Sheffield Wednesday's stunning comeback from 4-0 down to beat Peterborough on penalties and secure a place in the League One play-off final at Wembley has caused shock and excitement among their supporters. Having been widely written off after the first leg humbling, fans are savouring their team's reprieve, with many of them struggling to comprehend the turnaround. Sheffield Wednesday will now take on South Yorkshire rival Barnsley in the play-off final on 29 May.
Facebook's Meta Platforms is developing a text-based app that will compete with Twitter, according to unnamed insiders cited by Bloomberg News. It said the app was being tested among some creators and influencers and could launch as early as June. The reports also suggested Meta had contacted talent agencies and celebrities to gauge their interest in the forthcoming app, which is also compatible with other offerings such as Mastodon.
A US Delta passenger has accused the airline of failing to make an emergency landing after she was forced to use two Epipens in an allergic reaction on a flight from Florida to Portland, Oregon. Sara Metzger, who told cabin crew she had a nut allergy when she boarded, injected herself in a bathroom after noticing fellow passenger were eating almonds. An unnamed cardiologist advised her to wait, but the pilot continued with the flight. Ms Metzger said she would not fly Delta again.
Pregnant woman, toddler fatally shot in Idaho, sheriff says
The Toronto Star
23-05-19 23:02
A pregnant woman and her 2-year-old son have been found dead with gunshot wounds in a home in northern Idaho. A preliminary investigation has concluded that Elizabeth Lawley shot and killed her boy before turning the gun on herself. Shoshone County Sheriff Holly Lindsey described it as an extremely difficult day for the family, her office, and the community.
The mother of construction worker Demonte Sherill has seen video footage on Facebook Live of her son pleading for help before dying in a fire at a partially-built complex in Charlotte, North Carolina. Sherill, 30, was one of two workers unaccounted for in the blaze at the development at SouthPark Mall. Firefighters faced flames which were four storeys high. The other worker who died in the fire has not been named. Sherill was a father of four children aged between five and 13.
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has warned companies regarding the use of facial recognition and other biometric identifiers in transactions with customers, urging them to weigh the risks against the benefits and consider whether they really require its use. The FTC fears that companies will collect biometric data revealing personal information about consumers including attendance at political or union events or visits to medical professionals. By collecting such information, it is likely to increase the risk of malicious actors accessing consumers' personal devices or bank accounts, said the regulator. Furthermore, consumers, may be unaware their biometric data is being harvested, said the FTC, adding that it will continue to use its enforcement power against companies that do not fully inform consumers about their data collection policies and fail to protect the information collected, or assure that the technology does not disproportionately hurt any particular demographic.
Texas militia member Donald Hazard has been sentenced to almost five years in prison after admitting to attacking police officers during the January 6th Capitol riots. The sentence was the length suggested by federal prosecutors. The court heard how the 44-year-old, who was part of a militia group called the Patriot Boys of North Texas, was “eager for violence” and had a tactical vest and helmet adorned with the Confederate battle flag. During the riots, Hazard clashed with officers and grabbed one, pulling him down concrete steps and knocking him unconscious. Another officer's head was injured after Hazard fell on him. Hazard entered the Capitol building briefly before being pushed out by officers. Black pepper spray was used on some of the police. Over 1,000 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the attack, and Hazard is the latest person to be sentenced.
Two former employees of Houghton University in New York were fired in April after refusing to remove gender pronouns from their email signatures. Raegan Zelaya and Shua Wilmot, residence hall directors at the Christian university, had used “she/her” and “he/him” respectively. Both maintained that the pronouns were included both as a gesture of inclusion and to help people identify their gender when contact was by email. Although neither employee was transgender, they saw their inclusion of the pronouns as positive. The university, which is affiliated with the conservative branch of the Methodist Church, claimed the terminations were unrelated to use of pronouns.
Navajo leaders plan to send help to hundreds of tribal members who are waiting to get services after allegedly being recruited to illegitimate sober living homes in Arizona over recent years. The crackdown on Medicaid fraud in the state has caused the affected Native Americans to lose access to Medicaid funding or face eviction from the fraudulent sober living homes. As part of the Rainbow Bridge operation, a Phoenix operations center has been equipped with staff to assist community members who have been impacted to find treatment programs and help them reconnect with their families.
Moose Toys' Magic Mixies toy has become a $100m product line, backed by a Netflix series, merchandise and awards from the toy industry. The toy involves young users adding water, powders and glitter to a cauldron until a furry creature – the Magic Mixie – appears. Moose hopes the toy line will be the successor to its previous wildly successful Shopkins range of tiny collectibles, which has racked up $4.3bn in sales since 2014. Analysts predict the integration of a TV series with the range will drive sales further and help licensing deals.
Peter Weiniger, a journalist for The Age, has died aged 79 after a prolonged battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Weiniger played a key role in establishing Melbourne’s stand-up comedy scene, after eavesdropping on shows at Fitzroy venues in the 1980s and publishing reviews of their content. Some of the comics he supported and promoted included Richard Stubbs, Rod Quantock, Jean Kitson, Glenn Robbins and Mary Keneally. Weiniger was born in Shanghai, survived the Holocaust, and spent time in Israel and Southeast Asia as an adult, before returning to Australia to work as a reporter for the AAP news agency. He began writing for The Age in 1979 and spent three decades with company, holding positions on News Diary, the Green Guide, EG and Epicure. Weiniger’s final role as a journalist was as a leader-writer on the editorial team.
The post-pandemic ghost town scenario of New York and other major cities is set to continue after agents said that companies were subletting large amounts of their office space in a bid to reduce their footprints and slash costs. New York has 22.7 million sq ft of sublet space, most of which is occupied by tech and media firms. Many employees are still reluctant to attend the office regularly and this is causing a slump in central city footfall; New York, for example, is losing $4,661 (£3,410) per worker annually, according to Bloomberg. JB Morgan has told its bankers to return for at least five days a week or face sanctions, while Blackrock requires staff to attend for at least four days a week.
Classical music is experiencing a revival in popularity as younger audiences venture to concerts seeking unique and memorable experiences. This comes with an increased willingness to embrace provocative or even risqué presentations of an art traditionally viewed as safe or relaxing. Experiments with digital media platforms such as TikTok have helped spread the genre's appeal to a younger audience, while recent Metropolital Opera works such as “Terence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” and “Champion” and Kevin Puts’s “The Hours” — have attracted record audiences that are both younger and more diverse.
A Hollywood writers' strike could result in fewer shows but better quality ones following the unsustainable era of allowing entertainment to grow unsustainably and reducing the number of scripted shows. Critics split over the direction of the industry, with one camp wanting creative destruction to break up vertically integrated corporate behemoths, while another considers the shift toward providing what audiences want through franchises inevitable even if unsatisfactory for creatives. A return to ten years ago, before the peak-TV era, signifying a decline in small-screen ambition and increasing strain on creative talent could become a reality if the strike produces a more concentrated group of writers.
The HBO show “Succession” examines American attitudes towards class and wealth, analysing who is allowed to accumulate status and power. This distinction is shown through the characters, who are allowed to act ruthlessly to get rich because this is how they got rich in the first place, by being born into wealth. The up-and-coming, on the other hand, are ridiculed for their ambition to achieve similar wealth and power. The show, which ends soon, skewers the idea that the rich are better, smarter and more competent than others. Its larger moral point is the price to be paid for sacrificing integrity, relationships and the public interest to reach selfish goals.
Affordability is a top concern for Alberta voters, however, both the United Conservative Party and the NDP have blind spots on the issue - particularly in regard to younger voters. While the UCP proposes to cut provincial income tax rates from 10% to 8% on income under $60k, this $760 tax cut will not keep Alberta more affordable. The average price of a home in Alberta is around $447,000, meaning it requires around 10 years of full-time work for one person to save a 20% down payment. A bigger influence will be housing prices and the age gap in provincial spending between those over 65 and those under 45-years-old.
The ongoing conflict in Sudan requires a different type of humanitarian response due to its multi-level insecurities that cause fighting everywhere, the inability of any side to enforce its rule anywhere and persistent uncertainty, according to an op-ed in Al Jazeera. An unconventional strategy of maximising insecurity and making normal life impossible for everybody by barricading themselves in hospitals, ministries, private homes and anywhere else is being adopted by the RSF. The latter acts as a sniping position to spread terror on the streets and inside homes, forcing people to flee and impeding the functioning of public services, including healthcare, food distribution and transportation, in order to have leverage over SAF, neighbouring countries and the international community to accept their demands. Traditional humanitarian strategies for delivering aid would not work in this situation of heightened insecurity. The ill-fated UNAMID peacekeeping mission in Darfur between 2007-2020 is a textbook case of how the structures of UN operations can subvert the very humanitarian purpose of the organisation. During the famines of 1973-74 and 1984-85, President Jaafar Nimeiry refused to declare an emergency or even admit hunger was happening.
An ad by Starbucks India has caused a stir after going viral, with the campaign chosen to promote inclusivity. The two minute advert shows a transgender woman meeting with her estranged family over coffee. While some critics complain that Starbucks is “imposing western culture in India,” others argue that such criticism is importing western cultural wars. Across much of South Asia and Southeast Asia, the language of gender is more fluid than it is in the West, and hijras, as the transgender Indian community is sometimes known, have been part of the country’s society and culture since ancient times.
Artificial intelligence (AI) may be a cause for job losses, but new advances in technology can also lead to the creation of new jobs, according to experts. Erik Brynjolfsson, a professor at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI, said he wished people would realise the scope for undertaking tasks that had never previously been possible. Researchers at OpenAI and the University of Pennsylvania found that in about 80% of jobs, at least 10% of tasks could be automated using generative AI, which can produce things like text and images. However, the new technology may complement human labour, allowing workers to focus on new areas of work. Brynjolfsson cited the example of an AI tool that generated live responses for call centre staff to give to customers, boosting productivity by 14% on average and improving customer sentiment.
The post-pandemic ghost town scenario of New York and other major cities is set to continue after agents said that companies were subletting large amounts of their office space in a bid to reduce their footprints and slash costs. New York has 22.7 million sq ft of sublet space, most of which is occupied by tech and media firms. Many employees are still reluctant to attend the office regularly and this is causing a slump in central city footfall; New York, for example, is losing $4,661 (£3,410) per worker annually, according to Bloomberg. JB Morgan has told its bankers to return for at least five days a week or face sanctions, while Blackrock requires staff to attend for at least four days a week.
