‘My mum was a courtesan
Manish Gaekwad A photo of Rekhabai, taken in the 1990s in Kolkata “I danced in the dark. I used to light up the room with candles and perform. In the blackout, my naseeb (fate) was going to shine.” Fear gripped people as wailing sirens and days-long blackouts became a part of daily life. The future […]
No SNP civil war, but turmoil can be just as bad
Jeff J Mitchell Alex Salmond denies the claims made against him Spent much of today chatting to sundry folk within the SNP and the wider independence movement. The topic? Alex Salmond and the political impact of this quite remarkable controversy. I was struck by the plaintive, woebegone nature of the exchanges – or most of […]
What North Korea can learn from Vietnam’s women
BBC Entrepreneurs like Ms Thanh are the lifeblood of Vietnam’s economy As US President Donald Trump and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un prepare for a historic summit in Vietnam, the BBC takes a look at how the host country could act as a role model for North Korea’s future. Duong Thi Thanh has built a […]
Charities’ dismay as Twitter disbands safety group
Getty Images Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, California Twitter has disbanded the volunteer group which advised it on self-harm, child abuse and hate speech. The Trust and Safety Council, formed in 2016, contained about 100 independent groups such as Samaritans and the UK Safer Internet Centre (UKSIC). Elon Musk’s Twitter had been due to meet […]
Scotland Women: All players to be full-time up to World Cup with Government funding
“This announcement gives our home-based players an opportunity to train more, but also to rest more,” head coach Kerr told BBC Scotland. “Some of them have to juggle full-time or part-time employment, or full-time education, as well as training with their clubs four or five times a week, on top of a strength and conditioning […]
EU will send additional 10,000 guards to borders
Reuters The EU plans to send 10,000 more border guards to tackle unlawful immigration by 2020, the European Commission’s president Jean-Claude Juncker said in his annual state of the union address. He called for more solidarity, rather than “ad-hoc solutions” for people on migrant ships. His speech also tackled the region’s other burning issues – […]
Do you live in the world’s least active country?
Tim Althoff US scientists have amassed “planetary-scale” data from people’s smartphones to see how active we really are. The Stanford University analysis of 68 million days’ worth of minute-by-minute data showed the average number of daily steps was 4,961. Hong Kong was top averaging 6,880 a day, while Indonesia was bottom of the rankings with […]
Was 2017 a tipping point for women in Hollywood?
BBC Emma Waston, Gal Gadot and Daisy Ridley featured in 2017’s three top-grossing films How significant is it that 2017’s three top-grossing films had female leads? The #MeToo campaign was groundbreaking: it was both personal and anecdotal, yet also a collective roar by women all over the world, sharing stories of sexual assault or harassment. […]
Obituary: Baroness Trumpington
Baroness Trumpington: From Bletchley Park to the House of Lords She was the society girl and war-time Nazi codebreaker who fended off the amorous advances of Lloyd-George. In a long political career, she was mayor of Cambridge, a Conservative whip and served as a health minister in Margaret Thatcher’s government. But Baroness Trumpington, who has […]
‘What I learned from leaders’ behaviour off-camera’
BBC Amy Golding is CEO of Opus and a recent guest on CEO Secrets For five years now, we have been meeting business leaders for the CEO Secrets series, inviting them to share their inspirational advice in short videos. More than 200 chief executives later, series producer Dougal Shaw explains some of the personality traits […]