Best of the year: a look at foreign politics, from Afghanistan to China December 27, 2021 Australia was in the midst of a social media storm in February, when it tried to force tech giants to pay for linked news content on their platforms. Things went terribly wrong, wrote Anna-Sophie Harling, as Facebook proceeded to block all news content on its platform. Australian users were kept in the dark, unable to [...]
2021’s lighter political moments: From Michael Gove’s dance moves and Britain’s chief mouser to the hunt for Irn-Bru December 26, 2021 From the rags-to-riches tale of Britain’s chief mouser to a hunt for Irn-Bru at COP26, even in the midst of a global pandemic there have been some lighter moments in politics during this long and challenging year. ‘Church warden overslept’ On May 6, local elections were held across England, Scotland and Wales but some voters [...]
The Electrical Life of Louis Wain: A flawed but warm biopic December 25, 2021 It’s awards season, and thus it’s an inevitability that there’s a biopic of a tortured genius hoping for Oscar gold. The genius in question is Louis Wain, a Victorian artist famous for his surreal paintings of cats, the popularity of which went some way to making them more common as house pets. Fresh from Spider-Man: [...]
Navigating the online safety dichotomy will resolve the uncertainty of tech regulation December 14, 2021 Our daily, physical lives are increasingly interwoven with our online lives. This is especially true for young people and children. This can be a strength – as we’ve seen during the pandemic – but can also be a weakness. Just as there is a responsibility to ensure the safety of people in real life, there [...]
Blinding Lights: The Weeknd is the UK’s most-viewed artist December 8, 2021 The Weeknd is the most-viewed artist in the UK (94.3m views), followed by Little Mix (93.7m views), according to data released today by Vevo, the world’s leading music video network.
Shoppers eye discount brands as increasing costs of essentials bite December 8, 2021 Shoppers are eyeing cheaper prices at discount supermarkets amid increases in the cost of living. Brands to focus on affordable prices have made market share gains over the past 12 weeks, according to fresh data from Kantar. Lidl hit a new record market share of 6.4per cent, while Aldi gained 0.2 percentage points to move [...]
Number 10 denies Johnson intervened to prioritise pets over people in Afghan evacuation December 7, 2021 Downing Street has vigorously denied claims that Boris Johnson intervened to rescue dogs and cats during the Afghanistan evacuation in August. A 25-year-old Foreign Office whistleblower, Raphael Marshall, today claimed that ex-soldier Pen Farthing and his Nowzad animal sanctuary were prioritised to be evacuated over local Afghanis. Marshall said there was “an instruction from the [...]
Data shows there are over four million ‘pet influencers’ in the UK, with figures set to explode in 2022 December 7, 2021 New research has revealed how there are more than four million pets in the UK earning money for their owners through brand partnerships and merchandise sales.
New legislation to criminalise catcalling expected in Parliament next week December 4, 2021 A review of hate crime legislation is expected to be proposed, asking the government to consider criminalising public sexual harassment following years of campaigning by women's rights groups, and the recent Sarah Everard case.
On the job hunt: These are the hardest vacant roles to fill in the UK November 30, 2021 Veterinary surgeons, senior auditors and HGV technicians are among the hardest jobs to fill in the UK, according to new research. Only 16 per cent of all job postings on job site Indeed fall into the ‘hard to fill’ category, meaning they have stayed on the website for over two months but over half of [...]