The Covid-19 pandemic can apparently discriminate. According to a report recently released by management consultant firm McKinsey& Co, while most have been negatively affected by the crisis, their analysis shows that women’s livelihoods are more vulnerable to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The magnitude of the inequality is striking: unemployment surveys in the United States and India, where gender-disaggregated data are available, suggest that female job-loss rates resulting from Covid-19 are about 1.8 times higher than the male job-loss rates,” the report said.
Similarly, in India, women made up 20 per cent of the workforce before Covid-19; their share of job losses resulting from the industry mix alone is estimated at 17 per cent, but unemployment surveys suggest that they actually account for 23 per cent of overall job losses, says Anu Madgavkar, partner with McKinsey Global India, McKinsey co- author of the report.
What’s driving the imbalance?
“One reason in our analysis shows that globally female jobs are 19 per cent more at risk than male ones is simply because women are disproportionately represented in sectors negatively affected by the Covid-19 crisis,” says Madgavkar. What that means, is the unemployment statistics as they are playing out are worse than just if they were to be driven by sector specific themes.
As example, women are already under-represented in manufacturing and there is a risk that number would slide even more because they are further likely to drop out. While there may be emotional triggers at play driving that exodus, “The point is that men’s jobs are typically considered to hold more value in the ambit of family and are therefore less likely to be foregone at a time like this,” Madgavkar says. “There’s research to show that 50% of respondents in South Asia, believe that when jobs are scarce, men should get the job and not women, and that reflects societal biases.”
A glaring imbalance comes to light with two key factoids for India: women make up 20 per cent of the workforce but represent 23 per cent of job losses, and unless action is taken now to prevent it, gender disparity could further slide. Taking steps to prevent that could create an incremental GDP of $712 billion to 2030 according to McKinsey.
As with all dark clouds, there is a silver lining.
The biggest opportunity is to create a structured system for all the untracked work that women do such as early childcare, senior care, domestic services, private concierges and the like. “What gets measured has economic value and what gets measured gets managed better,” Madgavkar says.
Image copyright Mark Stone/University of Washington
Image caption
The team has developed a tiny camera robot
Image copyright Mark Stone/University of Washington
Image caption
The tiny bot moves by vibrating
Rather than wheels, the robot moves by vibrating and can travel about three centimetres a second.
Shyam Gollakota, senior author of the research, acknowledged that tiny camera robots could introduce new surveillance concerns.
“As researchers we strongly believe that it’s really important to put things in the public domain so people are aware of the risks and so people can start coming up with solutions to address them,” he said.
LONDON (AP) — Princess Beatrice got married in a private ceremony Friday, with her grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, in attendance, Buckingham Palace said Friday.
Beatrice married Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi at The Royal Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge, Windsor. The monarch, the Duke of Edinburgh and other close family members attended.
Guidelines in place to stop the spread of COVID-19 were followed, the palace said.
Beatrice, the daughter of Prince Andrew and his former wife Sarah Ferguson, had originally planned to marry the property tycoon on May 29 in the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace. The ceremony was postponed because of the pandemic.
Friday’s ceremony had not been announced and images of the ceremony were not immediately released.
The families of the newlyweds have known one another for many years. The pair are said to have started a relationship after meeting again at the wedding of Beatrice’s sister, Princess Eugenie.
Andrew and Sarah, who remain on very good terms despite their 1996 divorce, said at the time of Beatrice’s engagement that they were “thrilled†with the news.
Their younger daughter, Eugenie, married Jack Brooksbank in 2018.
The Haifa District Court rejected July 16 an appeal submitted by Sheikh Raed Salah, chief of the outlawed Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement, against his prison sentence. The court maintained the ruling of 28 months in jail. Salah has already spent 11 months in detention, thus is expected to serve now 17 months, starting Aug. 16.
In November 2019, the Haifa Magistrates Court found Salah guilty of incitement to terror and of membership in an outlawed organization. And in February, the court sentenced him to 28 months in prison.
Salah was convicted for expressing on several occasions sympathy with terrorists or encouraging terrorism, including a sermon he delivered after the July 2017 terror attack by three Israeli Arabs at the Jerusalem Lion Gate outside the Temple Mount compound. Two Israeli police officers were killed in the attack. According to the verdict, Salah praised the “martyrs of Al-Aqsa,’’ and hailed their actions. Salah also gave a similar speech at a symbolic funeral held for the three gunmen in the city of Umm al-Fahm.
Already in 2015, Israel’s security Cabinet outlawed the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement, accusing it of collaborating with Hamas. Following that decision, the Israeli Police seized the group’s property and closed its offices. Later, the police also shut down 17 nonprofit organizations and movements affiliated with the group.
The 2015 outlawing of the group and the 2017 Temple Mount terror attack by three residents of Umm al-Fahm heightened tensions between Israeli Arabs and Jews. Right-wing groups and politicians targeted specifically the city, Salah’s home town, questioning the loyalty of its residents to the country.  In 2018, then-Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman proposed that Umm al-Fahm be transferred to the responsibility of the Palestinian Authority as part of a future agreement. “You ask yourselves why Umm al-Fahm should be part of Palestine and not Israel? The sight of hundreds of people participating in the funeral of a terrorist with a Palestinian flag, and calling for ‘in spirit and blood we redeem the martyr’ gives you a final answer to the question,†Liberman said.
Rejecting Salah’s appeal July 16, the court stated that Salah’s contention that the 2017 attack was not terror — but resistance — was “outrageous.” The judges also rejected the argument that the conviction impinged on the right for free speech, saying that free speech did not extend to support for violent acts, especially for a community leader. “The leader knows that the public looks to him and learns from his words, as well as his silence, on supporting criminal acts. And so, he bears responsibility,†the judges wrote in their decision.
The judges also referred to the outlawing of the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement, stating that only the Supreme Court had the jurisdiction to look into that decision. Still, the judges noted that in some cases a terror group is not a terror-structure per se, but an organization with mixed goals and activities, some legal and some illegal.
After the ruling, Salah said that the verdict changes nothing in his beliefs. His lawyers related that they will not appeal the decision again.
Media captionHow Boeing’s 747 became the ‘Queen of the Skies’
British Airways has said it will retire all of its Boeing 747s as it suffers from the sharp travel downturn.
The UK airline is the world’s largest operator of the jumbo jets, with 31 in the fleet.
“It is with great sadness that we can confirm we are proposing to retire our entire 747 fleet with immediate effect,” a BA spokesman told the BBC.
Airlines across the world have been hit hard by coronavirus-related travel restrictions.
“It is unlikely our magnificent ‘queen of the skies’ will ever operate commercial services for British Airways again due to the downturn in travel caused by the Covid-19 global pandemic,” the spokesman added.
BA, which is owned by International Airlines Group (IAG), said the planes will all be retired with immediate effect. The 747s represent about 10% of BA’s total fleet.
The first Boeing 747 flight took place in February 1969
It was the first aeroplane dubbed a “jumbo jet”
BOAC, British Airways’ predecessor, operated its first 747 flight, flying from London to New York, in 1971
Fastest operating commercial plane, with a top speed of just over 650mph
3.5 billion passengers transported in 50 years
First plane to fly London to Sydney non-stop in 1989
It had planned on retiring the planes in 2024 but has brought forward the date due to the downturn.
According to travel data firm Cirium there are about 500 747s still in service, of which 30 are actively flying passengers. More than 300 fly cargo and the remainder are in storage.
A luxury BA could no longer afford
The Boeing 747 is beautiful, distinctive and has half a century of proud service behind it. But – as a passenger plane at least – it is also quite simply outdated.
A four-engine aircraft, it is far less efficient than modern twin-engine models, such as the Airbus A350, the 787 Dreamliner, or even the older Boeing 777 – all of which are cheaper to run.
Before the Covid-19 crisis, the writing was on the wall. Airlines such as Air France, Delta and United had already retired their fleets.
BA had planned to use them for another few years. But the crisis in the industry means a future in which there will be fewer passengers, fewer planes – and keeping costs down will be crucial.
So now the airline has decided the queen of the skies is a luxury it can no longer afford.
British Airways’ predecessor BOAC first started flying 747s in the early 1970s. BA is currently flying the 747-400 version of the long-range aircraft.
It is currently the world’s biggest operator of 747-400s and first took delivery of them in July 1989. Originally, the upper deck contained a lounge which was known as the “club in the sky”.
The British carrier added it would operate more flights on modern, more fuel-efficient planes such as its new Airbus A350s and Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
It expects them to help it achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Image copyright Getty Images
Image caption
The first Boeing 747 to be operated by BOAC arrives at London’s Heathrow Airport in May 1970.
Boeing’s 747 helped democratise global air travel in the 1970s, and marked its 50-year flying anniversary in February 2019.
A wave of restructuring triggered by the virus outbreak is hitting airlines across the world, along with plane-makers and their suppliers. Thousands of job losses and furloughs have been announced in recent weeks.
Up to 12,000 BA staff, including pilots cabin crew, engineers and ground staff are facing redundancy as the airline slashes costs in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Image copyright Getty Images
Image caption
Captain Douglas Redrup of BOAC stands with members of his flight crew before taking off on the first scheduled flight.
What happens to retired planes?
Specialist companies assess whether aircraft should be salvaged or scrapped. Often they are dismantled and their parts sold on for scrap or recycled. Most of the value is in the engines.
Many are also stripped out as they have valuable interiors. In some cases, private individuals and entrepreneurs buy old airliners to convert them into hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions.
Those that are scrapped can end up in giant aircraft graveyards in the desert where they are left to rust.
Lula Ali Ismaïl was in her mid-thirties, living in Canada with a steady job. She was at the stage of her life at which society dictates you should be settled into a traditional career path, but she is not one for being conventional.
And so, armed with little but a good story idea, she boarded a flight to her native Djibouti, ready to begin a new career.Â
In 2019, eight years later, the Cinewax Online African Film Festival streamed an array of wonderful films. But there was one in particular that had everyone talking. Dhalinyaro, meaning “youth†in Somali, is a coming-of-age feature film set in Djibouti. It is directed by Lula Ali Ismaïl.
“I love that people felt a connection to the film; for me that was important. We all remember what it was to be 17, 18 years old, and so I think in many ways it was a universal story,†said Ismaïl, speaking to the Mail & Guardian from her home in Djibouti.
Ismaïl is the first woman to produce and direct a film in Djibouti, earning her the affectionate title of “Djibouti’s First Lady of Filmâ€.
“I’m very flattered, but you never do it for the accolades. I just had a story that was haunting me; I just needed to tell it,†she said, laughing at the nickname.
A Djiboutian story
Dhalinyaro’s plot centres around three teenage girls, Hibo, Asma and Deka, who are about to sit their final exams before entering university.
Three very different personalities, from very different class backgrounds, with different dreams.Â
Wealthy Hibo is set to go to Paris to study further. Deka, from a middle-class background, remains conflicted between going abroad and remaining in Djibouti. For Asma, with the good grades, leaving the country to continue her studies is out of reach.Â
Their differences are underpinned by an enduring sisterhood, and it is impossible to not be drawn into their lives as they grapple with “what next?â€, while also dealing with the trials and tribulations of love, sex and heartbreak.
Central to the story are the class differences between the girls and the choice Deka faces about studying in another country.Â
“I wanted to challenge this notion that you must leave Djibouti to succeed in life. As for class, my aim was to be as authentic as possible: the film reflects our class system. Interestingly, it was not a talking point in Djibouti — it would only be during Q&A’s abroad that people would ask about class,†Ismaïl said.
Before filming began, Ismaïl had to raise funding — half came from public and private-sector sources in Djibouti; the other half was put up by her French co-producers — and obtain all the necessary filming permits. With no acting agencies to call on, Ismaïl had to get creative when it came to casting the film. She printed out brochures and handed them out at various high schools, calling on interested students to talk to her.
She then held two rounds of auditions, finally selecting Amina Mohamed Ali, Bilan Samir Moubus and Tousmo Mouhoumed Mohamed. “Their eagerness and maturity stood out. This was going to be a three-month shoot and I needed people that were not going to drop out. I knew I could count on these girls.â€
One thing that stands out about Dhalinyaro is that it was not made for the Western gaze. All too often, the only stories about Djibouti that make international headlines focus on its geostrategic location on the Red Sea, and the superpowers that have built military bases there.Â
“This is a Djiboutian story — an African story — with universal appeal. I wanted to portray a close as possible image of what it’s like to be a 17 or 18 year old in Djibouti, first and foremost for the people of Djibouti,†said Ismaïl.
Dhalinyaro touches on some subjects that are not widely spoken about in Djiboutian society — such as sex, teenage pregnancies and extramarital affairs — and Ismaïl was initially nervous about how it would be received. But the feedback was overwhelmingly positive.Â
“People want their stories told by one of them. When the film was screened in the country, the audience were happy to see streets they recognised; their day-to-day lives on the screen. And that’s why I say, this is a film owned by the people of Djibouti — they made it happen.â€Â
Djibouti is Ismaïl’s muse, but it is also a character in the film, visible in the clothing of the characters, the subtle references to the country’s history, and the easy interchange of Somali and French.
“Djibouti has a lot of stories that need to be told, and the most powerful way is through art — be it film, music, painting or poetry. It is my hope to see us have our own film industry. There are a lot of talented people here and now courses around filmmaking are on offer at the University of Djibouti.â€Â
Coming of age: Writer and director Lula Ali Ismaïl cast the three stars of her first feature film for their ‘eagerness and maturity’. Dhalinyaro was the talk of the Cinewax Online African Film Festival in 2019
Ismaïl’s own journey into filmmaking is an inspiration in itself. “I was not one of those kids that wanted to grow up to be a filmmaker or an actress; in fact, I actually fell into this field.†Living and working in Canada while in her mid-twenties, she wanted to do something to challenge her shyness and decided to enrol in acting classes in Montreal. For about two years she participated in school productions and then began auditioning for mainstream roles.
Creating her own doorÂ
She got a few small roles in TV shows, but wanted more. With the words of Ava DuVernay, another black filmmaker, ringing in her ears — “I’m not going to continue knocking that old door that doesn’t open for me. I’m going to create my own door and walk through that†— Ismaïl decided to create her own door.
“I could not get substantial parts in Montreal and it was disheartening, so I thought, I’m going to go home to Djibouti and make a film there in which I can act. So I decided to write a short film, which would then allow me to play a lead role.â€Â
In 2011, she did just that, directing and starring in Laan, a short feature that examines the friendship of three women against the backdrop of the prevalence of khat in Djibouti. Khat, or miraa, is a narcotic leaf which delivers a sense of euphoria when high, and is used widely in Djibouti.
“The consumption of khat is something which has a real impact on people in the country,†said Ismaïl.Â
Laan and later Dhalinyaro are both stories about women and girls. This was not premeditated. “I don’t put myself in a box and say ‘I’m going to make films about girls or women.’ My process begins with me looking at what inspires me and what issues I am addressing. So, in the case of Laan, the reality is the social and economic consequences of chewing khat are faced by women, as they are the ones that run the house.â€Â
Laan premiered at several film festivals, to acclaim. “Things went so smoothly when it came to making Laan that I thought, why not do a feature, unaware that the two are very different. Had I known how challenging making Dhalinyaro would be, perhaps I would not have embarked on it,†Ismaïl says.
Her advice to budding filmmakers is to focus on who you surround yourself with. “When I decided to pursue filmmaking full time, many people would have been like ‘Are you crazy?’ That’s why you need people who believe in your dreams. There were many times … when I wanted to give up, but I was lucky to have a team and co-producers who encouraged me to keep going, I also had a very talented co-writer.â€
Ismail is now working on a documentary project. There will not be a sequel to Dhalinyaro, she said, much to the disappointment of its many fans. “In my mind we have closure — the last scene said it all.â€
Real Madrid clinched a record-extending 34th LaLiga title with one game to spare by beating Villarreal 2-1 at home on Thursday thanks to two goals from their leading scorer Karim Benzema.
Karim Benzema scored twice against Villareal for a 2-1 victory on Thursday to extend Madrid’s 10-match perfect winning record following the coronavirus-enforced break, sealing the club’s first league title in three years.
The Los Blancos trailed rivals Barcelona by two points when LaLiga was suspended in March amid the coronavirus pandemic, but a season-best 10-game winning run catapulted them to the title.
Zidane wins a trophy every 19 games
This La Liga triumph represents Zidane’s 11th trophy during his managerial reign at the club.
After initially taking over in January 2016, Zidane went on to clinch the Champions League trophy in the 2015/16 campaign before adding the Super Cup, Spanish Super Cup and Club World Cup to his trophy cabinet. The 2016/17 La Liga title followed while Real Madrid retained their Champions League, Super Cup and Club World Cup crowns.
A third consecutive European Cup was won in the 2017/18 season days before Zidane stepped down as manager. The Frenchman returned 10 months later and added another Spanish Cup to his managerial trophy cabinet.
La Liga: 🏆🏆 Champions League: 🏆🏆🏆 European Super Cup: 🏆🏆#ClubWC: 🏆🏆🏆🏆 Supercopa: 🏆🏆
Many believed that Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure from Real Madrid in 2018 would see the collapse of the club, while last season showed clear signs that this may materialize, Zidane’s men completely turned things around at the club in as collective a way as possible.
Real Madrid have used 26 players this campaign and 21 of those have found the back of the net. Captain and centre-back Sergio Ramos has found the back of the net 10 times. Karim Benzema has also upped his game since Zidane’s return scoring 20 goals in back-to-back seasons for the first time.
WATCH: REAL MADRID CELEBRATE 2019/20 LALIGA TRIUMPH
‘Best day of my life’
“This is one of the best days in my life professionally. It’s another league title, after the confinement and everything else that happened. I wish we could celebrate with the fans, but I’m sure they are very happy at home seeing their team win the league again.â€
Citizen scientists recently helped direct astronomers to a pair of objects that straddle the line between planets and stars.
These newly-spotted substellar objects are brown dwarfs, which share many elements in common with stars. However, these gaseous bodies don’t have enough mass to start nuclear fusion in their core, so they resemble planets more than stars.
The newfound brown dwarfs have very unusual compositions. They are the most planet-like brown dwarfs to be observed in the Milky Way’s oldest populations of stars, NASA officials said in a statement. They also might help researchers learn more about planets outside the solar system.Â
Artist’s Impression of the brown dwarf Luhman 16B, recreated from observations taken by the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope. (Image credit: ESO/I. Crossfield/N. Risinger (skysurvey.org))
The citizen scientists who spotted both objects were part of the ongoing NASA-funded Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 project. They were looking through spacecraft data from NASA’s WISE and NEOWISE missions; both missions are chapters in the life of a single spacecraft called the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer.Â
And the objects that the collaboration recently found, now called WISE 1810 and WISE 0414, are weird.Â
When scientists studied them, they were surprised to see that these two brown dwarfs have very little iron compared to what’s usually observed in brown dwarfs. This is a telltale sign that they are very old. The pair is estimated to be about 10 billion years old and to have a mass of about 75 times the mass of Jupiter, NASA said.Â
If these brown dwarfs formed with low levels of metal, so might ancient exoplanets. This could be a reason to search for old metal-poor exoplanets or alien worlds that orbit ancient metal-poor stars. Further research into this brown dwarf population could answer questions about how dependent the planet formation process is on the presence of metals.Â
A study accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal and uploaded to the preprint server arXiv.org details these findings. Its lead author is Adam Schneider from Arizona State University’s School of Earth and Space Exploration in Tempe. Schneider first spotted WISE 1810 in 2016.Â
NASA representatives said Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 has contributed to more than 1,600 brown dwarf discoveries.Â
Follow Doris Elin Urrutia on Twitter @salazar_elin. Follow uson Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.Â
Since March, economic lockdowns have forced more and more companies — including well-known names like Hertz, J. Crew and Neiman Marcus — to file for bankruptcy protection. But the bankers and lawyers who help troubled companies repair their balance sheets and guide them through Chapter 11 reckon that the worst is still to come, as reported in today’s DealBook newsletter.
About 3,600 companies filed for Chapter 11 in the first half of 2020,more than any year since 2012, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute. The past few weeks alone have brought filings by the fracking pioneer Chesapeake Energy, the Japanese home goods company Muji USA and the retailer New York & Company.
But the pace of filings slowed last month. Advisers cited the huge federal government programs for stabilizing the economy, as well as efforts by companies to bolster their cash by drawing down their credit lines and issuing trillions of dollars’ worth of new bonds. Earlier-than-expected reopenings have bolstered some businesses’ performance, allowing them to bring in some sales — critical to servicing their debts.
Yet as coronavirus cases surge again, an uptick in filings may follow. “We’re starting to see the pendulum swing back toward fear again,†William Hardie, a managing director in Houlihan Lokey’s financial restructuring group, said in a telephone interview.
What comes next could be ugly. Many companies that saved themselves by borrowing more money are now in a bind: They have mortgaged nearly all their available assets, leaving little wiggle room. And while creditors may be willing to give borrowers concessions on existing loans, they not be so generous on requests for more cash.
That could lead to more companies will be taken over by lenders, who would convert their loans into equity. So far, advisers say, talks between debtors and creditors have been sanguine, with relatively few of the disagreements that often complicate Chapter 11 cases. “There’s no finger-pointing,†Mr. Hardie said. “Everyone realizes this is no one’s fault.â€
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