BBC women condemn BBC report suggesting “no gender bias”
A view of BBC Broadcasting House in London. (picture taken from Sky news website)
Following the reveal that the BBC pay their female staff less than their male staff, a report published by the BBC has found ‘no gender bias ’ in the BBC.
The report, done by accounting firm pricewaterhousecoopers (PwC), found a 6.8% pay gap but no gender discrimination when looking at the pay of on air employees, prompting responses criticizing its small sample size and suggesting that the entire report was pointless. Its main opposition is the BBC women’s group which consists of more than 170 female presenters.
Pay caps of £320,00 for news presenters, editors and correspondents has been suggested as a way of rectifying this pay gap, as well as several high profile male presenters agreeing to have their pay cut including John Humphrys, Jeremy Vine, and Nicky Campbell. However, critics aren’t so impressed with these measures with one women’s hour presenter, Garvey, saying “This has never been about men taking pay cuts. It’s about women being payed several thousand pounds less than their male colleagues every year for doing exactly the same job.”
Call Of Duty WW2 release first live action trailer for DLC
Sledgehammer released the live action trailer for the first DLC pack which was released on the 30th of January for the PS4. It is usually available on PC and Xbox One a month later, but no date had been confirmed.
This DLC, like the new update, will be focused on the resistance. The 3 new multiplayer maps, titled Valkyrie, Anthropoid, and Occupation, are all based on famous resistance uprisings that took place throughout history. Occupation is actually a remake of the Modern Warfare map resistance, which wasn’t exactly a ‘fan favourite’ but it fits the theme and that’s all the matters right?
As well as these three new maps Sledgehammer are also introducing a new War mode map, called Operation Intercept, where one side tries to fight to rescue resistance fighters and escape. War has been arguably the best new introduction into the latest Call Of Duty title so this new mode will only benefit the response to this new DLC. A new zombies chapter was shown in this trailer. ‘The Darkest Shore’ is set days after the first zombies chapter and Activision says it will be “more cunning, quick, and even more bloodthirsty than before.” It will feature an environmental effect, fog, which will make it much more difficult for players to navigate through the map.
Ant Man and the Wasp gets its first trailer
Marvel have just released the first trailer for the Ant man sequel, named “Ant Man and the Wasp”, and it is getting everyone very excited. As of writing this, the trailer has only been released for 20 hours and it already has over 5 million views on YouTube.
Three years have passed since Ant man got his very first standalone film that was well received by fans and critics alike. It’s light hearted nature made the movie enjoyable for people of all ages and the audience fell in love with the character immediately. Luckily for fans they didn’t have to wait that long to see the Ant man again as he joined the long list of characters that were included in Captain America: Civil War just a year later.
Ant Man and the Wasp sees the return of Peyton Reed as director along with Paul Rudd, Michael Dougles, Evangeline Lilly and Michael Peña reprising their roles. Joining the cast are a whole host of well-respected actors and actresses including Hannah John-Kamen, Laurence Fishburne and Walton Goggins.
The sequel is beginning to look like it will surely be a success at the box-office and I am excited to see what this movie has instore for everyone’s favourite microscopic hero. Ant man and the Wasp is released in cinemas on 6th July 2018.
EFL: SkyBetChampionship Roundup 30th Jan
Top of the table clash between Aston Villa and Sheffield united played out in front of over 26,000 fans at Bramall lane turned out to be a tight affair with few chances between the two clubs. With Sheffield United edging the game in chances and possession it was Villa who came out with 3 points as Robert Snodgrass tapped in from close range to move the villains to 3rd in the league trailing derby by a point while Sheffield United drop out of the play offs into 7th position. Chris wilder remained optimistic after the game as he said “their goalkeeper made more saves than ours and kept them in the game. I thought we dominated the first half.” Wilder was also left optimistic after James Wilsons debut.
http://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/teams/sheffield-united/11229837/sheffield-utd-0-1-aston-villa
There was a stalemate elsewhere at the top of the championship as derby draw at blank at the Den despite dominating the 90 minutes Millwalls’ defence stayed resolute with cooper putting in a man of the match performance Derby’s late attempt to get all three points almost ended successfully as Anya played through Jerome however they striker drew a blank as the linesman denied his goal.
http://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/teams/millwall/11229819/millwall-0-0-derby
relegation candidates Birmingham and Sunderland met in what some could call a 6 pointer. Steve Cotterill’s Birmingham got off to a quick start with David Davis and Boga giving the Blues a two goal lead before half time. Sam Gallagher put the final nail in the coffin in the 54th min as Sunderland trailed 3-0 an Oviedo consolation did not stop the away end from filling with boo’s as relegation begins to feel more and more imminent for the Tyneside strugglers.
http://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/teams/sunderland/11229859/birmingham-3-1-sunderland
At the foot of the table burton continued to struggle after falling to a 3-1 defeat to reading as Bodvarsson scored a brace and wales international Chris Gunter cancelled out Burtons penalty making it 4 losses in a row and conceding 9 goals in the last two games. Meanwhile reading moved 6 points clear of the relegation zone.
http://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/teams/reading/11229892/burton-1-3-reading
Preston continued to keep thereselves as outsiders for play offs after beating Nottingham forest with a debut goal for Billy Bodin which started the fire for A 3-0 victory. The city ground may have been recently successful through the FA Cup however the championship seem to be stuck to a midtable finish and a preparation for another season in the championship.
http://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/teams/nottingham-forest/11229826/nottingham-forest-0-3-preston
Elsewhere in the championship there were also blanks in the games between Hull City and Leeds and Middlesbrough and Sheffield Wednesday.
Jones Selects Six Nations Squad
England Head Coach Eddie Jones selects James Haskell and Joe Marler for this year’s Six Nations despite both players being banned.
Jones is without a sum of regular players as the squad begin their bid for their third consecutive trophy in the Six Nations against Italy on Sunday.
Jones’ squad clearly lacks experience with seven uncapped players, including apprentice Marcus Smith. The revival of experience in the changing room has resorted in Jones selecting banned, but respected internationals.
Haskell (75 caps) was banned for a dangerous tackle and Marler (53 caps) was suspended for a dangerous clear-out during a ruck.
The squad selected is as followed:
Backs:
Mike Brown (Harlequins), Nathan Earle (Saracens)*, Harry Mallinder (Northampton Saints)*, Johnny May (Leicester Tigers), Denny Solomana (Sale Sharks), Anthony Watson (Bath), Danny Care (Harlequins), Owen Farrell (Saracens), George Ford (Leicester Tigers), Johnathan Joseph (Bath), Alex Lozowski (Saracens), Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs), Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors), Marcus Smith (Harlequins)* ** and Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers).
Forwards:
Gary Graham (Newcastle Falcons)*, James Haskell (Wasps), Nick Isiekwe (Saracens), Maro Itoje (Saracens), George Kruis (Saracens), Zach Mercer (Bath)*, Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs), Sam Underhill (Bath), Lewis Boyce (Harlequins)*, Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Tom Dunn (Bath), Jamie George (Saracens), Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints), Alec Hepburn (Exeter Chiefs)*, Joe Marler (Harlequins), Henry Thomas (Bath), Mako Vunipola (Saracens) and Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs).
* Uncapped
** Apprentice
WOODS LOOKS TO BE OUT OF THE WOODS.
Tiger Woods’ performance at the Farmers Insurance Open at Tory Pines saw him card a final score of 3 under par, leaving him in joint 23rd place and seven strokes off the winner, Jason Day.
The 14-time major winner returned from a back injury which saw him absent for 10 months. Woods carded rounds of 72,71,70 and 72 and his assessment of the week was that “he did pretty well”.
It was important that Woods went through all four rounds without a recurring back injury, and he shed some light on how he felt about his fitness after the final round. “I had to jack up the speed on some shots but I had no issues at all with my body”. “The big concern was playing out of the rough, I hadn’t played out of ryegrass since last year. I hit some really good ones out of there. Unfortunately, I put myself in there”.
The former world number one is expected to play the Genesis Open at Rivieria in Los Angeles in three weeks time, along with other tournaments up to the Masters in April. The 42 year old said “I haven’t built out my schedule. We want to see how I was swinging after one tournament and reassess where I’m at”.
It’s the news!
PDC signs a new three year deal with Butlins
The Professional darts cooperation have agreed a new three year deal with Butlins Minehead resort to keep the UK Open and Players Championship Finals until 2020.
The venue which is based in Somerset has hosted PDC darts since the players championships moved to Minehead in 2012 which is proved to be a hugely popular event with fans who have access to every session of darts as part of their package which includes accommodation with inclusive dining as an option.
Both the UK Open and Players Championship Finals in 2018 are looking to be a sell out weekend in Minehead as the first two tournaments are under the new three year deal with the PDC.
CAMPAIGNERS SAY LOBSTERS AND CRABS SHOULD NOT BE BOILED ALIVE
Animal welfare campaigners including high profile celebrities have signed a letter to Environment Secretary Michael Gove calling for crustaceans to be classified as sentient organisms in a new Animal Welfare Bill.
At present it is common practice for chefs to place live lobsters and crabs into boiling water killing and cooking the animal at the same time. The wide spread practice avoids any food hygiene problems as the meat spoils quickly after they are killed. Practitioners have justified the apparently barbaric method as they believe that crustaceans cannot feel pain.
Campaigners have long believed that crustaceans are sentient organisms and point to recent scientific research. Maisie Tomlinson, from the campaign group Crustacean Compassion who organised the letter stated: “All the evidence out there at the moment points to the notion that they’re capable of experiencing pain.”
At present decapods fall outside of the legal definition of ‘animal’ in the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and as such there is currently know legal requirement to take their welfare into account during food processing.
Signatories to the letter include wildlife presenters Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan and representatives from the RSPCA and the British Veterinary Association.