Boris Johnson’s girlfriend wears saree during temple visit
London: Carrie Symonds wore a saree as she joined her boyfriend, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a visit to a Hindu temple for the couple’s first joint outing before the December 12 general election.
The Prime Minister, who is ratcheting up his campaigning ahead of the crunch ballot, was seen at the Neasden Temple here on Saturday with his 31-year-old girlfriend for the first time in over a month, the Daily Mail reported on Sunday.
They offered prayers and met worshippers and members of the Indian diaspora in the temple.
The couple’s last appearance was at the Conservative election launch on November 6.
Saturday’s outing came a day after a poll revealed that Johnson bested opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in their second and final debate ahead of the election.
The YouGov poll said that Johnson appeared to have thwarted Corbyn’s bid to deliver a knockout blow in the face of surveys indicating that the incumbent’s Conservative Party would win an absolute majority in the election, reports Efe news.
The main themes of Friday’s debate, which aired on the BBC, were Brexit and the need for investment in public services. While Johnson’s Conservatives were overwhelmingly pro-Brexit, Labour voters remained divided and Corbyn has sought to accommodate those opposing views, insisting that he would remain neutral if there was a second referendum. (Agencies)
30,000 monks attend mass alms-giving in Myanmar
Mandalay (Myanmar): Thirty-thousand monks assembled in the early morning chill in Myanmar on Sunday for a spectacular alms-giving event, partly organised by a controversial mega-temple under scrutiny across the border in Thailand.
With many barefoot, Buddhist monks from Myanmar and Thailand and senior religious officials from a dozen countries collected alms next to an airport in the central city of Mandalay, that is also a heartland of the faith. As the sun rose over the ancient town, a sea of saffron and maroon-robed monks assembled in an area the size of a football field. They meditated, prayed and collected alms in an event meant to tighten the relationship of “monks and Buddhists between (the) two countries” and to “strengthen the monkhood” in the region, according to a statement.
“I hope we can continue to hold bigger events in the coming years,” said U Thu Nanda, a 24-year-old Burmese monk. The event was the third and largest of its kind since 2015 and comes as one of the organisers, the Thailand-based Dhammakaya foundation, attempts to bounce back from an embezzlement scandal more than two years ago.
The Dhammakaya temple’s massive compound in northern Bangkok was under siege for two weeks in early 2017 as thousands of officers try to arrest the sect’s spiritual leader. Phra Dhammachayowho was accused of colluding in a USD 33 million embezzlement scheme and was believed to be hiding somewhere on the temple’s sprawling 1,000 acre grounds, an area twice the size of Monaco. He was never found but the temple is still operational.
This year it also organized two large alms-giving events in Thailand in September and October attended by 10,000 monks to solicit donations for flood victims. (AFP)
Artist eats $120,000 banana artwork
Miami: An artwork of an overripe banana duct-taped to a wall that sold for $120,000 has been eaten by a separate performance artist at the Art Basel in Miami, a media report said on Sunday.
The artwork, titled ‘Comedian’, by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, was on display at the international gallery Perrotin here, the BBC said in the report.
Three buyers bought the limited-edition pieces of the banana art this week.
But performance artist David Datuna pulled it from the wall, peeled it and devoured it on Saturday.
“Art performance by me. I love Maurizio Cattelan artwork and I really love this installation. It’s very delicious,” Datuna posted on Instagram.
Despite the initial anger of a member of staff, the banana was swiftly replaced and no further action will be taken.
The art reportedly comes with a certificate of authenticity, meaning owners can replace the banana.
“(Datuna) did not destroy the art work. The banana is the idea,” the BBC reported citing Lucien Terras, a director at the gallery, as saying to the Miami Herald.
Police were later deployed to guard the replacement banana.
Art Basel is one of the world’s most high-profile contemporary art fairs. (IANS)
44 million Microsoft customers using leaked passwords
San Francisco: Microsoft has discovered that over 44 million users of its Azure and Microsoft Services Accounts (MSA) are using leaked credentials to log into their accounts.
The Microsoft identity threat research team regularly checks billions of credentials obtained from different breaches to look for compromised credentials in the Microsoft systems.
In 2019, the threat research team checked over three billion credentials and found a match for over 44 million Azure AD and Microsoft Services Accounts.
“For the leaked credentials for which we found a match, we force a password reset. No additional action is required on the consumer side,” the company said in a statement.
On the enterprise side, Microsoft will elevate the user risk and alert the administrator so that a credential reset can be enforced.
“Given the frequency of passwords being reused by multiple individuals, it is critical to back your password with some form of strong credential,” suggested the tech giant.
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is an important security mechanism that can dramatically improve your security posture.
“Our numbers show that 99.9 per cent of identity attacks have been thwarted by turning on MFA,” said Microsoft. (IANS)