When prison makes things worse
Getty Images Many incarcerated women are victims themselves – of mental health problems, and of crimes worse than their own. Is prison the wrong place for them? Criminal Myths A special series about the factors that shape crime In April and May BBC Future is exploring several misconceptions about criminals and crime, in a time […]
Calls for hospitality support after ‘bleak Friday’
Getty Images Talks on further support for Scottish businesses are set to take place as firms feel the pinch on what should be their busiest weekend of the year. The UK government is due to hold a Cobra meeting including leaders of the devolved administrations, who want more money for measures to tackle Omicron. The […]
How did A Christmas Carol come to be?
Lucinda Hawksley Features correspondent Alamy The real-life inspiration for Tiny Tim had a much sadder fate. Dickens’s frustration about poverty in Great Britain led to a classic, writes Lucinda Hawksley. In May 1843, Charles Dickens was invited to a fundraising dinner in aid of the Charterhouse Square infirmary, which cared for elderly, impoverished men. Ironically, […]
NI farmers share over £300m in direct payments
Getty Images/Henry Arden Payments rose by 6% this year, meaning farmers get an extra £800, on average in their annual subsidy Just over £300m will be paid out to farmers in Northern Ireland today, as the first of this year’s direct payments hit applicants’ bank accounts. Direct payments are annual government subsidies paid to farmers […]
The designer who freed the female body
Cath Pound Features correspondent He was a visionary couturier who blazed a trail with his beautiful, daring dresses. Cath Pound explores the life and work of Fortuny, beloved by Marcel Proust and supermodels alike. There are few fashion designers from the early decades of the 20th Century whose creations could be worn today without resembling […]
Star Wars’ Mark Hamill on why he’d rather watch from home
Lauren Turner Entertainment reporter Mark Hamill as ‘pub quiz Jedi’ He’s going to the Oscars for the first time in four decades – but Star Wars’ Mark Hamill says he’d rather be watching the ceremony in his pyjamas. Hamill – Luke Skywalker in the films – last attended in 1978 when Star Wars: A New […]
Pheromones are probably not why people find you attractive
Getty Images Are pheromones real? (Credit: Getty Images) Are you really sending out airborne aphrodisiacs to potential mates? In 2010, dozens of people gathered in a Brooklyn art gallery to smell each other’s unlaundered t-shirts. This was no fetish party, but an attempt at seduction through smell. The premise of the “Pheromone Party” was simple: […]
Wage rises will put 30p on a pint, says pub chain
Getty Images The price of a pint of beer will have to rise by as much as 30p to help pay for higher wages and energy costs, one pub company has warned. As the government prepares to unveil its Budget, City Pub Group said price rises were “the only way forward”. Clive Watson, the chain’s […]
The new age of explicit TV
Emma Jones Features correspondent Netflix A new wave of shows featuring nudity and sex are appearing on the small screen. Are viewers becoming less prudish? Emma Jones takes a look. In 1995, TV audiences were mesmerised by the so-called ‘Darcy’ phenomenon – a young Colin Firth as the arrogant Mr Darcy, emerging fully-clothed but dripping […]
‘It had just vanished’ – the shock when tech fails
Natalie Brown Natalie Brown felt sick when her parenting blog vanished Natalie Brown had built her blog into a thriving business over the course of a decade, pouring heaps of effort into it. Then it disappeared. “I felt sick. It kind of slowly dawned on me… that it had just vanished,” says Mrs Brown, a […]