Marks & Spencer reveal condiment sales rocket post-lockdown
Sales of Marks & Spencer's teriyaki and sweet chilli sauces are up 100 per cent year-on-year, and have risen more than 150 per cent since before the pandemic, FEMAIL can exclusively reveal. Brown sauce is now outselling barbecue sauce, with sales of the tangy condiment up 110 per cent at M&S versus before the pandemic. Last month, sales of M&S's brown sauce overtook BBQ sauce for the first time in five years. Sales of M&S's Sicilian lemon mayonnaise are up 34 per cent year-on-year, while roasted garlic mayonnaise is up 58 per cent since before the pandemic. Sales of M&S's reduced fat mayo are up 15 per cent year-on-year, while reduced sugar ketchup sales have soared 71 per cent in the same timeframe.
Source:The Nation
September 25, 2021 11:26 UTC
Menike goes to Italy: Yohani’s hit single gathers more momentum
In another rollicking turn of events, Sri Lanka’s very own music sensation Yohani has made her mark in Italy. This comes after an Italian street musician played the saxophone to the international hit ‘Menike Mage Hithe’ by Yohani. This comes right after Yohani took to her instagram account to confirm her deal with Wingman India, where she will be exclusively represented by Bollywood manager Sonu Lakwani. Yohani stole the hearts of people worldwide with her unadulterated voice, with celebrities such as Amitabh Bachan resorting to twitter and Facebook to commend the youngsters song. The song has been viewed over a million times on Instagram, Tiktok and Youtube within a short period, and Yohani became an overnight sensation with her song ‘Menike Mage Hithe’.
Source:The Nation
September 25, 2021 10:18 UTC
Coronavirus- 997 more patients discharged upon recovery
September 25, 2021 03:37 pmA total of 997 more COVID-19 patients were discharged from medical care today (Sep. 25) as they have recovered from the virus infection, the Ministry of Health said. This brings the total number of recoveries reported in the country to 453,689. Since the outbreak of the pandemic last year, Sri Lanka has confirmed as many as 511,372 cases of COVID-19. According to official data, more than 45,000 virus-infected patients are currently receiving treatment at hospitals, treatment centres and homes. Meanwhile, the death from novel coronavirus stands at 12,530.
Source:The Nation
September 25, 2021 10:07 UTC
Chaos at BIA as arrivals still sent for mandatory quarantine
Chaos has broken out at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) today as tourists are still being taken to hotels for quarantine procedures instead of the PCR facility established at the airport. The PCR testing facility at the BIA was declared open by Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga on Thursday (23) and was supposed to commence for testing from today (25). However, the rapid PCR testing had not commences even today, and tourists and transit passengers arriving at the airport were sent to hotels for quarantine purposes, as they did earlier, the airport duty manager said. After the announcement made by the government about the PCR test facilities available for tourists, chaos was reported for not providing the facilities today. The tourists taken to hotels have to spend a maximum of four days until they receive their PCR test results.
Source:The Nation
September 25, 2021 09:45 UTC
More attractions for tourists arriving after country re-opens
According to the Department of Government Information, the Central Cultural Fund earned an income between Rs. Director-General of the Central Cultural Fund Professor Gamini Ranasinghe joining the discussion said a two-way road has been built for local and foreign visitors to the historical statue at Buduruwagala. According to Professor Ranasinghe, conservation of the prehistoric sites at Alawala has also started. Addressing the media briefing, Media Director of the Central Cultural Fund Lalith Udesha Madhubahnu said a program to sell books at discount prices has been launched on the sidelines of the Literature Month of September. These items could be ordered through the official website of the Central Cultural Fund or dialing 077 487 4081 and 071 058 1723 or WhatsApp; arrangements have been made to deliver the items within four weekdays.
Source:The Nation
September 25, 2021 09:00 UTC
Foreign currency term financing facility deadline extended
The Ministry of Finance has extended the closing date for the submission of Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Foreign Currency Term Financing Facility for the Government of Sri Lanka 2021. In a communiqué, the ministry said an additional period of time will be given to submit the RFPs until October 05. Accordingly, the proposals should be directed by e-mail to [email protected] by 4.00 pm on the said date. The decision to extend the deadline, which was initially set to close on September 22, has been taken at the request of prospective investors. The finance ministry noted that other terms and conditions in the original RFP dated August 31, 2021 remains unchanged.
Source:The Nation
September 25, 2021 08:26 UTC
How Elizabeth Holmes sidelined the real scientists at Theranos
Former Theranos lab director Adam Rosendorff was the second employee who testified in Elizabeth Holmes’ trial who kept his work emails. In opening arguments of US v Elizabeth Holmes, the defense agreed there were problems in Theranos’ lab. When he first joined Theranos in April 2013, Rosendorff thought Theranos might be the next Apple. The launch was scheduled for September 9th, 2013, and the schedule came from Holmes and Balwani, Rosendorff said. “Are there any findings we can relay about high trends in calcium reporting?” Christian Holmes wrote to Young and Balwani.
Source:The Nation
September 25, 2021 01:52 UTC
Platinum Jubilee medal hailed by Culture Secretary as fitting tribute
The Culture Secretary has hailed the Platinum Jubilee medal as a fitting tribute to the sacrifices of the Armed Forces, emergency services and others who will receive the award marking the Queen's 70-year reign. 'I think looking forward, 2022 is going to be a year when everyone can put that behind us and we can celebrate the Commonwealth Games, Festival UK, the Queen's Jubilee and the extended Bank Holiday Weekend to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee.' On the reverse is the heraldic image of the royal crest and the years of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee - 1952-2022. In recent decades, medals have been issued to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012, Golden Jubilee in 2002 and Silver Jubilee in 1977. Phil McDermott, chief executive officer of the Worcestershire Medal Service, the firm producing around 400,000 Platinum Jubilee medals, said the order was a welcome boost following the Covid crisis.
Source:The Nation
September 25, 2021 01:18 UTC
List of Google Pixel 6's camera features leaked
There's no denying that Google is quite eager about its upcoming Google Pixel 6 duo. XDA-Developers revealed a list of features we can expect from the Pixel 6 duo, but before getting into that, let's look at the camera hardware first. The Pixel 6 will have a 50MP Samsung GN1 main sensor, and a 12MP ultra-wide camera. The Pixel 6 Pro will have the latter two in addition to a 48MP 4X telephoto periscope zoom camera. It works by taking additional frames of the subject(s) using the ultra-wide camera at the same time that it's capturing HDR frames from the main camera.
Source:The Nation
September 24, 2021 23:37 UTC
Covid cases FALL after schools reopen despite autumn surge concerns
One in 90 people in England had the virus last week, with around 620,100 infected in total, testing by the Office for National Statistics revealed. This is down 18 per cent from a fortnight earlier, when one in 70 tested positive and estimated total infections stood at 754,000. But the ONS report shows cases have decreased or remained flat in every other age group. Daily infections are currently averaging 36,000, with another 35,623 cases and 180 deaths reported yesterday. Experts have warned a back-to-school wave is still possible and that England could follow the trajectory of Scotland, where cases recently spiralled to record highs.
Source:The Nation
September 24, 2021 22:18 UTC
Twitter says new videos will be less pixelated
Twitter’s poor video quality has been a long-running frustration for users on the platform, but on Friday, the company shared some potentially promising news: videos uploaded to the service will now “appear less pixelated for a better watching experience,” Twitter said in a tweet from its support account. App researcher Jane Manchun Wong uploaded a video to put the supposed improvements to the test, and the resulting video does appear to be less pixelated than it otherwise might have been. And this upgrade only applies to newly-uploaded videos, so older videos won’t see the improvements. That said, it’s promising to see that Twitter is putting some effort behind improving its video experience. And the upgrades may extend past video quality, as earlier this week, Wong’s research suggested that Twitter is also working on video playback speed options.
Source:The Nation
September 24, 2021 22:07 UTC
How to customize your Windows 11 taskbar
If you’ve updated your computer from Windows 10 to Windows 11, you may find that your taskbar isn’t quite as configurable — and perhaps not quite as useful — as it was before. For now, let’s concentrate on how you can adjust the current Windows 11 taskbar. The easiest way to do that is:You can hide four of the standard taskbar icons. Right-click on the taskbar and click on “Taskbar settings.” Select “Taskbar behaviors.” Look for “Taskbar alignment” and click on the button on the right where it says “Center.” Select “Left” instead. Taskbar corner icons and overflowWhile the taskbar corner icons and the overflow window aren’t new, I never actually knew what they were called before.
Source:The Nation
September 24, 2021 21:00 UTC
Bentley celebrating 70 years of its design department
By Ray Massey Motoring Editor For The Daily MailPublished: 16:50 EDT, 24 September 2021 | Updated: 16:50 EDT, 24 September 2021From pen-and-ink sketches and watercolours to the latest immersive virtual reality technology, Bentley is celebrating 70 years of its design department — as it prepares to relocate to a new site to create luxury electric limousines. The first Crewe-designed Bentley was the R-Type Continental in 1951. The company's design department has already grown tenfold to 50 in less than three decades. Innovation: From pen-and-ink sketches and watercolours to the latest immersive virtual reality technology, Bentley is celebrating 70 years of its design departmentBentley's director of design Andreas Mindt said: 'Iconic Bentleys were created here — beautiful cars that have stood the test of time, and which inspire our styling cues to this day. 'Our team of designers is now engaged with their next opportunity — creating our first battery electric vehicle (BEV), which must translate and reshape those classic forms and details to a truly future-facing design.'
Source:The Nation
September 24, 2021 21:00 UTC
US agrees not to pursue fraud charges against Huawei CFO
Reuters and the CBC first reported that Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou would appear in a Brooklyn federal courtroom today via streaming video and enter a plea regarding US charges against her. Meng was indicted on fraud charges claiming the Chinese technology and telecommunications company misrepresented its relationship with an Iranian affiliate, along with accusations it stole intellectual property from T-Mobile. The 13-count indictment named Meng, Huawei, and two of its subsidiaries — Huawei USA and Skycom. Its sources report that Huawei itself is not a part of the deal and will continue to fight its charges of fraud and trade secret theft. Update September 24th, 3:24PM ET: Updated to add Meng’s court appearance, not guilty plea, and prosecution agreement details.
Source:The Nation
September 24, 2021 20:15 UTC
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 2021 review
IntroductionBack in March 2021, Redmi announced that it sold over 25 million units of the original Redmi Note 8 globally. And to celebrate the milestone, in May the company introduced a refreshed version of the Redmi Note 8, dubbed Redmi Note 8 2021. Even so, prices change, and the Redmi Note 8 2021 could still become a viable budget opting at the right MSRP. UnboxingThe retail box for the Redmi Note 8 2021 unsurprisingly looks quite similar to that of the regular Redmi Note 8. This is an upgrade from the 10W charger that came with the original Redmi Note 8.
Source:The Nation
September 24, 2021 19:41 UTC