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Irish Examiner
3 hours ago
- General
- Irish Examiner
Ireland head into Uefa Nations League playoffs despite Leeside win
Uefa Women's Nations League B2: IRELAND 1 (Saoirse Noonan 19) SLOVENIA 0 Saoirse Noonan's winner on this Cork homecoming registered a victory for Ireland but not by sufficient margin to dislodge Slovenia for an automatic place in League A of the World Cup qualifiers. Just under 10,000 were at Pairc Uí Chaoimh to see Noonan add a second international goal to the first she scored in 2021 but Ireland required another three to salvage top spot in a group they were favourites for. Instead, they must navigate a playoff in October against a League A teams among Denmark, Austria, Iceland or Belgium to be assured of a fallback playoff route to Brazil in 2027. They will discover their opposition in Friday's draw but Anna Patten will be suspended after incurring another booking as frustration set in. In truth, Ireland have been playing catch-up since their second game of the campaign resulted in a shock 4-0 defeat to the Slovenians. Performances have been erratic since as a goalless first-half in Greece was followed by a deluge of four unanswered goals in the second. The return against the lowest-ranked side in the pool was equally fitful, as they held out for a 2-1 win, and the worrying signs continued during Friday's trip to Turkey. Ireland were 11 minutes from losing in Istanbul until the Turks imploded, conceding an own-goal and gifting the visitors a late winner. Emily Murphy was the gleeful recipient of that present and her goalscoring impact as a substitute earned a start in Carla Ward's reshuffled side. Not just a win but a comprehensive win constituted a target dependent on firepower and the manager opted to promote both Kyra Carusa and Saoirse Noonan into her attack. Going with a partnership was a relatively new departure for the manager, as was operating with three at the back, but needs must in the circumstances and it proved effective. This was Ireland's turn to bat and clocking up goals instead of runs was their objective. Defenders were in the thick of the aerial barrage, with Patten first to threaten with a fifth minute poked volley straight into the goalkeeper's hands. Abbie Larkin was next to test Zala Mersnik by cutting in from the left and drilling a shot which the stopper stooped low to repel. Pressure was building and the breakthrough soon arrived on 19 minutes. When Denise O'Sullivan and Murphy collided in attempting to connect with Katie McCabe's left-wing cross, it seemed the chance was lost but the latter dashed to retrieve the ball. Once she prevented it rolling out of play, the ball was teed up for defender Jessie Stapleton to loft a high cross into the box. Her delivery hung long enough in the air for Noonan to elude her marker and plant a thumping header from 10 yards that flew beyond the reach of Mersnik. Hordes of green shirts flooded into the final third in the hope of using that opener as a stimulus and while Patten jabbed a volley wide Ireland still had to be wary of the counter. Lara Prašnikar, who'd scored a brace in Koper, almost exposed Ireland's high line by nipping in behind but Courtney Brosnan did well to bat her shot away. It was much the same in the second half with Ireland overloading the wings without peppering the goal. With a bit more conviction, Ireland might have neared their target. Stapleton's header from McCabe's cross five minutes after the interval was more of a glance, as was another from Caitlin Hayes with 17 minutes left. Murphy's shot was parried and the introduction of Megan Campbell added the throw-in dimension Ireland have become increasingly dependent on. Just once did it threaten with a scud towards fellow substitute Marissa Sheva but the goalkeeper smothered well. IRELAND: C Brosnan; J Stapleton (M Campbell 62), C Hayes, A Patten; E Murphy, M Connolly, D O'Sullivan, K McCabe, A Larkin (Louise Quinn 80); K Carusa (M Sheva 80), S Noonan (A Barrett 62). SLOVENIA: Z Mersnik; K Erzen, L Golob, D Conc, S Agrez; S Makovec, L Prasnikar, K Korosec, S Kolbi, Z Kramzar (M Zver 88); M Sternad (N Kajzba 68). Referee: Miriama Bockova (Slovakia) Attendance: 9,433.
Arab Times
5 hours ago
- Business
- Arab Times
Eid market oversight intensifies
KUWAIT CITY, June 3: The Ministry of Commerce and Industry affirmed the availability of a sufficient number of sacrificial animals of various types, sizes, and prices in the markets to meet the demands of citizens and residents during Eid al-Adha. Director of the Department of Commercial Control and Consumer Protection Faisal Al-Ansari said the department's emergency teams conducted intensive market campaigns to monitor prices and ensure the availability of adequate quantities of sacrificial animals. He explained that field monitoring revealed the availability of adequate quantities of imported sacrificial animals. The price of a 40-kilogram Juffali sheep ranges between KD 95 and KD 120, a 50-kilogram Syrian sheep between KD 125 and KD 140, a 30-kilogram Somali sheep between KD 45 and KD 55, and a 45-kilogram Jordanian sheep between KD 100 and KD 115. Such inspection campaigns would continue in all markets before, during, and after Eid al-Adha, in cooperation with imported sheep traders, to ensure sufficient meat quantities are available at affordable prices. Al-Ansari indicated that a comprehensive plan has been developed to survey central and subsidiary markets, including meat, sweets, fruits, dates, and other shops, to ensure vendors comply with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry's regulations and requirements. He commended the efforts of the Coast Guard and the Customs in facilitating the release of shipments arriving from neighboring countries by sea.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Teacher workload 'unfair and unhealthy', union says
Scotland's largest teachers' union has described the workload in schools as "unfair, unhealthy and unsustainable". EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley said it was set to ballot members over strike action because the Scottish government had failed to reduce the amount of time teachers must spend in the classroom. Almost three quarters of those who took part in a union survey said they were rarely or never able to do the work, preparation and correcting they had been asked to do within their working week. The Scottish government said it was continuing to work with unions and local authorities on reducing the amount of class contact time for teachers. Scottish education is broken says teachers' leader 'Failure to plan' over soaring pupil support needs The EIS survey was completed by almost 11,000 teachers – about 20% of its membership. A total of 44% of respondents said they usually worked the equivalent of an extra day a week, while a quarter said they worked the equivalent of an extra two days a week to try to get all their work done. Some 64% said they could never complete all of the tasks assigned to them in their working week. Only 1% of those who completed the survey said they had sufficient time in a typical working week to complete paperwork, liaise with colleagues and external agencies, and attend meetings in relation to supporting pupils with additional support needs. More than 10% said they could never access the support needed for children with additional support needs at the point the need was identified. In their responses to the survey, one teacher described having a non-verbal autistic child in their class with violent escalating behaviours. They described the challenges of supporting the child while also trying to teach the other 32 children in the class. Others spoke of having to choose between teaching a big class and needing to help specific pupils who were "in crisis", and described children who were "crying and screaming all day long". Alison, who has been a primary school teacher for 13 years and is an EIS representative, says she almost burnt out completely at the start of her career. She said she had to work nights and weekends to keep on top of her workload. "I've been late back home, late dinners, late beds, you're still thinking about it," she said. "You set your Sunday aside and don't make plans with family because you need to sit down in front of a laptop and research and plan and provide lessons for the following week." Alison now tries to protect her weekends to maintain her health, but says the pressures have grown and grown over the years. She said this was because of the increasing demands of children with additional support needs, and the amount of paperwork. Andrea Bradley said the results of the survey painted "a stark picture". "It is a story of persistent, excessive workload demands being placed on teachers at all grades and at all stages of their careers," she said. "Having teachers who are overworked and stressed is in no-one's interest, neither teachers themselves or their families, nor the young people learning in our schools." She said the survey provided "compelling evidence" that teacher workload was "unfair, unhealthy and unsustainable". "The Scottish government in its last election manifesto pledged to address this by reducing teachers' class contact time," she added. "Four years on from that pledge being made, there has been absolutely no tangible progress towards delivering it, and no proposals as to how it will be delivered." She said that "failure" would lead to the EIS opening a consultative ballot on industrial action at its annual general meeting later this week. The SNP promised to reduce teacher contact time by 1.5 hours a week in its manifesto for the 2021 Scottish election – but that has not happened. The party also pledged to recruit an additional 3,500 teachers by 2026. That pledge has been dropped and replaced by a promise to get teacher numbers back to the level they were at in 2023. The Scottish government said it would continue to work with unions and local authority body Cosla to agree the approach to delivering a reduction in class contact time. "We are providing local authorities with an additional £186.5m to restore teacher numbers, alongside an additional £29m to support the recruitment and retention of the ASN workforce," a spokesperson said. "This funding has been provided on the clear agreement that meaningful progress is made on reducing teacher class contact time. "Local authorities oversee the delivery of education and have a statutory duty to identify, provide and review the support that they provide for pupils with additional support needs in their local community." A Cosla spokesperson said clear action plans had been developed to improve the support available to the workforce and learners. "We recognise that this work needs to move at pace to improve outcomes for children and young people, and the experiences of the teachers and school staff working with them. "We continue to engage with Scottish government and trade unions on the Scottish government's commitment to reduce class contact time."
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Newly formed taluks will get Praja Soudhas as government-sanctioned administrative approvals
With Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah handing over the administrative approval letter to the Deputy Commissioner, Yadgir, the long-pending demand of the people of newly formed taluks to have a taluk administrative building is likely to be fulfilled in a year. Mr. Siddaramaiah handed over the letter to B. Susheela, Deputy Commissioner, after new taluks got administrative approval during the recent meeting held at Bengaluru. Yadgir district had three taluks — Yadgir, Shahapur and Shorapur (Surpur) then. But these taluks were divided when Chief Minister Jagadish Shetter announced it in 2013, as Gurmitkal divided from Yadgir, Wadagera from Shahapur and Hunsagi from Shorapur, respectively. Despite the announcement, new taluks weren't provided the taluk administrative buildings even after many years. Therefore, it was forced to function with the locally available government buildings. But, lack of sufficient space for administration, the officers and general public as well faced difficulties, more particularly in summer. Considering the necessity, the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government had promised to construct new taluk administrative buildings and named them 'Praja Soudha' and approved the proposal during the cabinet meeting held at Kalaburagi in September last year. After necessary formalities, taluks have finally got the administrative approval for the construction of Praja Soudhas in each taluk at a cost of ₹ 8.60 crore in two phases. Both Wadagera and Hunsagi taluks were represented by Congress MLAs Channareddy Patil Tunnur and Raja Venugopal Naik, while Gurmitkal was represented by JD(S) MLA Sharanagouda Kandkur. It is learnt that all MLAs have put their hands together for Praja Soudhas get administrative approval. 'The Chief Minister has shown special concern to build administrative buildings in the newly formed taluks, as they were much needed for the smooth functioning of daily activities and public convenience. The new Praja Soudha buildings will have all basic facilities and other requirements as people wanted,' Mr. Tunnur reacted. 'The Yadgir district has remained backward with a lack of civic facilities and government buildings. The government should establish other required buildings, including courts, for taluks for overall development,' Sharanu Gadduge, a pro-Kannada activist, has urged.
Scroll.in
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scroll.in
‘The Book of Guilt': What if Hitler were assassinated and World War II ended in compromise?
Catherine Chidgey's ninth novel, The Book of Guilt, has been hotly anticipated. Following the critical and commercial success of her last two novels, it was the subject of a bidding war between UK publishers. The Book of Guilt is also now the first of her books to be released in Australia at launch: a depressingly rare feat for a New Zealand author. Chidgey's career has been defined by a willingness to experiment and innovate with new genres, subjects and forms. Shifting from the New Zealand focus of her recent novels, The Book of Guilt is set in a version of 1979 Britain. It operates as a disturbing thriller that unfolds from three different perspectives. While its setting is something of a departure for Chidgey, the novel continues her interest in the legacy of Nazi Germany, which some of her previous works have examined. It also explores the questions of guilt, awareness and moral responsibility which have preoccupied Chidgey in her earlier novels, particularly with regard to characters who are trapped within, or even victimised by, exploitative systems. A government program for orphans Vincent and his triplet brothers William and Lawrence, at 13, are the last children living in Captain Scott House, an isolated countryside home in the Sycamore Scheme (a government program for the care of orphans). Their days are strictly regimented by their three guardians – Mother Morning, Mother Afternoon and Mother Night – who record both their dreams and transgressions, and administer medication to help them overcome a mysterious 'Bug'. The promise is that once they are deemed well enough, they will be relocated to the seaside resort town of Margate, where all the children before them have gone, to enjoy its rides and attractions. Until then, their contact with the outside world is limited. Elsewhere, 13-year-old Nancy is living in similarly constrained and isolated circumstances. She has been raised by doting parents within the walls of their suburban home, never permitted to step outside. As she starts to chafe at her confinement, she grows increasingly suspicious of her mother and father, and their strange obsession with the Sycamore children. Finally, the newly appointed Minister of Loneliness has been charged with dismantling the Sycamore Scheme. Its dwindling (unstated) benefits are no longer sufficient to justify the expense of running the houses, and she is left to determine what to do with the remaining children. She is desperately seeking a positive outcome – something that will mitigate the scandals from the program's past – while also strangely fearful at the prospect of having to visit Vincent and his brothers at Captain Scott House. An eerie alternative history In many ways, the world and period that Chidgey establishes seem familiar. A prime minister resembling Margaret Thatcher has just won the general election. The IRA is still active. Jim'll Fix It, a show with the premise of children writing to Jimmy Saville asking him to make a dream come true, is on TV. But there are also differences. In this world, the moon landing occurred in 1957, not 1969. The polio vaccine and mass-produced penicillin have been available for far longer than they have in our history. And, crucially, the Sycamore Scheme was established in 1944, following the successful assassination of Adolf Hitler. The Book of Guilt, then, can be understood as an alternative history novel. This genre typically explores the timelines and scenarios that might result from a historical event having a different outcome. Within this tradition, World War Two is a frequent subject of speculation. Chidgey's alternative history hinges on a more subtle difference. What if Major Axel von dem Bussche 's 1943 attempted suicide bombing of Hitler had succeeded? As a result, the Nazi leadership are unseated and an interim government negotiates a surrender to the Allied powers. Rather than Germany's total defeat and capitulation, the European war ends in compromise and 'difficult decisions'. We are not told exactly what Nazi crimes went unpunished because of this determination to secure 'peace at any price'. But one of the terms of the 'Gothenburg Treaty' that ended the war was that the results of the inhumane, often deadly medical research performed in the concentration camps by SS physician Josef Mengele and others should be shared with the Allies. It is clear from early in the novel that the Sycamore Scheme operates as a sinister continuation of these practices, though its exact nature – and the origins of Vincent and his brothers – are a slowly unravelling mystery. Literary thrillers and Nazi legacy As New Zealand literary critic Philip Matthews observes, the The Book of Guilt can be read as a meeting point between two strands in Chidgey's writing. It follows The Axeman's Carnival (2022) and Pet (2023) as the third in a string of tightly plotted literary thrillers.e It is also her third novel to consider the legacy of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. Like The Wish Child (2016) and Remote Sympathy (2020), The Book of Guilt is preoccupied with the subject of complicity: how characters live within, accept and deflect their full awareness of systems that exploit, violently dehumanise and murder others. What subtle, internal trades and compromises are they prepared to make for their own comforts and security? Or even just to preserve their own self-image? These are always pertinent themes, and Chidgey's alternative history provides her with a new lens for exploring them. Her vision of slightly altered late-70s Britain, one that has become rapidly tawdry, bleak and cruel for the sake of a few limited advancements, is powerful. The novel also offers an intriguing commentary on 1979 itself as a tipping point in British history. The cold pragmatism of the new conservative government justified sacrificing the welfare of a considerable portion of the population for greater prosperity. Chidgey's scenario recalls Thatcher's positioning of herself as the ruthless, unflinching doctor capable of curing the ' British Disease '. In this regard, The Book of Guilt joins a small tradition of literary alternative histories, which use a skewed perspective on the period they examine to reflect contemporary anxieties and preoccupations. It brings to mind Philip Roth's The Plot Against America, which explores how a populist leader – elected at exactly the wrong time – can light a powder keg of racist resentment. And also Ian McEwan's Machines Like Me, where the continued work of mathematician and code-breaker Alan Turing on artificial intelligence gives rise to an alternative 1980s Britain. There, new forms of robotic consciousness are the subject of both fascination and uneasy suspicion. But, of course, the novel The Book of Guilt most closely recalls is Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me G o, which also features a remote country home for mysteriously parentless children, in an alternative Britain where medical history has taken a different, sinister path. Reading The Book of Guilt with an awareness of Never Let Me Go makes it almost impossible to not anticipate key revelations quite early on. However, Chidgey's approach to this scenario serves as an interesting counterpoint to Ishiguro's in some ways. In Never Let Me Go, the adolescent protagonists are prompted by their guardians to attempt to demonstrate their humanity to a largely indifferent world. It ends with their melancholic, fatalistic acceptance of their lot. The Book of Guilt, by contrast, follows Vincent's attempts to comprehend his place in a setting gradually revealed to be inexplicably hostile. As his suspicions of his 'mothers' mount, he slowly realises he and his brothers are being constantly tested for signs of 'brutish' behaviour, ethical lapses and hidden, subliminal urges. The reasons for this scrutiny speak to broader themes around nature and nurture explored in the novel, and the temptation and dangers of arbitrary, 'scientific' classifications and definitions of human life and value. The Book of Guilt is not derivative of Never Let Me Go, but a rewarding variation on a similar theme. Adolescence as liminal space The Book of Guilt is also the third of Chidgey's novels to focus on characters entering early adolescence, and interrogate their developing knowledge and moral responsibility – even within systems and circumstances arguably beyond their control. The Wish Child examines the perspective of children who come of age while indoctrinated in the poisonous ideologies of Nazi Germany. Pet follows the narrative of 12-year-old Justine, who falls under the thrall of a charismatic yet strangely malicious teacher, Ms Price, who both woos and exploits her. Like Chidgey's other adolescent protagonists, Vincent is not positioned as a perfect victim. While thoughtful and sympathetic, he is also complicit in various acts of cruelty. He ultimately makes a fraught, highly compromised 'ethical' choice at the novel's denouement, which will haunt him, and likely the reader as well. In The Book of Guilt, Chidgey continues to explore early adolescence as a liminal stage of life, where levels of awareness and accountability are often frustratingly (and fascinatingly) unclear. Though Chidgey's handling of her younger characters remains astute, I was most taken with the Minister of Loneliness in this novel (though it did take me a moment to remember this is now an actual position in the UK government). Her narrative delivers some much-needed humour at various points, particularly in her interactions with the implacable, Thatcher-like prime minister. Tangled and morally complex While The Minister of Loneliness occupies a more remote and peripheral role in the novel than Vincent and Nancy, her weary adult perspective provides a necessary point of contrast. Her initial attempts to deny the horrors that have landed at her door are immediately, damningly, relatable. As the novel develops, her reluctance and inertia give way to rushed, desperate decisions and ruinous consequences. She feels very familiar. Very human. But what at first seems like a simple satire of an ineffectual bureaucrat proves surprising. The Minister is not ultimately overwhelmed by either the history she is forced to confront, nor by her own failings. She recognises, in the end, the weight of her responsibilities, even when she is given leeway to ignore or deflect them. In The Minister of Loneliness, Chidgey delivers an acutely realised portrait of a faintly good person who resolves, miraculously, to do a little better. Hers is arguably not the most heroic trajectory in this dark, tangled and compelling novel – but it feels like the closest it comes to a moment of moral triumph. Julian Novitz, Senior Lecturer, Writing, Department of Media and Communication, Swinburne University of Technology.
