More than 60 NI schools lose funding to run breakfast clubs
PA More than 60 schools in Northern Ireland have lost funding to run schemes for disadvantaged children in 2018/19. The money helps to run breakfast and homework clubs and parenting support. The Department of Education (DE) said the 63 schools no longer met the extended schools programme’s criteria. The extended schools scheme, which was set […]
Backlash as pinged staff rules called unworkable
Getty Images Industry bodies have reacted with dismay at the government’s plan for firms to apply for staff to be exempt from coronavirus self-isolation rules. The government has said there will be no list of critical workers exempt from isolating rules and exemptions will be “considered on a case-by-case basis”. Karen Dee, chief executive of […]
Key workers to trial NHS tracing app
Reuters Social distancing rules will still be in place during the trial, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said An NHS app that aims to track the spread of coronavirus is being rolled out for the first time, as part of a trial on the Isle of Wight. Council and healthcare workers will be the first to […]
Former My Chemical Romance drummer dies aged 44
Bob Bryar, former drummer for American rock band My Chemical Romance (MCR), has died aged 44 at his Tennessee home, according to US media. He was the longest-serving drummer for the group, playing with the band from 2004 to 2010. A spokesperson for the band told US outlets that the “band asks for your patience […]
Minister reassures public over food supplies
Getty Images Supermarkets have taken “the necessary steps” to ensure shelves remain stocked following the coronavirus outbreak, the environment secretary has said. George Eustice, who held talks with supermarket and trade bosses on Friday, said he was “reassured” they had “robust plans” to minimise disruption. It follows concerns the virus could lead to shortages of […]
France fines Google and Facebook over cookies
Getty Images French regulators have hit Google and Facebook with fines totalling 210m euros (£175m) over use of cookies. Data privacy watchdog the CNIL said both sites were making it difficult for internet users to refuse the online trackers. Consent for the use of cookies is key to the EU’s data-privacy regulation and a major […]
Why commercial hunts have resumed despite outcry
Barcroft Media Japan has resumed catching whales for profit, in defiance of international criticism. Its last commercial hunt was in 1986, but Japan has never really stopped whaling – it has been conducting instead what it says are research missions which catch hundreds of whales annually. Now the country has withdrawn from the International Whaling […]
‘Machines threaten jobs’ in age of robotics
Getty Images “Jobs Terminatored” is the Sun’s headline for a story about how the rise of robotics and artificial intelligence will affect British workers. It says that leading figures, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, want ministers to manage the adoption of automation better and help people share in the benefits of new technology. Meanwhile, some […]
Government funds planting of more trees
BBC The National Forest Company (NFC) said it had planted over nine million trees in the last 30 years More than £2m of government funding is to be spent on planting trees in the National Forest. The 200 sq mile (518 sq km) forest spans parts of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Staffordshire More than 200 hectares […]
New lifeboat to carry the names of 10,000 people
Ceri Oakes Howard Fields is coxswain of Whitby RNLI and said the crew is excited to receive the new lifeboat Thousands of people are to be commemorated by having their names placed on the hull of a new lifeboat as part of a fundraising campaign. The new £2.5m Shannon lifeboat is being built for the […]