A woman’s work is never done in a nice, quiet home office | Letters

Re Emma Beddington’s article (Working from home? It’s so much nicer if you’re a man, 1 June), from day one of the Covid lockdown, my husband got the spare bedroom with the spare desk and two huge computer screens, whether he was doing technical work, meetings or just email. He would make a huge scene if he had to work on his laptop for just one hour. Meanwhile, I was stuck at the kitchen table with my mini laptop, including on days that I had to do technical work, big presentations or long meetings.Now he is retired and I work mostly at the office. On the rare days I work from home, I still work at the kitchen table, but he may let me work in his office for a couple of hours if I have to do some focused work

The good news? Household living standards are on the rise. The bad news? Just about everything else | Greg Jericho

There were early signs that the March GDP figures were not going to be good.To start with, the Bureau of Statistics’ new measure of household spending that covers about two-thirds of all household spending had already revealed that spending for the quarter was flat compared with a 1.6% jump in December quarter last year. So household spending was worse.Then last week the private capital expenditure figures revealed a 0

Ministers offer concessions on AI and copyright to avoid fifth Lords defeat

Defiant peers have delivered an ultimatum to offer artists copyright protection against artificial intelligence or risk losing a key piece of legislation.The government suffered a fifth defeat in the House of Lords over controversial plans to allow the AI companies to train their models using copyrighted material.Peers voted by 221 to 116 on Wednesday to insist on an amendment to force AI companies to be transparent about what material they use to train their models.The move prolongs a lengthy standoff between the Commons and Lords over the data bill, which has been used as a vehicle by campaigners to oppose the government’s proposed copyright reforms.Resistance to the changes in the Lords has been led by Beeban Kidron, a cross-bench peer and film director, whose amendments have been repeatedly backed by the upper chamber

BBC and Sky bosses criticise plans to let AI firms use copyrighted material

The BBC director general and the boss of Sky have criticised proposals to let tech firms use copyright-protected work without permission, as the government promised that artificial intelligence legislation will not destroy the £125bn creative sector.The creative industry has said that original proposals published in a consultation in February to give AI companies access to creative works unless the copyright holder opts out would “scrape the value” out of the sector.Dana Strong, the group chief executive of Sky, compared the proposal to its own battles against TV piracy and said individuals and small companies would not have the experience and financial resources to protect their intellectual property.“Sky is one of the leading forces in trying to fight against piracy,” she said, speaking at the Deloitte and Enders Media and Telecoms conference.“As I look ahead to artificial intelligence, protecting copyright is a very big issue, and I think some of the consequences of the opt-out are impossible to police

England beat West Indies by 143 runs in second women’s cricket ODI – as it happened

That’s it from us for today. Thanks for your company as England sailed pretty smoothly to an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. We’ll be back on Saturday for the denouement – until then, good night!A tight-lipped Campbelle praises Grimmand and Glasgow for their efforts.NSB is understandably a little happier. “It’s great to see them [Jones and Beaumont] doing so well

Jones and Beaumont shine as England Women clinch series win over West Indies

England took advantage of the absence of Hayley Matthews to thrash West Indies by 143 runs in the second ODI at Leicester on Wednesday.Having waited 12 years to score a maiden international hundred, Amy Jones resolved to achieve the feat twice in five days, and this time did so in just 76 balls; while Tammy Beaumont followed up with a second consecutive hundred of her own. The decision of the head coach, Charlotte Edwards, to reunite the pair after a five-year break now looks like a masterstroke after they became the first players in ODI history to share consecutive partnerships of more than 200.Matthews had been ruled out before play due to a shoulder injury, presumably sustained after carrying the entire weight of her team all tour. She spent the England innings stalking the boundary in a sling; it seems unlikely that she will be able to play any part in the final ODI at Taunton on Saturday