‘My appointment was met with opposition’: Rubana Huq, the first female chief of a Bangladesh boys’ club
One of Bangladesh’s foremost female business leaders has vowed to transform job opportunities for women. Rubana Huq – managing director of one of the country’s largest conglomerates – became the first female president of Bangladesh’s national garment workers’ association earlier this month. Despite fierce resistance to her appointment from men in the industry, the pioneering 55-year-old has revealed ambitious plans to tackle…
Brothers paid to attack Jussie Smollett sue his lawyers for defamation
Jussie Smollett’s lawyers have been sued by two Nigerian-American brothers who carried out the "attack" on the actor, accusing the legal team of defamation in the latest twist to the strange case. Olabinjo and Abimbola Osundairo, a pair of personal trainers, were briefly taken into custody in January as Chicago police investigated Smollett’s claim. The…
Burma’s top court rejects final appeal by jailed Reuters journalists
Burma’s top court on Tuesday rejected the final appeal of two Reuters reporters sentenced to seven years in jail for breaking the Official Secrets Act while reporting on atrocities committed by the country’s army against Rohingya Muslims. Wa Lone, 33, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 29, have already spent more than 16 months behind bars. Their…
Hero firefighter and his GP wife named among British victims of Sri Lanka terror attacks
A former firefighter and his GP wife have been named as among the eight Britons killed in the Easter Sunday terror attacks in Sri Lanka. Bill Harrop and Dr Sally Bradley from Manchester had been on holiday in the country when they were killed in the blast that struck the Cinnamon Grand Hotel. Mr Harrop’s son Gavin, who had…
US arrests former marine over North Korea embassy raid
The US authorities have made their first arrest in connection with the mysterious raid on North Korea’s Madrid embassy in February when a group of assailants allegedly tied up staff and stole sensitive information. On Thursday, federal officers arrested Christopher Ahn, a former US marine and a member of the secretive Free Joseon group, who…
Faye Mooney: British aid worker shot dead by kidnappers in Nigeria
Kidnappers in Nigeria killed a British woman and a Nigerian man, and abducted three others in the northern city of Kaduna, local police and the British High Commission said on Sunday. Kidnappings are rampant in Nigeria, where both locals and foreigners are targeted — mostly for ransom. The woman travelled from Lagos as a tourist…
How nimbys halted one of the world’s most ambitious renewable energy drives
Standing beside a windswept junction near Germany’s Baltic coast, Thea Funk points at a stretch of land to the north. “They want to build 12 turbines up there, each one 240 metres high. And down there there are plans to put up more, somewhere between six and eight,” she explains, gesturing to a field across…
Democrats split on impeachment as controversy rages over Mueller report
A split has emerged in the Democratic Party over whether to launch impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump in the wake of the Mueller report. Leading Democrats appeared at pains to play down the likelihood of success, instead favouring the 2020 election to remove the president from office. However a group of prominent left-wing congressmen went…
Seagram whisky heiress Clare Bronfman pleads guilty to role in Nxivm ‘sex cult’
American whisky heiress Clare Bronfman has pleaded guilty to her role in the secretive "sex cult" Nxivm which allegedly trafficked women. Bronfman, the 40-year-old heir to the Seagram alcohol fortune, was accused of using her wealth to fund the suspected sex cult to the tune of more than $100 million (£77m). She had been due to stand…
Analysis: Robert Mueller’s report shows how Donald Trump was saved from himself
Donald Trump was saved from himself. That, in a nutshell, was the most fascinating finding from Robert Mueller as the report Washington has been waiting on for almost two years finally dropped. His conclusion on Russian election interference, the reason this whole probe begun in the first place and which made up volume one of…