.

According to the organisation, it has assisted in the removal of an unprecedented amount of material.

It claims that in 2021, it took action to remove 252,000 web pages that it determined contained photographs or videos of minors who had been sexually abused – a record number.

Emmerdale’s Andy Devine died after accidental fall, coroner concludes

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Emmerdale’s Andy Devine died after accidental fall, coroner concludes

After a fall, actor Andy Devine died of “hospital-acquired pneumonia,” according to a coroner’s report.

The 79-year-old actor, who starred in Emmerdale for ten years as Shadrach Dingle, died in January at Southport Hospital.

Sefton Senior Coroner Julie Goulding said the soap star had fallen and lain on the floor for approximately an hour because he was “unable to get up until his caretakers arrived.” He continued to decline, she claimed, “culminating in his death.”

In 2000, Devine made his Emmerdale debut as Shadrach Dingle, Chas’ father and Faith’s husband.

His character was killed off as part of an alcohol misuse storyline 10 years later, and he made a dramatic farewell to the ITV show.

Emmerdale was not his first soap, since he had previously been in Queer As Folk, Where The Heart Is, Cracker, and Prime Suspect, where he portrayed a photographer.

In the 1970s, he played a Draconian Guard in the Doctor Who series.

The actor, whose real first name was Peter, appeared to have “lost his equilibrium, culminating in a tumble,” according to Ms Goulding.

She stated, “Peter had a considerable number of major underlying clinical co-morbidities, and his health deteriorated despite all the required care and therapy, ending in his death.”

She concluded that his death was caused by “hospital-acquired pneumonia” and that it was an “accident.”

On Twitter, Liam O’Brien, who played Ethan Blake on Emmerdale for three years, said he was “heartbroken” to hear of the demise of an old friend.

“It’s much more tragic because he died in January and [I] had no idea,” he said.

Fellow Coronation Street and Hollyoaks actor Daniel Jillings tweeted that Devine was his “first theatre instructor and a brilliant one,” adding that he had been a “character both on and off-screen.”

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