ye7 gaming 100 Government departments are on a collision course with unions unsatisfied with proposals to raise pay for more than a million public sector workers by 2.8% next year. Inflation is predicted to average 2.5% this year and 2.6% next year, according to forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility. The British Medical Association said the Government showed a “poor grasp” of unresolved issues from two years of industrial action, and the Royal College of Nursing called the pay recommendation “deeply offensive”. The National Education Union’s chief said teachers were “putting the Government on notice” that the proposed increase “won’t do”. The pay recommendations came after Chancellor Rachel Reeves called for every Government department to cut costs by 5%, as she started work on a sweeping multi-year spending review to be published in 2025. Independent pay review bodies will consider the proposals for pay rises for teachers, NHS workers and senior civil servants. The Department of Health said it viewed 2.8% as a “reasonable amount” to set aside, in its recommendations to the NHS Pay Review Body and the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration Board remit groups. A 2.8% pay rise for teachers in 2025/26 would “maintain the competitiveness of teachers’ pay despite the challenging financial backdrop the Government is facing”, the Department for Education said. The Cabinet Office also suggested pay increases for senior civil servants should be kept to no more than 2.8%. Paul Johnson, director of the influential economics think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), said it was “not a bad ballpark figure” and feels “just about affordable” given the Government’s public spending plans. The downside, he said, is that public sector workers have lost out since 2010 and unions will be upset that this is not making up the gap, he told Sky News’ Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge. “But given the constraints facing the Chancellor I think it’s pretty hard to argue for more for public sector pay when public sector services ... are under real strain,” he said. Unions expressed their disappointment in the recommendations, with some hinting they could be willing to launch industrial action. The Royal College of Nursing general secretary and chief executive called for “open direct talks now” to avoid “further escalation to disputes and ballots”. Professor Nicola Ranger said: “The Government has today told nursing staff they are worth as little as £2 extra a day, less than the price of a coffee. “Nursing is in crisis – there are fewer joining and too many experienced professionals leaving. This is deeply offensive to nursing staff, detrimental to their patients and contradictory to hopes of rebuilding the NHS. “The public understands the value of nursing and they know that meaningful reform of the NHS requires addressing the crisis in nursing. “We pulled out of the Pay Review Body process, alongside other unions, because it is not the route to address the current crisis. “That has been demonstrated today. “Fair pay must be matched by structural reform. Let’s open direct talks now and avoid further escalation to disputes and ballots – I have said that directly to government today.” Professor Philip Banfield, chairman of the British Medical Association’s council, urged the sector’s pay review body to “show it is now truly independent”. “For this Government to give evidence to the doctors’ and dentists’ pay review body (DDRB) believing a 2.8% pay rise is enough, indicates a poor grasp of the unresolved issues from two years of industrial action,” he said. He said the proposal is far below the current rate of inflation and that the Government was “under no illusion” when doctors accepted pay offers in the summer that there was a “very real risk of further industrial action” if “pay erosion” was not addressed in future pay rounds. “This sub-inflationary suggestion from the current Government serves as a test to the DDRB. “The BMA expects it to take this opportunity to show it is now truly independent, to take an objective view of the evidence it receives from all parties, not just the Government, and to make an offer that reflects the value of doctors’ skills and expertise in a global market, and that moves them visibly further along the path to full pay restoration.” The NEU’s general secretary, Daniel Kebede, said teachers’ pay had been cut by more than one-fifth in real terms since 2010. “Along with sky-high workload, the pay cuts have resulted in a devastating recruitment and retention crisis. Teacher shortages across the school system hit pupils and parents too. “A 2.8% increase is likely to be below inflation and behind wage increases in the wider economy. This will only deepen the crisis in education.” In a hint that there could be a return to industrial action he added: “NEU members fought to win the pay increases of 2023 and 2024. “We are putting the Government on notice. Our members care deeply about education and feel the depth of the crisis. This won’t do.” The offer for teachers is the “exact opposite of fixing the foundations” and will result in bigger class sizes and more cuts to the curriculum, Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “The inadequacy of the proposed pay award is compounded by the Government’s intention that schools should foot the bill out of their existing allocations. “Given that per-pupil funding will increase on average by less than 1% next year, and the Government’s proposal is for an unfunded 2.8% pay award, it is obvious that this is in fact an announcement of further school cuts.” Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT, said: This recommendation falls far short of what is needed to restore the competitiveness of the teaching profession, to enable it to retain experienced professionals and attract new talent. Unison head of health Helga Pile said: “The Government has inherited a financial mess from its predecessors, but this is not what NHS workers wanted to hear. “Staff are crucial in turning around the fortunes of the NHS. Improving performance is a key Government pledge, but the pay rise proposed is barely above the cost of living.”

Want to keep up with what everyone’s talking about on alternative social media sites like Bluesky and Mastodon , but don’t have time to constantly scroll through their respective apps? A newly launched link aggregation service called Sill may be able to help. The service is similar to the older startup Nuzzel , which was ultimately acquired by Twitter as part of its deal for Scroll in 2021 , then integrated into Twitter’s app. Popular with news junkies, Nuzzel helped users keep track of what everyone on Twitter was talking about, reading, and resharing that day. The feature lives on inside of Elon Musk’s X app as “Top Articles,” which is available to X’s Premium subscribers. Sill is now offering the same sort of functionality, but for the Twitter/X alternatives that are embracing open protocols, like Mastodon and Bluesky. Part of the open social web, the two social platforms promote the idea of decentralized social media as a counterbalance to apps run by centralized authorities like X and Meta. However, Mastodon and Bluesky rely on different protocols and infrastructure. Mastodon is part of the fediverse , powered by ActivityPub , while Bluesky is building its own AT Protocol. The service’s launch comes at the same time as X appears to be deprioritizing links within its own app, per a post from X owner Elon Musk. He suggested that links should be added to replies instead, in response to a complaint about the change by Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham. To get started with Sill , you’ll first connect your Bluesky and Mastodon accounts to the new service. The app’s developer Tyler Fisher says Sill uses Bluesky’s new OAuth for AT Protocol instead of app passwords, which means Sill won’t have access to your password directly. Once connected, you’ll be able to see the most shared links among those you follow across the two services. You can also opt-in to receive a daily email that lists all 10 of the most popular links in your network. Link popularity is determined by the number of unique accounts that share a URL across your social apps, Fisher explains, including those that may have reposted the link (similar to a retweet). Sill aggregates those links and shows you what people are saying about them. You can also further curate your links by muting phrases, domains, and accounts that you don’t want to see included, Fisher noted in a blog post announcing Sill’s launch last week. Previously CTO at the nonprofit newsroom The 19th and a software engineer at The Washington Post, Sill’s creator has experience building technology for the news ecosystem. He says Sill will remain an open source project so people can self-host their own version, but he will later introduce paid plans that will offer advanced features to sustain the app. These may include features like support for custom lists or feeds, analytics, support for multiple accounts, or maybe native apps. Sill’s launch was first spotted by Apple news site Six Colors and NiemanLab , which focuses on journalism in the digital age. Noted the latter, Sill had around 300 people in its private beta ahead of the public beta launch. It’s now open to anyone. Be aware that as a beta project, Sill may have performance issues and bugs. (It took us a few tries to get our initial sign-up through, for instance, and Sill warned that Bluesky could be down even when the app was working.) 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Ross Barkley’s 85th-minute goal gave them victory in Germany after goals from John McGinn and Jhon Duran early in each half were cancelled out by Lois Openda and Christoph Baumgartner. That sent them up to third in the new league phase of the competition ahead of Wednesday’s games and with matches against Monaco and Celtic to come, Villa have an excellent chance of finishing in the top eight. Job done... in the end 😅 #RBLAVL #UCL pic.twitter.com/PRD1Hi1Q3A — Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) December 10, 2024 That would mean they would avoid a play-off round to make it through to the last 16 and Emery says that is the target. “Today was key. Juventus at home, we were thinking more to win but in the end we accepted the draw because it was important for a point to be more or less in the top 24,” he told Amazon Prime. “Today was a match we were thinking at the beginning was key to be a contender to be in the top eight with the last two matches to be played. “It is going to be difficult and we have to get some more points but we now have the possibility to achieve this option. “We are going to enjoy and try to get top eight but we have to be happy because we are in the top 24 and maybe even the top 16. “We weren’t contenders in the beginning to get there but now we have to accept it.” Leipzig, who are flying high near the top of the Bundesliga, are out after losing all six matches. They did pose a threat to Villa, who inflicted some of their own problems on themselves, notably a rare gaffe from goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez for Openda’s equaliser. But Emery was happy with his side’s performance. “I try to enjoy and always we want to improve and sometimes it is hard but today the team were performing well, playing seriously and I was enjoying it,” he added. “We tried to overcome the mistakes we made and we did. More or less we were playing consistently. One mistake and they score but then we played very well. “Champions League is very difficult and we have to expect that every team playing at home are feeling strong. We played with consistency and domination.”

Surf Air Mobility Appoints David Anderman to Board of Directors

In the midst of these challenges, the steadfastness of the military in upholding the rule of law and respecting civilian authority is paramount. The Defense Ministry's affirmation of Defense Minister Suh Wook's leadership underscores the military's commitment to stability, professionalism, and fidelity to the Constitution, underpinning South Korea's resilience in the face of political upheaval.