While the literary canon that has been taught in British schools for generations may seem timeless, it is steeped in white supremacy, class and gender bias that largely exclude women, people of color and LGBTQ writers from the curriculum, said Jeffrey Boakye, an English literature teacher and author. The canon was established in the 1860s, born of a specific set of ideological viewpoints of Victorian upper-middle-class men, who were the sons of the “aspiring upper middle classes”. It was defined as “the best that has been thought and said”. Boakye, however, suggests that the canon “lives outside objectivity. The curriculum lives in us, in our hearts and minds, with all the various lived experiences that different educators can embody.” He adds that a new curriculum should be curated, pruning and bringing things together in unexpected ways, to develop autonomy in teaching and freedom to create new conversations with diverse voices. The immediate focus of the curriculum could be to address issues of social justice, identity politics, geopolitics and sustainability, to encourage young people to understand the world they inhabit.
The annual Bach Festival in Leipzig, marking the 300th anniversary of Johann Sebastian Bach’s appointment to the city’s St. Thomas Church, features a concert in St Thomas Church playing Bach's cantata “Die Elenden sollen essen” (“The Wretched Shall Eat”), which he composed for his debut in Leipzig, alongside a new cantata, commissioned for the festival, from composer Jörg Widmann. The festival began with a screening of the “Earth Chaconne”, a 15-minute film taken by astronauts on the ISS showing the Earth and set to Bach’s famous Chaconne from Partita for Violin No. 2 in D minor.
A white dwarf star, located around 104 light-years away, which is primarily made up of carbon and metallic oxygen, may be transforming into a diamond through a process of crystallization, according to research accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. This crystalisation process will take almost a quadrillion years, or about 1 million billion years, so scientists may not see a completely crystallised star for a long time yet. However, they are able to spot signs of the process starting in the cores of white dwarfs in the universe from which they can determine such phenomena.
Wales midfielder Aaron Ramsey is focussed on their Euro 2020 campaign despite confusion over his future at Nice. Ramsey, who has triggered a one-year contract extension at Nice, reportedly desires a longer deal which may not arise. However, the 32-year-old has said that his priority is on Wales' Euro fixtures against Armenia and Turkey this weekend. Ramsey has been connected with a return to Cardiff City this summer, given his long-standing career with the Welsh club before moving to Arsenal.
The Galleri blood test from American healthcare company Grail has detected over 50 different types of cancer, potentially eradicating the problem of detecting tumours too late for treatment. The test examines blood samples in search of methylation patterns of cancerous cells and flagging where cancerous cells are located over 85% of the time. However, the test also gives false positives, in this case falsely detecting cancer in 79 participants out of 5,400 blood samples in the study, dating May 2021. Scientists are working to analyse how the Galleri test could work for patients without symptoms.
A list of celebrities and their birthdays for the week of June 18-24 has been released. The list includes a number of famous actors, musicians and television personalities who are celebrating their birthdays this week, including Paul McCartney, Isabella Rossellini, Brian Wilson, Lionel Richie, Meryl Streep, Cyndi Lauper and Carson Daly. Other famous names on the list include Neil Brown Jr., who appeared in the TV series SEAL Team, as well as Chuku Modu, who featured in The Good Doctor, and Atticus Shaffer, from TV show The Middle. The list also includes a mix of television personalities, comedians, and musicians of varying ages, ranging from Bonnie Bartlett, who starred in TV series St. Elsewhere, and is 94 years old, to Rebecca Black, singer of “Friday”, who is celebrating her 26th birthday this week.
Theodore "Ted" Kaczynski, who came to be known as the "Unabomber" for a series of bombings over 17 years that targeted universities and airlines, has died by suicide in a US federal prison at the age of 81. He was serving life without the chance of parole after being found guilty of the death of three people. Kaczynski, who was diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic, was arrested in 1996 after a campaign where he sent letter bombs to engineers and academics across the US between 1978 and 1995.
Chief executive Denise Barrett-Baxendale and two other executives have left their roles at Everton as part of a shake-up of the board as Everton attempts to shore up its business. The club has cumulative losses of more than £430m and the departures of the three directors had been expected. The club will announce interim replacements and a decision on the future of chairman Bill Kenwright later in the week. The three directors had been prevented from attending matches at Goodison Park since January due to fan opposition which led to “threats to safety and security”.
UBS has said it will host a major conference in Hong Kong next year to replace Credit Suisse's annual corporation gathering after acquiring its former Swiss rival this week. The event will take place between May 27 and 29, 2019, and while the location has yet to be named, it will take place in the same month that Credit Suisse's previous gatherings were held. HSBC said earlier this month that it also plans to hold a similar gathering in the city, joint with its Rugby Sevens tournament in April next year.
The UK's buy-to-let market has stumbled to its worst profits since 2007 due to the Bank of England's 12 successive interest rate hikes, which have squeezed landlords' finances. Savills indicated that net profits for landlords dropped below 4% in Q1 2023, compared to an average of 23% between 2014 and 2021. The government's forthcoming energy performance certificates' plans and Renters’ Reform Bill are set to increase landlords' caution. Industry analysts expect future investment in the buy-to-let market to be dominated by those with low borrowing requirements and cash buyers. Around 2.6 million buy-to-let properties have mortgages, with £38bn of debt secured against them.
Cape Breton firefighter union seeking ban on chemicals in gear, foam
CBC
23-06-13 09:00
Firefighters in Cape Breton Regional Municipality have raised concern at the presence of carcinogenic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances known as PFAS in their gear and in foam used during major gasoline spills, such as last summer's incident in Sydney, Nova Scotia. The International Association of Fire Fighters has noted the use of PFAS can heighten the cancer risk for firefighters, while locals living near last year's spillage at Sydney's Imperial Oil's storage facilities have said they are concerned about PFAS contamination in the area. The chemicals are banned or heavily restricted in much of Europe and Australia, and action is being taken in the US and Canada to control their use. Canada's Environment Ministry is currently seeking public feedback on new PFAS regulations, which it is considering banning or restricting. PFAS are used as water repellent in the outerwear worn by firefighters, and in foam to prevent petroleum products from igniting.
Men are adopting artificial intelligence (AI) use at a significantly higher rate than women, according to a survey by FlexJobs. Women outperform men in other areas such as education, but men are twice as likely to use AI in their personal and professional lives. They are also adopting AI without formal approval from managers or supervisors, while a high proportion believe the technology could be threatening to job security. AI is already subject to race, gender and other forms of bias due to the demographic of computer science education and high-tech industry workers.
Office occupancy rates in Canada are trailing behind other countries, according to a report by real estate management firm Colliers, which found that the biggest issue was businesses being unable to give their staff an incentive to return to the workplace. The report analysed three factors for encouraging a return to in-person work that included: the amount of time set to be spent in the office, the type of workspace and the commute that workers faced. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s senior director of the Future of Work, Diana Palmerin-Velasco, warned that “there is not one size that fits all”.
Italy is holding a state funeral for former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who died last week aged 84. Berlusconi drew huge crowds to his events and commanded Italian politics for two decades, but his wealth and influence also made him deeply polarising. He amassed a vast media empire and was one of Italy's richest men, however, his death leaves questions over the future of his Forza Italia party and his business empire.
Vietnam’s economy is under pressure due to issues with electricity supply and shrinking exports. The Asian country’s GDP increased by 8% in 2022, however, growth slowed to 3.3% in Q1 2023, compared to 5.9% in Q4 2022. During the January to May period, the country witnessed declines in exports, imports and manufacturing of 11.6%, 17.9% and 2.5%, respectively. The Vietnamese economy faces “intensifying headwinds to growth". The country is also particularly sensitive to a US economic slowdown, as America buys 30% of Vietnamese exports, warned HSBC.
Bangladeshi non-profit organisation YouthNet for Climate Justice, founded by Shakila Islam and Sohanur Rahman in 2016, aims to increase the involvement of young people in climate policy. Islam was inspired to launch the initiative after she was displaced as a result of Cyclone Sidr in 2007. The network has won government support, including the backing of Bangladesh's foreign minister, Dr AK Abdul Momen, who established the Delta Fund in 2020 to support youth-led climate initiatives.
Brisbane City Council will introduce a new high-frequency bus service, the Gold CityGlider, as part of a $4.3bn budget. Co-funded by the Queensland government, it will run from Northshore Hamilton to Woolloongabba via Bowen Hills and new waterfront developments. The budget also includes plans for Brisbane's first electric ferry, the EVCat, a feasibility study for which is to be undertaken by operator River City Ferries and local shipbuilder Aus Ships.
The UK's decline is symbolised by the proliferation of potholes on its roads, writes Jeremy Warner in The Telegraph. The problem is particularly acute in the UK, with car journeys often posing risks to undercarriages and wheels. The government is widely blamed for the issue, with local authorities accusing the Treasury of creating a "pothole postcode lottery" by cutting highway maintenance budgets. The Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, recently drew attention to alarming projections from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which stated that Britain's long-term trend growth rate had fallen to 1.6%. Meanwhile, state spending is projected to grow at around 2% a year. If action is not taken, public sector debt could reach 217% of GDP by 2071, requiring tax rises of £200bn a year or a doubling of income tax rates. The UK tax burden is already on course to reach its highest level since World War II. Warner argues that bureaucracy, planning constraints, and a lack of growth measures are hindering the country's progress.
A survivor of the Grenfell Tower fire has called for bereaved families to be at the forefront of any decision on the future of the site. The UK government has promised to support a “fitting and lasting memorial” to honour the 72 people killed in the 2017 blaze. Possible options include a memorial garden, monument or museum. Edward Daffarn, a committee member of Grenfell United, said that decisions about the future of the tower must be made with patience, pragmatism, compassion and understanding. The Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission has said the government should decide if the building should be demolished.
The Flash movie is a "hot cinematic mess" that does not make sense and is more interested in "goosing empty-calorie nostalgia" than telling an original or thrilling story. The film uses a bowl of spaghetti to explain away plot holes and existential purposelessness. The movie features two Batmans, played by Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck, to illustrate how messing around with time travel is like boiling a strand of spaghetti – what was once a rigidly straight line becomes a flexible thing. The Flash is "spaghetti-brained moviemaking", that is more interested in goosing empty-calorie nostalgia than telling an original or thrilling story. The Flash opens on a fresh and invigorating note, but quickly settles into an eyeroll-inducing mishmash of CGI nonsense that tries to convince the audience it's far more clever than it is in fact corporately craven. The film also handles Keaton's inclusion badly, and there is nothing in the film that demonstrates the director understands what made the initial Keaton/Burton collaboration so powerful.
