The "And in other news..." thread

[Peter Mugridge]

Explosive diarrhoea...?

 

[brad465]

The CEO of mortgage firm Better.com fired 900 of his staff in a single Zoom call (it's not the first time the boss in question has done something controversial in his management):

Vishal Garg: US boss fires 900 employees over Zoom

"Last time I did this I cried," said the head of the online mortgage lender laying off 15% of his staff.

www.bbc.co.uk

The boss of a US firm has been criticised after he fired around 900 of his staff on a single Zoom call.
"If you're on this call you're part of the unlucky group being laid off," said Vishal Garg, chief executive of mortgage firm Better.com, on the call, later uploaded to social media.
Comments on social media said it was "cold", "harsh" and "a horrible move", especially in the run up to Christmas.
"Last time I did [this] I cried," Mr Garg told the staff on the call.
"I wish the news were different. I wish we were thriving," he said. This time his tone was measured and he referred to notes on the desk in front of him.
Mr Garg said staff performance and productivity, and market changes lay behind the mass-firing of what he said was 15% of Better.com's workforce.
He didn't mention the $750m (£565m) cash infusion Better.com received from investors last week.
The BBC has contacted Better.com for a response.

After the firing Fortune magazine confirmed that Mr Garg was the author of a previously written anonymous blog post in which he accused sacked staff at his firm of "stealing" from their colleagues and customers by being unproductive and only working two hours a day, while claiming for eight or more.
The company, which aims to use technology to make the housebuying process "faster and more efficient", is backed by Japanese conglomerate Softbank and is worth around $6bn (£4.53bn).
Mr Garg's management style has been criticised before, after an email that he sent to staff that was obtained by Forbes last year.
In the email, Mr Garb wrote: "You are TOO DAMN SLOW. You are a bunch of DUMB DOLPHINS... SO STOP IT. STOP IT. STOP IT RIGHT NOW. YOU ARE EMBARRASSING ME."

 

[High Dyke]

Explosive diarrhoea...?

Bloodnok: "It's must've been hell in there!"

 

[pdeaves]

The CEO of mortgage firm Better.com fired 900 of his staff in a single Zoom call (it's not the first time the boss in question has done something controversial in his management):

Vishal Garg: US boss fires 900 employees over Zoom

"Last time I did this I cried," said the head of the online mortgage lender laying off 15% of his staff.

www.bbc.co.uk

Sounds like a charming gentleman...

 

[Cowley]

Bloodnok: "It's must've been hell in there!"

I must right me memoirs.

 

[High Dyke]

Law student takes landlord to court over terrible state of room - and wins.​

Jack Simm successfully sued the company behind Velocity Student on St Mildreds Road, West Earlham, for breach of contract following a string of problems with the accommodation.

Law student takes landlord to court over terrible state of room - and wins

A law student is celebrating his first ever legal victory and the return of £1,000 after taking his landlord to court.

www.edp24.co.uk

 

[yorksrob]

My goodness, school dinners have really gone downhill since my day - at least we used to get some gravy and a brussels sprout !

School apology after bleak Christmas lunch photo goes viral

The festive lunch at Steyning Grammar School was compared to prison food on social media.

www.bbc.co.uk

School apology after bleak Christmas lunch photo goes viral

Published

1 hour ago

A dry bread roll with a slice of turkey, pig in blanket and mince pieImage source, Ciaran Walsh
Image caption,
Parent Ciaran Walsh tweeted a photo of the "bleak" festive meal his children were served at school

Crispy roast potatoes, pigs in blankets and lots of gravy - all part of the perfect Christmas dinner, right?

Well spare a thought for students at Steyning Grammar School in West Sussex after pictures of their "bleak" Christmas lunch were shared on Twitter.

They were served a mince pie, dry bread roll, slice of turkey, single pig in blanket, and a tiny square of stuffing.

Since the tweet went viral, parents have been refunded for the £3.50 meal, and the school's reportedly apologised.

Parent Ciaran Walsh described the meal as "bleak" and wrote: "Thanks for the Christmas lunch served to our kids at Steyning Grammar yesterday, really filled them with festive cheer!"

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The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter
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Twitter users responded to the photo calling the meal "unappetising" and "disgusting", while Ciaran compared it to the meagre food served up at Fyre Festival.

The Guardian reported the school initially defended the £3.50 meal in an email to parents, but after images went viral it sent out an email offering parents an unreserved apology and refund.

Newsbeat's contacted Steyning Grammar School for comment.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

My goodness, school dinners have really gone downhill since my day - at least we used to get some gravy and a brussels sprout !

School apology after bleak Christmas lunch photo goes viral

The festive lunch at Steyning Grammar School was compared to prison food on social media.

www.bbc.co.uk

More than I had for my Christmas dinner last year - due to cancellation of plans by Our Dear Leader.

Just the turkey roll element, no pig in blanket or mice pie for me.

PS no sympathy required, it was a deliberate token effort. Wish I'd though of taking a picture and going to the local newspaper though.

 

[yorksrob]

More than I had for my Christmas dinner last year - due to cancellation of plans by Our Dear Leader.

Just the turkey roll element, no pig in blanket or mice pie for me.

PS no sympathy required, it was a deliberate token effort. Wish I'd though of taking a picture and going to the local newspaper though.

I cooked my own - it was surprisingly easy out of packets and boxes !

 

[High Dyke]

I cooked my own - it was surprisingly easy out of packets and boxes !

Though the cardboard taste left a bit to be desired.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

I cooked my own - it was surprisingly easy out of packets and boxes !

Only if you have the packets and boxes in the house. Not expecting to be at home on Christmas Day, I hadn't. The mother meanwhile had a large turkey etc in the freezer until April (Use By date) when she finally gave up and cooked it.

 

[yorksrob]

Though the cardboard taste left a bit to be desired.

It's called roughage

Only if you have the packets and boxes in the house. Not expecting to be at home on Christmas Day, I hadn't. The mother meanwhile had a large turkey etc in the freezer until April (Use By date) when she finally gave up and cooked it.

Yes, I did have to do a quick shop due to changed plans.

 

[75A]

Baxenden Bank said:
More than I had for my Christmas dinner last year - due to cancellation of plans by Our Dear Leader.

Just the turkey roll element, no pig in blanket or mice pie for me.

I prefer mince.

 

[High Dyke]

Baxenden Bank said:
More than I had for my Christmas dinner last year - due to cancellation of plans by Our Dear Leader.

Just the turkey roll element, no pig in blanket or mice pie for me.

I prefer mince.

Could've had the pie with bubble & squeak.

 

[najaB]

More than I had for my Christmas dinner last year - due to cancellation of plans by Our Dear Leader.

I don't have much sympathy for anyone who believed that Xmas was going to be normal last year. Nor for anyone who believes anything our dear leader says.

 

[75A]

I don't have much sympathy for anyone who believed that Xmas was going to be normal last year. Nor for anyone who believes anything our dear leader says.

Sorry a bit of a bad copy by myself - I was only pointing out the difference between mice & mince.

 

[najaB]

Sorry a bit of a bad copy by myself - I was only pointing out the difference between mice & mince.

Fair enough. Though, depending on where you eat, there might not be any difference!

 

[gnolife]

I don't have much sympathy for anyone who believed that Xmas was going to be normal last year. Nor for anyone who believes anything our dear leader says.

I disagree - my Christmas was pretty normal (mainly because we decided that Our Dear Leader could do one)

 

[High Dyke]

Giant Cat Invades Rail Station

Happy Chrimbo.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Giant Cat Invades Rail Station

Happy Chrimbo.

Kitten Kong!!!

 

[brad465]

Yay.....

Human case of bird flu detected in the UK

Experts say there is no evidence of onward spread and the risk to the public is very low.

www.bbc.co.uk

A person living in the south-west of England has caught bird flu, UK officials have confirmed.
Cases like this are extremely rare and the individual probably became infected from very close contact with a sick or dead bird.
Experts say there is no evidence of onward spread and all close contacts of the person are being monitored.
The individual is currently well and self-isolating, and the risk to the public is very low.
Avian flu, also known as bird flu, is a type of influenza that spreads among birds. The UK has recently seen a large number of outbreaks and incidents of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza in birds across the country.
Human to human transmission of bird flu is very rare.
Some strains of bird flu can pass from birds to people but, again, is rare and requires close, prolonged contact.
Officials say the person in question got the infection from "very close, regular contact with a large number of infected birds, which they kept in and around their home over a prolonged period of time".
The virus they caught is the H5 type that is found in birds, but it is not yet clear whether it is the same H5N1 strain that has been causing recent outbreaks in poultry that have then had to be culled.
This is the first human case of this strain in the UK, although there have been cases elsewhere globally. Being a notifiable disease, The World Health Organization has been informed.

Prof Isabel Oliver, chief scientific officer at the UK Health Security Agency, said: "While the risk of avian flu to the general public is very low, we know that some strains do have the potential to spread to humans and that's why we have robust systems in place to detect these early and take action.
"Currently there is no evidence that this strain detected in the UK can spread from person to person, but we know that viruses evolve all the time and we continue to monitor the situation closely.
"We have followed up all of this individual's contacts and have not identified any onward spread."
The UK's chief veterinary officer Christine Middlemiss said: "We are seeing a growing number of cases in birds on both commercial farms and in backyard flocks across the country.
"We took swift action to limit the spread of the disease at the site in question, all infected birds have been humanely culled, and cleansing and disinfection of the premises is under way. This is a reminder that stringent cleanliness when keeping animals is important."
Prof Ian Jones, who is an expert in viruses at the University of Reading, said there is no risk to chicken meat or eggs and no need for public alarm.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

Yay.....

Human case of bird flu detected in the UK

Experts say there is no evidence of onward spread and the risk to the public is very low.

www.bbc.co.uk

Glad to see that they took swift action.

 

[najaB]

Glad to see that they took swift action.

You wouldn't want them to duck this issue.

 

[LOL The Irony]

You wouldn't want them to duck this issue.

It would've turned out bad if they'd played foul.

 

[brad465]

Glad to see that they took swift action.

Had they not taken swift action they'd have been right tits.

 

[gnolife]

Had they not taken swift action they'd have been right tits.

I'm glad they didn't chicken out of it though.

 

[edwin_m]

Had they not taken swift action they'd have been right tits.

Unless they were just winging it.

 

[brad465]

Michael Gove managed to get stuck in a lift ahead of his BBC Radio 4 interview this morning:

Michael Gove misses interview slot after getting stuck in BBC lift

The levelling up secretary misses his slot on the Today programme after half an hour in an elevator.

www.bbc.co.uk

Cabinet minister Michael Gove missed an interview slot on BBC Radio 4's Today programme earlier after getting stuck in a lift.
The levelling up secretary missed his slot on Monday's show, after an elevator in the BBC's Broadcasting House stopped working.
He was trapped in the lift for around half an hour.
Making a delayed appearance on the show, he joked staff had "successfully levelled me up" and released him.
Announcing his detainment on Today shortly after 08.00 GMT, presenter Nick Robinson said he had been stuck for some time.
Robinson added that Mr Gove was "keeping cheerful" and had initially offered to conduct the interview by phone from inside the lift.
"I wish I could say this is a joke, it is not a joke and it is not very funny for Mr Gove and the security man," Robinson added.

'These things happen'​

Appearing on the show around 15 minutes later than planned, Mr Gove said he was "delighted" to be finally making his appearance.
Accepting Robinson's apology for the delay, he added: "I completely understand. These sorts of things happen."
He added that the incident could give "ammunition" for scriptwriters on W1A, the BBC TV show that satirised life at the corporation.
Mr Gove's job description reflects the government's goal of "levelling up" economic opportunity across different parts of the UK.
The term was added to his official ministerial title in September, when he took over as the minister in charge of housing and local government in England.
A BBC spokesperson said: "We're sorry Mr Gove was stuck in one of our lifts, but we're glad he was later able to take part in the interview."

 

[najaB]

Michael Gove managed to get stuck in a lift ahead of his BBC Radio 4 interview this morning:

Michael Gove misses interview slot after getting stuck in BBC lift

The levelling up secretary misses his slot on the Today programme after half an hour in an elevator.

www.bbc.co.uk

Oh, Gove. Constantly trying to reach the top but ends up getting nowhere.

 

[LOL The Irony]

One from F1, Aston Martin have appointed a man called Mike Krack as their new team principle.

Aston Martin appoint Mike Krack as team principal

Former BMW motorsport boss Mike Krack will play a "central and leading role" at Aston Martin, says chairman Lawrence Stroll.

www.bbc.co.uk

Aston Martin have appointed former BMW motorsport boss Mike Krack as team principal.

The move is part of the restructuring of Aston Martin as they seek to become one of the leading player in F1.
Krack joins Aston Martin after gaining extensive experience in motorsport management at BMW and Porsche. He has also been an engineer in F1 for Sauber.

The 49-year-old said his new role was "a challenge that I plan to embrace with energy and enthusiasm".