Read Stories that Inspire Ideas!
- A Noble Winner: Han Kang, the South Korean writer, wins the 2024 Nobel Prize for Literature. Kang is the 18th woman and the first South Korean writer to win the prize for, ‘her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.’
- No Joking Matter: Joker: Folie À Deux has gained mixed reviews, with critics saying it’s ‘flopping hard.’ Taking $40 million at the box office in its opening weekend, this is well below Warner Bros. $190 million budget and is one of the lowest sequel openings for a comic book film.
- Welcome to Greenarctica! A new study finds the Antarctic has been ‘greening.’ Over the past four decades, more than a tenfold increase in vegetation cover has been recorded. One of the leading researchers, Dr Roland from Exeter University, said: ‘Our findings raise serious concerns about the environmental future of the Antarctic Peninsula, and of the continent as a whole.’
- Workers: Know Your Rights: Amongst the proposed changes, the Employment Rights Bill promises to give ‘parental and bereavement leave from day one,’ including paternity leave, and ‘end exploitative zero-hours contracts.’ However, many of the proposals are not set in stone and it’s expected to take at least a year before any potential changes become effective.
- Minster Condemns Misogyny: New Zealand’s Minister of Defence, Judith Collins, went on record to condemn online misogyny following the sinking of a ship led by a female captain. Collins said: I’m appalled to see the comments online from these armchair admirals … I’m appalled to hear that our women in uniform are being abused in the street because of this incident.’
- Child Protection Boosts UK Budget: The UK and the US agreed to set up a joint online safety working group to help protect children from online harms. The UK safety tech sector has seen a 37 per cent boost and is expected to earn 1 billion in annual revenue by 2025/26.
- Take the DeskBreak Challenge! World Mental Health Day may be over, but the challenge to stay mentally fit remains. It’s long been suspected that continuous desk work can impact one’s mental health, with research revealing that four hours of uninterrupted desk time can lead to an 18 per cent increase in stress levels. An experiment showed that taking a 15-minute exercise break every day can boost your productivity by 33.2 per cent and see a 22.5 per cent improvement in your mental state.
That’s all from us this week. See you Next Friday!
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