Resuming the season is absurd and the ‘safety’ ideas are terrible, but whatever football decides it must decide together

“You eat alone, you choke.” During the years of plenty it became a habit to compare the Premier League’s wielding of power – always with a note of admiration – to the structures of a mafia family.

It isn’t hard to see why: the hierarchy of captains, the beautifully ruthless sense of unity, of a cartel of self-propelling interests. And yet the thing about mafia families is that now and then those interests start pulling in different ways. In mob lore breaking ranks is sometimes referred to as “eating alone”, with a certainty that bad things follow – and worst of all that bad business follows.

They have a middle-class reputation, but one outdoor school near Nottingham is reconnecting disadvantaged 10-year-olds with nature and a sense of freedom

When Kate Milman was 21, she paused her English degree at the University of East Anglia to join protests against the Newbury bypass. It was 1996, and the road was being carved out through idyllic wooded countryside in Berkshire. She took up residence in a treehouse, in the path of the bulldozers, and lived there for months. It was a revelation. She lived intimately with the catkins, the calling birds, the slow-slow-fast change in the seasons. Despite being in a precarious position as a protester, she felt completely safe and her brain was calmed.

“You know when you go camping and go back to your house, and everything feels wrong? The lighting is harsh and everything seems complicated indoors. It just got under my skin, this feeling – that [living in the woods] is like being at home.”

Security council had spent weeks seeking resolution but Trump administration opposed mention of organization

The US has blocked a vote on a UN security council resolution calling for a global ceasefire during the Covid-19 pandemic, because the Trump administration objected to an indirect reference to the World Health Organization.

The security council has been wrangling for more than six weeks over the resolution, which was intended to demonstrate global support for the call for a ceasefire by the UN secretary general, António Guterres. The main source for the delay was the US refusal to endorse a resolution that urged support for the WHO’s operations during the coronavirus pandemic.

Anyone who has worked in retail or the service industry has had to deal with wildly entitled customers, like this Karen who lied to a restaurant owner's face. There are customers out there, who, out of some weird desire to bully people and get their way, will even demand a service that will potentially hurt them, like this Karen who demanded a "fresh" donut straight from the fryer oil.  When trying to understand how someone can be so ruthlessly rude to the people around them, it helps to get some insight from people who know Karens explaining what that's like.

С этого дня Mozilla приступила к переводу пользователей Firefox на использование по умолчанию протокола DNS over HTTPS (DoH). Перевод пока затрагивает только пользователей из США, предполагается провести его за два недели. Все остальные пользователи вполне могут включить DoG самостоятельно (Options -> General -> Network Settings). По умолчанию в качестве провайдера DoH предлагается Cloudflare, при желании можно переключиться на NextDNS.
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Black paint usually absorbs heat, but a new two-layer polymer paint reflects infrared light and keeps objects 16°C cooler, which could help make buildings more energy efficient

MPs consider a petition signed by 330,000, asking for students to get money back on fees this year.

Top virologist Peter Piot spent 1 week at a London hospital in April and has been recovering at home since

Shah Rukh Khan recently announced several initiatives towards coronavirus relief to support the efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and the state and central governments in their fight against COVID-19. The actor has also gone a step ahead and offered his four-storey personal office to help the BMC expand their quarantine capacity, which is equipped with essentials for quarantined children, women and the elderly.

Recently, his wife Gauri Khan took to Instagram to share a glimpse of their office, which has now been converted into a quarantine facility. In the video, we can see how the private office space has been transformed into quarantine quarters. The work has been completed by Gauri's firm Gauri Khan Designs in collaboration with Meer Foundation. The video gives a glimpse into the office which is now equipped with beds placed at a safe distance from each other.

"#GauriKhanDesign‘s refurbished this office ...a quarantine zone providing essentials and services to those in need. We must stand together and stand strong in this fight against #Covid19. @meerfoundationofficial @iamsrk (sic)", wrote Gauri while sharing a video, originally shared by the Meer Foundation.

"Making space for each other. #MeerFoundation has effectively transformed the 4-storey private office building, offered by @gaurikhan and @iamsrk, into quarantine quarters under @my_bmc's guidance. In this fight, we stand together stronger than ever before," read a post on the Instagram handle of Meer Foundation.

 

 

 

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#GauriKhanDesign‘s refurbished this office ...a quarantine zone providing essentials and services to those in need. We must stand together and stand strong in this fight against #Covid19. @meerfoundationofficial @iamsrk #Repost @meerfoundationofficial ・・・ Making space for each other. #MeerFoundation has effectively transformed the 4-storey private office building, offered by @gaurikhan and @iamsrk, into quarantine quarters under @my_bmc's guidance. In this fight, we stand together stronger than ever before.

A post shared by Gauri Khan (@gaurikhan) onApr 22, 2020 at 4:10am PDT

Apart from converting his office into a quarantine facility, Shah Rukh Khan has extended a lot of support with his group of companies. From government funds to 50,000 PPE kits, food requirements of 5,500 Mumbai families, 2,000 cooked meals to hospitals, three lakh meal kits for 10,000 people, grocery for 2,500 daily wage workers in Delhi and 100 acid attack survivors, his range of initiatives aim to spread across many segments of the society.

Several other Bollywood celebrities, too, have supported the government in their own way. Many of them, including Saif Ali Khan-Kareena Kapoor Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sara Ali Khan, Ranveer Singh-Deepika Padukone, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, and others, have pledged their contribution to the PM-CARES Fund.

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Amid the rapidly spreading coronavirus pandemic, Bollywood celebrities have taken up the responsibility to appeal to everyone to stay safe, take precautions, stop panicking and refrain from spreading rumours. The quarantine time has also given celebrities a chance to spend maximum time with their families. Some of them are busy pursuing their hobbies. Speaking about Kareena Kapoor Khan, the actress is spending her time with her husband Saif Ali Khan and son Taimur Ali Khan and keeping us updated about their quarantine time through her Instagram pictures.

Continuing the trend, Kareena posted a picture with her family on her Instagram. In the first picture, the husband-wife duo is seen resting next to each other with their eyes closed while the second one features Kareena sitting next to Saif.

The actress gave a very witty caption to the picture. Sharing the photos, Kareena wrote, "Fall in love asleep... #Mess (sic)."

 

 

 

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Fall i̶n̶ ̶l̶o̶v̶e̶ asleep... #Mess 😝

A post shared by Kareena Kapoor Khan (@kareenakapoorkhan) onApr 24, 2020 at 1:37am PDT

Kareena has been on a photo-sharing spree on Instagram. Recently, she shared a picture of the father-son duo painting their balconies with lovely flowers while in lockdown. Saif had painted some yellow flowers while Tim did his own art.

 

 

 

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If there is a wall that's blocking your creativity... Try painting on it 🎨 #QuaranTimDiaries #InhousePicasso

A post shared by Kareena Kapoor Khan (@kareenakapoorkhan) onApr 18, 2020 at 6:27am PDT

A few days ago, she shared a photo of herself showing a pimple on her face. She wrote, "Meanwhile... I just sat there staring in wonder of what was being created. PS: The zit on my face didn't get the memo of no personal visits and social distancing... #HugeMess (sic)."

 

 

 

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Meanwhile... I just sat there staring in wonder of what was being created. PS: The zit on my face didn’t get the memo of no personal visits and social distancing... 🤣 #HugeMess

A post shared by Kareena Kapoor Khan (@kareenakapoorkhan) onApr 18, 2020 at 7:05am PDT

On Easter, she shared an adorable picture were the toddler could be seen with his nose and cheeks painted and hubby Saif Ali Khan right behind. The actress wrote- "My Easter bunnies for life. Happy Easter everyone." (sic)

 

 

 

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My Easter bunnies for life ❤ï¸Ââ¤ï¸Â Happy Easter everyone... #StayHome #StaySafe

A post shared by Kareena Kapoor Khan (@kareenakapoorkhan) onApr 11, 2020 at 11:31pm PDT

On the professional front, Kareena Kapoor Khan was recently seen in Irrfan Khan and Radhika Madan's Angrezi Medium. The film will be re-released amid the coronavirus outbreak and the resulting shutting down of cinema halls.

She will be next Laal Singh Chadha opposite Aamir Khan. The chemistry between the stars was loved by the audience in their film 3 Idiots, and now years later they are set to take over the screen with their crackling chemistry once again. The film is a remake of Tom Hanks-starrer Forrest Gump (1994) and is helmed by Secret Superstar (2017) director Advait Chandan. The movie is slated to hit the theatres on Christmas 2020.

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Pics/Crossing lines

On a fine April morning, when Mumbai-based slackliner Samar Farooqui drove into Settlement Number 63 in Chtaura, a town wedged between Beirut and Damascus, all he could see was a sea of white tents glistening in the sun. Under the plastic tarps lived thousands of displaced Syrians who had fled to the Bekaa Valley, the largest affected area and temporary home to over 3,00,000 Syrian refugees, when a brutal civil war broke out in 2011. Lugging the nylon webbings, carbiners and other slacklining equipment, Farooqui and 14 other volunteers, stationed themselves at the nearby parking lot waiting for the refugee children.

This was to be their playground for the next two weeks. Life on the line Slacklining is the art of balancing along a narrow, flexible piece of portable fabric which is usually anchored between two points, mostly trees. "Apart from being a fun fitness activity, it has an incredible ability to connect people, start conversations and change lives," says 27- year old Farooqui. It's the reason he booked a flight to Beirut and signed up for the Crossing Lines Project, an initiative launched in 2013 by Sonya Iverson, a scientist from San Francisco, who uses slacklining to change the way we see and talk about refugees. "I had met Sonya several times at different events. The last time we interacted was at the Move Copengagen festival in Denmark, when she mentioned her plan to introduce slacklining to Syrian refugees and organise a highline festival in Lebanon. It was just the kind of inspiration I was looking for," says the Neral resident who made a career out of slacklining when he founded Slacklife Inc. — a sport and recreation company — in 2014. A level playing field At the Chtaura parking lot, the lines are hooked to the cars in the absence of trees. It's one of the things the sport has taught him — to make the best use of whatever is available at hand. "In Mumbai, I've slacklined in building compounds, garden and promenades. In fact, I was even been arrested for slacklining at Marine Drive," he laughs. Once the line was set up at the camp, Farooqui says the excitement among kids was palpable.

"Children everywhere are the same. You don't have to be concerned about the language or the way you look. I didn't speak Arabic but we managed to communicate fairly well through non-verbal cues in those two weeks. With hand gestures, I would tell them to slow down or stop or move ahead," he says. It was through two local volunteer-based NGOs Salaam and Sonbola that provides education and recreational facilities to those living in the camps in the Bekaa Valley, that the team got access to the children. Forging a personal rapport with each child — there were nearly 400 of them — was difficult for the volunteers who hailed from Iran, America and the UK.

"On the face of it, you couldn't tell that the children had gone through so much trauma. There were some who were more reserved and took time to open up," he says. Periodically, the team would sit down and discuss the day's progress. "If one of students perhaps struggled through the slacklining experience and we noticed it, we discussed it and psycho-analysed it till we came up with a solution to make sure that we didn't leave with someone feeling demoralised," he says. In the two weeks, Farooqui picked up a couple of Arabic words from them, and in turn taught them English. What was most interesting, though was how the sport changed the dynamics among the children themselves. "When you are standing on the rope, wobbling and holding the hand of the person standing on ground, you are opening up to them. So the bullies in the group ended up bonding with the rest. Everybody was on the level playing field," he says.

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With the lockdown prompting students and parents in uncertainty, schools in Mumbai have been acting on requests received from parents on rolling back fees and refunding miscellaneous fares.

According to a report in The Times of India, city schools have been rolling back fees for bus and canteen as children are attending classes online and not availing the services.

Parents have been requesting for financial relief from the school as they have been facing pressure in terms of their jobs and businesses due to the lockdown imposed by the government due to the Coronavirus outbreak. A parent was quoted by the newspaper as saying that the requests for carrying forward a portion of tuition fees and/or additional variable costs to the next term were also made, to which schools replied that they are looking for ways to address the concerns in the best possible way.

The Dhirubhai Ambani International School in Bandra Kurla Complex issued a notice to students and parents that states, "During this time, as we offer virtual classes, your child is not availing the school transport service and the canteen snack facility. Taking this into account, the school has decided to refund the charges paid toward these services for the current quarter of 2020."

Addressing the concerns by parents, the management of the Children’s Academy Group of Schools said that they have decided to roll back on the fee hike. The school’s trustee Rohan Bhatt was quoted by the newspaper saying that "We understand that the parents also might be going through a difficult period financially and, hence, have decided to roll back the fee hike for at least six months," adding that they are also allowing parents to pay the fees at their own pace. However, the trustee also mentioned that if the situation persists, the school may face trouble in paying the salaries of teachers and staff.

On the other hand, some parents said that they are willing to pay the schools until they can afford to and as long as children are getting their education from online classes. Lauding the efforts by the teachers, a parent was quoted by the newspaper as saying, "The efforts the teachers and school are putting into teaching the kids is phenomenal. My child is learning everything from football to keyboard through online classes. So as long as we can, we would be willing to support the school."

Meanwhile, on the circular issued by the Maharashtra state education board, asking schools to be considerate while demanding fees for the ongoing and the next academic year, state education minister Varsha Gaikwad said on Friday that the parents can lodge a complain to the district education officers if schools are forcing them to pay during the lockdown period.

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There are at least 160 firefighters who are working indefatigably to sanitise the streets and buildings in these times.

A report in this paper detailed how fire brigade personnel are divided into 32 teams and are sanitising more than 3,000 spots in the city, including, of course, hospitals and other places. The service has pressed its machinery into effect but it is in the end, the human chain that is driving the humongous effort of sanitising a teeming, and impossibly crowded city.

Let us recalibrate some aspects of our life and living, post these measures. One of those must be a more conscious effort to fighting fires. Let us make things easier for these firemen. This means working fire equipment in residential buildings. Do press upon the housing society committee that it is absolutely non-negotiable that they have firefighting equipment in the building premises.

We must also have residents attending the drill and familiarising themselves with the working of fire extinguishers, otherwise, the installation is merely cosmetic.

Learn from credible websites about what constitutes as the first response during fires. Knowledge about how to react first, before the experts reach, is important.

Try to keep stairwells and passages free in all buildings for a getaway in case of fire. Landlords of commercial buildings must check if compounds can be de-congested for easier access in case of fire. Easier said than done in a city where every inch of space is a luxury, but some method to the parking madness may be effective to some degree.

Small measures can go some way to make life easier for our firefighters. A more concerted effort is needed, so that we become allies with our men in blue, who are today preoccupied with protecting us in a different way.

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With Sony SAB bringing one of India's most favourite comedy shows 'Office Office' back to the television screens, viewers seem to have found a much-needed dose of happiness amidst these challenging times.

A comedy for all generations, Office Office revolves around the character Mussadilal (Pankaj Kapur) and his struggle to get work done from an office filled with employees all having annoying yet entertaining and unique characteristics.

While you are at home and might be missing your colleagues, let's take a trip down memory lane and visit India's most entertaining office.

As Office Office makes a comeback in our lives, we list down some of the best characters and their key dialogues from the show.

Deven Bhojani as Patel Ji and his Do Baatein:

A master of situation analysis - Patel Ji could think of all the 'possible possibilities' that could arise out of any situation. While Deven Bhojani portrayed the role of Patel Ji with immense ease and class, his takiya kalam "Do Baatein" went on to become one of the best elements of the show.

Here's one of his most famous monologues from the series:

"Dekho gaur se dekho toh theek hai nahi toh Do baatein ho jaayegi. Ya toh aap mujhe pehchange ya toh nahi pehchange; pehechan lia toh theek hai nahi pehechan toh 2 baate hojaayegi. Ya toh aapka kaam hoga ya toh nahi hoga; phenchaniye na mujhe kaam hua toh acha hai nahi hua toh 2 baatein ho jayegi - ya toh aapko pension milegi ya toh nahi milegi. Pension mili toh acha hai nahi mili toh 2 baate hojaayegi - ya toh aapko dobara naukri karni padhegi ya toh bhuka marna padhega. Kyun bhuka marna chahte hai master ji?"

The Foodie Manoj Pahwa as Bhatia Ji

There's always that one person in office who can smell food from wherever he/she is! This is that one person who does not just love food but worships it. Well, every office has that one Bhatia Ji. Essayed by Manoj Pahwa, Bhatia Ji is fond of food and he will make it very evident and endearingly so. Don't believe us? Here's a story from his life, in his own words:

"Kya khana banata hai! Mere chintu ke mundan may usne khana banaya, logo ko itna pasand ayaa ki mujhe apne bete ka mundan dobara karna padha. Aapne bhi agar apne bete ka mundan 3 baar na karaya naam badal dena."

Tina Grover as Eva oops Eva Grover as Tina

Probably the youngest team member, Tina is always confused and jumbles up her words, and you are bound to find her confusion mostly endearing and maybe sometimes annoying. With dialogues such as "Koi zinda bhi nahi hay ki aap saboot hay" or "Kya raid ka police padha hai?" Tina is bound to keep you entertained.

The master of multi-tasking – Usha Madam played by Asawari Joshi

Every manager would want their subordinate to have this one quality – the ability to multitask! Usha Madam is one such example of an efficient multi-tasker who will teach you the skills of multi-tasking in her own unique andaaz. "Yehi Toh" inki khoobi hay! So, take a refresher course on how to finish your household chores while completing your TTDs with Usha Madam.

Besides these characters, the office is also blessed with the presence of Shukla Ji (Sanjay Mishra) and Hemant Pandey as Pandey Ji in pivotal roles.

Witness all the madness galore again with Office Office on two dedicated timeslots from Monday to Friday at 6 PM and 10.30 PM only on Sony SAB.

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Archana Puran Singh has always believed in laughing out loud and living life to the fullest. We all have seen that in Comedy Circus and The Kapil Sharma Show, and the same amount of mirth and liveliness is to be found in her Instagram posts. But in the latest one, it's her hubby Parmeet Sethi who steals the show.

We all get to see Singh capturing Sethi and her mother and Sethi, who seems to be in a jovial mood, begins taking a dig at her and their 30-year old marriage. He calls her a 'defective maal' and also adds 'Iska koi refund nahin hai.' To make matters worse for her and funnier for us, her mother too joins Sethi to pull her leg.

Have a look at the first video right here where we can see all three of them:

 

 

 

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. Both saasu ma and jawai ji have some fun... at my expense! 😁 Mom has declared me to be the "video waala" ! 🤦‍♀ï¸ÂðŸ˜‚ #lockdown2020 #quarantinelife #madhislandlife

A post shared by Archana Puran Singh (@archanapuransingh) onMay 2, 2020 at 6:47am PDT

And in the second video, the actress gives us a glimpse of their Sunday conversations. She says- "Sunday. No workout. Fresh mint flavoured nimbu paani. Nature. Mom. Parmeet. Bhagyashri. Entertainment. Nok jhok. Happy." (sic)

Have a look right here:

 

 

 

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Sunday. No workout. Fresh mint flavoured nimbu paani. Nature. Mom. Parmeet. Bhagyashri. Entertainment. Nok jhonk. Happy. @iamparmeetsethi #madhislandlife #quarantinelife #lockdown2020 #bhagyashrirocks

A post shared by Archana Puran Singh (@archanapuransingh) onMay 3, 2020 at 7:38am PDT

Hope just like us, you also had a laugh!

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FIlipino lawmakers are expected to soon sign off on a long-awaited tax reform bill to bring about personal income tax regime reform and broaden the value-added tax base.

The Philippines' Senate on November 28 approved its version of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) bill, which is expected to exempt 6.8 million workers from paying income taxes.

The Philippines is to take forward its tax reform agenda in January, with a second package of proposals to be tabled before Congress, after the first package was endorsed with some vetoes by President Rodrigo Duterte.

Legislation to bring down the Philippines' corporate income tax rate and overhaul the country's fiscal incentives has been tabled in the House of Representatives.

Corporate tax reform in the Philippines has moved a step closer with the introduction of House Bill No. 7458 into the country's parliament.