All posts tagged: floor

Phillipson: Teacher pay will have a ‘floor

Phillipson: Teacher pay will have a ‘floor

Published by skeptic

More from this theme Recent articles Academies will retain the ability to pay their staff more despite having to follow national pay rates, Bridget Phillipson has said, adding new laws will introduce a teacher salary “floor but no ceiling”. Appearing in from of education committee MPs for the first time today, Phillipson was asked to explain why her schools bill proposed revoking academy freedoms on pay. Under the plans, academies would be forced to follow national pay scales. Phillipson said today the proposal would introduce a “floor” on teacher pay and conditions, but “with no ceiling”. She also used a similar phrase for the proposed rules requiring academies to follow the national curriculum. A handful of trusts pay teachers above national rates, others also provide more flexibility. Phillipson told MPs government wants to introduce a “solid floor for all teachers working across the profession with clear expectations”, but ensure “every school has the freedom to innovate and go beyond”. ‘No ceiling on teacher pay’ Shadow education secretary Laura Trott called the admission a “U-turn”, adding …

Claudia Winkleman hopes for Amy Dowden’s return ‘very soon’ to the Strictly dance floor

Claudia Winkleman hopes for Amy Dowden’s return ‘very soon’ to the Strictly dance floor

Published by skeptic

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Claudia Winkleman has sent a heartfelt message to Amy Dowden as she hoped the Strictly Come Dancing pro would return “very soon”. Dowden has been forced to leave the series, after making a much-awaited return following treatment for breast cancer. The 34-year-old professional ballroom dancer was rushed to hospital as a “precaution” on 26 October for an undisclosed illness, which meant she did not perform in the following show, with pro dancer Lauren Oakley stepping in to dance with Dowden’s celebrity partner JB Gill instead. Dowden clarified that her “insufficiency stress fracture” had “nothing to do with any previous health scares”. “Before we get started our lovely Amy Dowden has had to withdraw from this year’s competition, due to injury so Lauren will be stepping in and dancing with JB for the rest of his time on the show,” began …

Strictly Come Dancing Week 4: All the highlights as Nick Knowles returns to the floor

Strictly Come Dancing Week 4: All the highlights as Nick Knowles returns to the floor

Published by skeptic

After the highs of Movies Week, we’re ditching the opening numbers and outlandish costumes as Strictly Come Dancing returns for its fourth week. The same amount of celebrities will be taking to the dancefloor this evening as Nick Knowles makes his grand return after being forced to miss last week due to a knee injury sustained when practicing his Charleston – a routine he will be dancing for us tonight. WATCH: Strictly Come Dancing introduces chaperones Join HELLO! as we enjoy the best moments from the fourth week and bring you all the main highlights… © Guy Levy Who left last week? Last week, it was the end of the road for Toyah Willcox and Neil Jones as their Little Mermaid inspired samba didn’t impress the judges or viewers. Toyah, who survived the first dance-off, wasn’t lucky the second time, losing out to Paul Merson on a unanimous decision. © BBC / Kieron McCarron Who’s dancing what? As we mentioned, Nick will be redoing his Charleston, as the star was unable to train for most of …

Natalie Elphicke forced to issue apology just one day after crossing floor | Politics | News

Natalie Elphicke forced to issue apology just one day after crossing floor | Politics | News

Published by skeptic

Labour’s newest MP Natalie Elphicke has been forced to apologise for the role she played in defending her ex husband both during and after he was imprisoned for sexual assault. The Tory defector defended her ex-MP husband, Charlie, after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting two women and jailed for two years. Ms Elphicke argued he had merely been “attractive, and attracted to, women” and that made him “an easy target for dirty politics and false allegations”. She claimed he had been the victim of a “terrible miscarriage of justice”. She was then temporarily suspended from the Commons and told to apologise in 2021 for being found to have tried to influence a judge presiding over Mr Elphicke’s trial. In a statement this afternoon, Ms Elphicke said she is sorry for her comments and blamed her actions from 2017 to 2020 on stress. She has said: “My decision to join the Labour Party is not one I have taken lightly but one I made because I am convinced that this country needs a new …

The Tiny Nation at the Vanguard of Mining the Ocean Floor

The Tiny Nation at the Vanguard of Mining the Ocean Floor

Published by Sam

Two ships arrived in the Cook Islands in the South Pacific in March of last year. One was a familiar sight: a massive cruise ship, bringing hundreds of tourists to the pristine shores of this nation of 15,000 people. The other, a neon-orange vessel hauling complex scientific equipment, was more unusual. On a nearby wharf, Prime Minister Mark Brown and many other prominent citizens had gathered to celebrate the smaller boat’s arrival. To Mr. Brown, the cruise ship represented his country’s troubling dependence on tourism. He described the other vessel, owned by an international mining company, as a harbinger of incredible wealth. The Cook Islands is at the vanguard of a quest to mine the ocean floor for minerals used in electric car batteries. Mining these deposits has never been attempted on a large scale, but their reserves are so vast, proponents argue, that extracting them could power the world’s shift away from fossil fuels. It would be a transformation for the Cook Islands, as well: Seabed mining could generate tens of billions of dollars …

The Guardian view on MPs crossing the floor: a triumph of political theatre over substance | Editorial

The Guardian view on MPs crossing the floor: a triumph of political theatre over substance | Editorial

Published by skeptic

Surveying recent election losses, some Conservatives have concluded that the problem is a deficit of radical Conservatism – a prospectus defined by commitment to always cutting taxes, public spending and immigration. Natalie Elphicke would once have been considered a likely proponent of that approach, but on Wednesday the MP for Dover expressed her frustration with Rishi Sunak’s leadership by moving in a very different direction – to cross the Commons floor and join Labour. Ms Elphicke’s politics, rooted on the hard right of her former party, gave no indication of propensity for conversion to Keir Starmer’s creed. Setting policy differences aside, some Labour MPs are queasy about the concerted effort their new colleague put into supporting Charlie Elphicke, her predecessor in the Dover seat and now ex-husband, when he faced allegations of sexual assault – offences for which he was jailed. Ms Elphicke was among a group of MPs whose lobbying of a judge in the case was deemed a breach of the code of conduct by the parliamentary regulator. Had her defection not come with a commitment …

Madonna’s biggest-ever concert transforms Rio’s Copacabana beach into a massive dance floor

Madonna’s biggest-ever concert transforms Rio’s Copacabana beach into a massive dance floor

Published by skeptic

An estimated 1.6 million people attended the show, G1 reported, citing Rio City Hall’s tourism agency. That is more than 10 times Madonna’s record attendance of 130,000 at Paris’ Parc des Sceaux in 1987. Madonna’s official website hyped the show as the biggest ever in her four-decade career. In recent days, the buzz was palpable. Fans milled outside the stately, beachfront Copacabana Palace hotel, where Madonna is staying, hoping to catch a glimpse of the pop star. During the sound check on the stage set up in front of the hotel, they danced on the sand. By midday Saturday, fans crowded in front of the hotel. A white-bearded man carried a sign saying, “Welcome Madonna you are the best I love you.” Flags with “Madonna” printed against a background of Copacabana’s iconic black and white waved sidewalk pattern hung from balconies. The area was packed with street vendors and concert attendees kitted out in themed T-shirts, sweating under a baking sun. “Since Madonna arrived here, I’ve been coming every day with this outfit to welcome my …

Madonna’s biggest-ever concert transforms Rio beach into a massive dance floor

Madonna’s biggest-ever concert transforms Rio beach into a massive dance floor

Published by skeptic

RIO DE JANEIRO —  Madonna put on a free concert on Copacabana beach Saturday night, turning Rio de Janeiro’s vast stretch of sand into an enormous dance floor teeming with a multitude of her fans. It was the last show of The Celebration Tour, her first retrospective, which kicked off in October in London. The “Queen of Pop” began the show with her 1998 hit Nothing Really Matters. Huge cheers rose from the buzzing, tightly packed crowd, pressed up against the barriers. Others held house parties in brightly lit apartments and hotels overlooking the beachfront. Helicopters and drones flew overhead, and motorboats and sailboats anchored off the beach filled the bay. “Here we are in the most beautiful place in the world,” Madonna, 65, told the crowd. Pointing out the ocean view, the mountains and the Christ the Redeemer statue overlooking the city, she added: “This place is magic.” Madonna performed her classic hits, including Like a Virgin and Hung Up. For the introduction to Like a Prayer, her head was completely covered in a …

Dua Lipa, from the beach bar to the dance floor

Dua Lipa, from the beach bar to the dance floor

Published by skeptic

Dua Lipa poses to promote her new album, “Radical Optimism,” in New York on April 26, 2024. DREW GURIAN/INVISION/AP On the cover of her third album, singer Dua Lipa is in great danger, like the bather in the first scene of Jaws. In murky waters, she faces a shark’s fin. The visual echoes the London pop group Blur’s idea for The Great Escape: golden boys diving from their speedboat, likely to be devoured by a shark. That album was released in 1995, the year the daughter of a Kosovar rock musician was born in London. Like Blur, Lipa plays on the contrast between the desperate situation and the title: Radical Optimism. Here, only the second word is accurate: Ahead of the summer solstice, the album does celebrate hedonism, in stark contrast to the darkness of the times. But radical it is not. Unlike Taylor Swift, who turned to folk for a while, or Beyoncé, with her recent country urges, Dua Lipa isn’t abandoning her comfort zone. Rather than get in the water, she prefers to …

The Tineco Floor One S5 Extreme Is 0 Off Right Now — Save on the 3-in-1 Floor Washer

The Tineco Floor One S5 Extreme Is $150 Off Right Now — Save on the 3-in-1 Floor Washer

Published by Sam

Whether you have a sprawling house or tiny apartment, you know how difficult it is to keep your floors clean. Between sweeping up spills with a broom, suctioning up dust and hair with a vacuum and pushing around a mop, floor maintenance is incredibly time-consuming. If you didn’t fully tackle your spring cleaning in April, now’s the time to refresh your home and prepare for the warm months ahead. With spring comes the season’s best deals on Tineco devices. Right now, the Tineco Floor One S5 Extreme is on sale for $150 off at Walmart and Best Buy. This three-in-one cleaning tool can can mop, vacuum and clean itself all at the same time.  For those with hard floors at home, Tineco’s Floor One S5 Extreme Smart Wet/Dry Vacuum Cleaner and Hard Floor Washer will be such a time-saver. Say goodbye to the hassle of mopping, sweeping, and vacuuming separately. Unlike other hybrid cleaning devices, this this versatile three-in-one vacuum, mop, and floor cleaner vacuums up dust and debris as it washes. Equipped with a larger capacity clean …