England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow sympathised with Ben Foakes after his fellow keeper was left out of England’s Ashes warm-up squad. Bairstow had been dropped due an injury, allowing Foakes to make himself first choice keeper under coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes. Despite this, former England captain Michael Atherton supported the decision to pick Bairstow, arguing that his tendency to score runs meant he could be more likely to help the team win than lose.
The Canadian province of British Columbia has a government programme to trace owners of unclaimed sums that were formerly in old bank accounts, with government departments, or held as unclaimed court payments. BC Unclaimed, formerly known as the BC Unclaimed Property Society, is responsible for connecting abandoned or forgotten funds with their rightful owners. However, the society faces scepticism, with concerns that its letters are scams. Despite any doubts, it might be worth searching the society's online database to see if you could be owed the $190m of unclaimed money in British Columbia.
Year six students from Penpol School in Cornwall are raising funds for their trip to take part in the First Lego League in Massachusetts in June. The Penpol Pumpkins team beat competition from around the country. The contest invites primary and secondary school students to build and programme Lego robots to complete tasks related to an "energy-themed" community challenge. The team's focus was on food waste after Halloween. Students compete in "robot games" and present their solutions to the community challenge. Teams from around the world will participate. The student's awarded Lego robot can be seen on the GoFundMe link.
Marco Pierre White, widely credited as the first celebrity chef, spoke to The Guardian about life in his 61st year. White said he is surprised that people consider him a “wild creature” and how his veneer belies an introverted and quiet nature. He reflected upon the long hours and hard work associated with being a chef, refuting the idea his kitchens were cruel places, and described himself as a shy and damaged individual after the loss of his mother at a young age. White also expressed his disapproval of modern fine dining, saying he prefers abundant simplicity over paltry elegance when eating out.
More than 20 rivers burst their banks in Italy in the last week, causing severe flooding that left nine people dead and caused 13,000 evacuations. 280 landslides were also recorded across the country. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government has called a crisis meeting to discuss the response next week. There have been criticisms that Italy does not have a national plan in place to tackle the impact of climate change. Civil Protection Minister Nello Musumeci called for a new approach to hydraulic engineering and warned that dry soils were limiting the country’s capacity to absorb water.
Birmingham Bears batsman Sam Hain revealed he is concentrating solely on enjoying his cricket rather than aiming for an England place. Hain, who claims the best List A batting average in England, missed out on Test selection for games against New Zealand and India this summer, but isn't dwelling on his omission. He told the PA news agency: “Of course I’d love to play for England but it’s not my sole focus. My sole focus is to enjoy my cricket and win games for Warwickshire."
Rachel de Thame, a presenter for the BBC's long-running programme Gardeners' World, has advised people to "let your weeds grow freely", claiming that "killing weeds is old-fashioned." Her statement has been criticised on social media, with people arguing that Gardener's World exists to give expert advice on gardening. Last month, horticultural experts from the Royal Horticultural Society urged gardeners to "down tools" in May and June during peak breeding season for birds, providing space for creatures and plants to thrive.
Parisian restaurants seem to do the simple things better than their UK counterparts, according to an opinion piece in The Telegraph. Bistros, wine bars and small plates bars are all set up for people watching, the writer said, while the food is always reliable and often served with a touch of simple flair. Restaurant goers are advised to get "good full-fat French crème fraîche" for a garlicky, black pepper-topped sirloin steak with fresh persillade, and grab a bottle of red on the way home.
Africa may need its own central medicines agency, says Aspen Pharmacare CEO
CNN
23-05-18 15:05
Aspen Pharmacare CEO Stephen Saad discussed the future of the pharmaceutical sector in Africa with CNN’s Eleni Giokos. Of the roughly 600 manufacturers of packaged medicines operating on the continent, Aspen Pharmacare is one of the largest, with more than 9,000 employees in over 50 countries. African nations consume about 25% of vaccines produced globally, but import nearly 99% of their supply, according to the African Union Development Agency. For packaged medicines, only 36% of demand is produced locally, and just 3% is supplied by regional trade, according to the World Economic Forum. COVID-19 highlighted inequalities in the African pharmaceutical sector, news that led Aspen to commit to one person, one vaccine in Africa. The CEO said the company has invested in additional capacity and is determined to position itself as a source of not just vaccines, but also biologicals, with a particular focus on under-serviced diseases such as oncology, diabetes and HIV.
Nottingham Forest is closing in on Premier League survival and could potentially secure their fate this weekend if they earn a positive result against Arsenal on Saturday. Forest boss Steve Cooper wants his team to capitalize on having their fate in their own hands, which they managed to create for themselves by getting seven points from their last four games. Forest have a mini-league going on in their part of the table and are focused on staying where they are, with so much that can happen in the next two games. Arsenal lost to Brighton last weekend, but Cooper does not think that negative result will factor into the game on Saturday.
A: He's a lawyer, originally from Labrador, on the next episode of Jeopardy. Q: Who is John Groves?
CBC
23-05-18 14:24
John Groves, a lawyer originally from Forteau who now lives in Hamilton, will appear on Jeopardy's episode on Thursday. To secure his spot, Groves had to pass the show's 50-question entry test and go through an audition process via Zoom. Preparing for the show, he watched the show and created digital flashcards on his phone so he could study areas where he could use an improvement. The game, which took approximately 30 minutes, appeared to fly by. While he could not disclose how the game went, people can watch the episode and find out on Thursday night.
Have you forgotten a fortune? This B.C. team wants to return millions to rightful owners
CBC
23-05-18 18:37
The team behind B.C. Unclaimed, a group helping citizens find forgotten or abandoned funds owed to them in British Columbia, has announced a record CAD1.98m ($1.5m) will be paid out at the end of this month. In the past two decades the organisation has reunited locals with funds held in old bank accounts, government departments and court payments, with a total of CAD21.5m since its inception. The new record also relates to a court-related payment and there is at least one further seven-figure sum waiting to be claimed in the province.
Parisian restaurants seem to do the simple things better than their UK counterparts, according to an opinion piece in The Telegraph. Bistros, wine bars and small plates bars are all set up for people watching, the writer said, while the food is always reliable and often served with a touch of simple flair. Restaurant goers are advised to get "good full-fat French crème fraîche" for a garlicky, black pepper-topped sirloin steak with fresh persillade, and grab a bottle of red on the way home.
Cayla George, a professional basketball player, reveals how she and her sister-in-law, Serina George, came to honour the Torres Strait tradition of “island adoption”. Following George's struggles with infertility and IVF treatments, her sister-in-law told her and her husband that she would like to gift them a child, and in this case a baby girl called Pearl. The transplant is the highest form of respect within the Torres Strait culture, and was recently recognised and legislated with the Meriba Omasker Kaziw Kazipa Act 2020, which allows island adoption in Queensland.
Illegal fentanyl has significantly contributed to overdose deaths and remains a concern. Derek Maltz, a veteran of the Drug Enforcement Administration, stated that the Chinese began manufacturing and selling illegal fentanyl to Americans in 2012, and Mexican cartels became involved in tangibly propagating it wider in 2014. Synthetic opioids are viewed as particularly lethal because the drugs are frequently devised in illict and unsanitary conditions and they are substantially more powerful than naturally occurring opioids such as heroin. Fentanyl has predominantly been marketed to individuals who use heroin, but it has also been added to various other street drugs, including cocaine and methamphetamine, as well as counterfeit pills that are thought to be legitimate medication. Fentanyl has also been mixed with marijuana in counterfeit counterfeit pills, known as "M30s".
Additionally, fentanyl has been sold through illegal online marketplaces. Some well-designed marketplaces can sometimes be reached only through the dark web, necessitating the use of specific software or settings, such as the Tor browser and a VPN, to mask users’ identities and locations. Cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, are frequently used to buy and sell fentanyl on these forums. When illicit prescriptions are shipped to a location in the mail, it is frequently mixed with other drugs to avoid detection.
For Maltz, efforts combatting the illicit fentanyl crisis should include both diplomatic discussion and regulatory reform to stimulate cooperation between China and the United States. By supporting less incursion in Afghanistan’s opiate trade, the United States can concentrate on decreasing Mexican cartels’ illicit drug trades profit margins. Additionally, opioid messaging must be revamped in order to reach a historically non-addicted, younger audience.
Tommy Tuberville, the former head coach of Auburn University’s football team and now Alabama Senator, speaks to Kevin Roberts about the lessons and strategies he brings from his time between the goalposts to Washington. Tuberville discusses why he left the world of sports for a political career, the issues he’s taking on—from keeping radical abortion policies out of the military to protecting women's sports. He also talks about how he keeps himself motivated and optimistic about America's future. Tuberville also discusses his biggest highs in coaching and the relationship he had with his players.
Tuberville says that he enjoyed the football aspect and the athletic aspect, but his childhood was fun. His father was a high school referee, along with being a manager of a soft drink company, and his mother worked for General Dynamics. Tuberville’s brother was in music, and his sister ended up being a professor at Ohio State. Tuberville has coached thousands of kids, met presidents, and had a chance to be on championship teams; he followed many of these guys through, whether they’re married or when they had kids and families, or where they went to the NFL.
Tuberville explains how he was called out by Senator Schumer four days in a row on the Senate floor. He says Schumer forgot what he had done for a living, and he’s been called many names before. Being called out didn’t bother Tuberville because he’s dealt with that before. Tuberville tells young people that the key to success is getting into something you really want to do, and enjoying what you’re doing.
Russ Vought, President of the Center for Renewing America and former Director of the Office of Management and Budget, has spoken to The Daily Signal about what he sees as the increasing power of the state and the need to arm ordinary Americans with the truth. In his opinion, the growing government is in danger of becoming a "woke and weaponized government" led by the likes of Barack Obama and Joe Biden, dividing America by creating oppressors and the oppressed and making all its policy based on "climate-change extremism". Vought sees the culprit of today's big government as being very different from when it first became a concern: no longer Bill Clinton or Jimmy Carter but a much more dangerous and divisive force.
The conversation begins with Vought telling the audience at the Heritage Foundation that the roots of his political dedication stretch back to his mentor, Phil Graham, a senator from Texas who advised him that if he wanted to know everything, he should make budget his focus. From there, Vought spent 12 years in Congressional budget oversight committees. However, Vought didn’t feel that he was making as big a change as he wanted from the inside, so he joined Heritage and became a vice president at Heritage Action for America, where he was instrumental in starting the Sentinel Program. That gave him the opportunity to equip grassroots network operatives with information as if they were members of Congress.
Roberts and Vought mutually agree that an appeal to American ordinary people can defeat huge, rolling top-down governance, which has led to the debt-ceiling debate raging again across Capitol Hill, with Republicans looking to redefine the state from the ground upwards. The discussion moves then to the debt ceiling, where the surge in Washington spending combined with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic is causing Congress to consider increasing the debt limit, due to run out in mid-March. Vought says “we have a debt crisis” that can only be resolved “by dealing with the spending problem” resulting from the “essential theft” of taxpayer money by the political establishment.
The Toronto Star newspaper is calling on fans of the city's Maple Leafs ice hockey team to act as armchair general managers and explain how they would manage the team's off-season following its second round playoff defeat. Leaf supporters have long been outspoken about how the team should be managed and The Star is now giving fans the chance to submit their ideas and views. It has called on them to "sit in the GM’s seat" and offer their opinions. The publication will feature the best insights in a future story.
The Everywoman Festival, aimed at breaking taboos surrounding women's health problems and encouraging open discussion, is set to take place in Cardiff next month. The event, organised by a surgeon specialising in pelvic problems after childbirth, features talks by expert speakers covering a range of issues from period sustainability products to tackling sexual wellbeing problems. Live music, performance art and shared food and drink are also featured in the event. Welsh health minister Eluned Morgan will take part in a discussion on the day focusing on gender health inequality.
Lancashire seamer Luke Wood has put down his intensive schedule overseas to be among the Vitality Blast players, describing returning home to play for Red Rose as “his pride and joy”. Wood’s touring period included England's historic visit to Pakistan, appearances in Australia at the T20 World Cup, franchise deals in the Big Bash, the UAE and Bangladesh. Having just returned from his exploits, he will be lining up for the Red Rose on 5th June to kickstart the club's season with a game against Derbyshire in Edgbaston's ‘Blast Off’.
