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22 June

In the headlines

“Gold age pensions,” says Metro, after the government confirmed that state pensions will rise in line with inflation, which has hit a 40-year high of 9.1%. The announcement came as rail unions were told that any pay rise above 3% would be inflationary. The “only difference”, says journalist Adam Bienkov on Twitter, is that pensioners usually vote Tory and public sector workers usually don’t. Boris Johnson is prepared for the stand-off with the RMT to last “months”, says The Times. Ministers believe the union will “quickly burn through funds” as it supports striking workers. Festivalgoers should watch out for “the Monster of Glastonfurry”, says the Daily Star, after a builder spotted a “huge black animal” roaming the site. Judging by the shape, he says, “I’m pretty sure it was a puma”.

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Comment

Life

A surprising number of big acts have rejected the chance to headline Glastonbury, says The Daily Telegraph. The Killers declined in 2005 because, somewhat touchingly, they didn’t think they were ready for it. (They accepted two years later.) Elton John says he’s just not a “Glastonbury type of act”. But festival organiser Michael Eavis has ways of persuading reluctant performers. Having been turned down by Dolly Parton every year between 2006 and 2013, he finally told her he would ask one more time – but never again. “To riotous effect, in front of a colossal crowd, she turned up in 2014.”

Tomorrow’s world

The metaverse has been “hailed by evangelists as the future of work”, says Insider, but it appears we’re still a long way off. In a recent trial, 18 university staff spent an entire working week in the virtual reality world. “Two of them had to drop out due to nausea,” and the rest said it left them frustrated, anxious, and with sore eyes.

Zeitgeist

In March, Kylie Jenner announced that she had changed her baby’s name from Wolf because she “didn’t feel like it was him”. Three months on and the 24-year-old reality star still hasn’t revealed the new name. “Since when has any member of the Kardashian universe kept a secret?” says Olivia Craighead in Gawker. It’s obvious what’s going on here: the baby is still unnamed. Luckily for Kylie, I have some suggestions: Cash (“a little on the nose”), ! (“pronounced Bang”), or Lilibet Diana (“I don’t think anyone’s done this before”).

Noted

This bar chart tracks how the 10 most popular websites in the world have changed over time. The section above shows the early years of the internet, when several sites were jostling for position and Google was still rising up the ranks. Watch the full video, from 1993 to 2022, here.

Quirk of history
Snapshot

Pablo Picasso and his eldest daughter Maya. When she was aged between five and seven, Maya was taught by the Spanish artist how to draw and colour, says The Observer. The result was an “extraordinary collection of sketchbooks”, which are going on display for the first time at the Musée Picasso in Paris after Maya’s daughter found them while sifting through storage.

Quoted

quoted 22.6.22

“Immigration is the sincerest form of flattery.”

American talk show host Jack Parr