
‘Crass’ government ad angers U.K. arts workers hit hard by covid-19
“I agree it was crass,” Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden tweeted on Monday, adding that his staff were not involved in the advertisement, which was part of a “partner campaign encouraging people from all walks of life to think about a career in cyber security.”
Reactions to the advertisement dovetailed with broader criticism that officials have not found ways to communicate effectively with workers facing tenuous employment during the pandemic. Fatboy Slim, a popular British DJ and music producer, said that the government was “throwing the arts under a bus.”
The anger came after beta version of a quiz developed by the British government to help people prepare for career changes became the subject of gallows humor among arts workers last week. The Department of Education quiz asked 50 questions to help respondents decide what careers might best suit them.
But those who took the quiz were often perturbed by

Spain Hit By Anti-government Car Protests Called By Far-right
Hundreds of cars and motorbikes paraded Monday in Madrid and other Spanish cities in protests called by the far-right to demand Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his government resign.
Sporting red and yellow national flags and banners, people gathered on Spain’s national day at the call of far-right party Vox to protest the left-wing government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
In Madrid, hundreds of vehicles went down the large Castellana avenue where a military parade normally takes place on October 12, cancelled this year due to the pandemic.
Car protests also took place in Valencia in the east, and Seville and Malaga in the south, according to images on