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☆ Hundreds of thousands rally in global cities to support Palestinians
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-28 | by ( Yann Tessier | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/6] Demonstrators protest in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in London, Britain, October 28, 2023. This is why we're here: we're calling for a ceasefire, calling for Palestinian rights, the right to exist, to live, human rights, all our rights," said protester Camille Revuelta. Addressing hundreds of thousands of supporters at a huge rally in Istanbul, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Israel was an occupier, and repeated his stance about Hamas not being a terrorist organisation. Some cities in France have banned rallies since the war began, fearing they could fuel social tensions, but despite a ban in Paris, a small rally took place on Saturday. In New Zealand's capital, Wellington, thousands of people holding Palestinian flags and placards reading "Free Palestine" marched to Parliament House.

Persons: Susannah Ireland, Rishi Sunak, Camille Revuelta, Israel, Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, Yann Tessier, Ben Makori, Will Russell, William James, Helen Popper, Alison Williams Organizations: Hamas, REUTERS, U.S, West Bank, Embassy, Police, Ece Toksabay, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Israel, Palestinian, London, Britain, Europe, East, Asia, Western, Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Istanbul, Baghdad, Hebron, Palestine, Copenhagen, Rome, Stockholm, France, Paris, Marseille, New Zealand's, Wellington

Soccer Football - FIFA Women's World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 - Final - Fans in London watch Spain v England - BOXPARK Wembley, London, Britain - August 20, 2023 England fans react after England lose the world cup final Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Couldridge Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Aug 20 (Reuters) - England soccer fans went home in bitter disappointment on Sunday after losing the Women's World Cup final 1-0 to Spain, but in defeat many of them also found inspiration and hope for future generations in the sport. "They might have not won, and it's so sad, but they've done so much for women's football, and that's what matters," said Jennifer Maidment, a 25-year-old student who watched the game in London. The scale of the national excitement reflected the growing public profile of women's soccer in England, where the team's run to the final built on their victory at the European Championship last year. "We never had any role models as girls when we were younger, so to have role models now is amazing. For older generations, the progress since the first England women's international match in 1972 was clear.

Persons: Andrew Couldridge, Jennifer Maidment, Kaitlin Howard, Pat Davies, Ben Makori, Hannah Ellison, William James Our Organizations: Soccer Football, FIFA, England, Wembley, of England, European, Woking Football Club, Thomson Locations: New Zealand, London, Spain, Britain, England, Sydney

☆ Global conservation mission sets sail from UK in Darwin's wake
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Ben Makori | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] A general view of the ship 'Oosterschelde', launched by the planetary conservation mission DARWIN200, which is to set sail on August 15, in Plymouth, Britain August 11, 2023. The group will set sail on board a 105-year-old schooner on Tuesday from the southern English port of Plymouth, from where British naturalist Darwin's own expedition began in 1831, leading him to develop the theory of evolution by natural selection. The 40,000 nautical mile "Darwin200" expedition hopes to anchor in 32 ports, including all the major ports visited by Darwin's HMS Beagle. Throughout the journey, 200 selected young environmentalists will temporarily join the ship to be trained on conservation efforts. Patrons of the project include Darwin's great-great-granddaughter - the botanist Sarah Darwin - and British primatologist Jane Goodall.

Persons: Charles Darwin's, Darwin's, Stewart McPherson, McPherson, Sarah Darwin, Jane Goodall, Goodall, Sachin Ravikumar, William James, Nick Macfie Organizations: REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Plymouth, Britain, Handout

LONDON, Aug 2 (Reuters) - A partial pardon by Myanmar's ruling military of jailed former leader Aung San Suu Kyi means "absolutely nothing", her younger son said on Wednesday, calling on Western governments to do more to step up pressure on the junta. Myanmar has been in turmoil since early 2021, when the military overthrew Suu Kyi's elected government and cracked down on opponents of military rule, with thousands jailed or killed. Suu Kyi had won a 2015 election, held as part of tentative military reforms, and her party won again in 2020, before the military complained of election fraud. Kim Aris, the son of Myanmar’s detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, poses for a portrait at the Reuters office in London, Britain, August 2, 2023. "But I do not see that this will actually result in any dialogue," he said of Suu Kyi's partial pardon.

Persons: Myanmar's, Aung San Suu, Kim Aris, Suu Kyi's, Suu Kyi, Michael Aris, Myanmar’s, Aung San, Aung San Suu Kyi, Dylan Martinez, I've, Aung, Suu, Sachin Ravikumar, Nick Macfie Organizations: Reuters, Aris, REUTERS, National Unity Government, Thomson Locations: British, London, Myanmar, Aung San Suu, Britain, Aung San, U.S

☆ Johnny Depp self-portrait painted during 'dark time' goes on sale
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] A self-portrait by actor Johnny Depp is pictured in Castle Fine Art Gallery in London, Britain, July 19, 2023. REUTERS/Ben MakoriLONDON, July 20 (Reuters) - A self-portrait by Johnny Depp went on sale on Thursday, depicting the Hollywood star when he was in between court cases relating to his marriage to ex-wife Amber Heard. "This self-portrait, it was created at a time that was... let’s say a bit dark, a bit confusing," Depp said in a video. Depp married Heard, whom he met on the set of film "The Rum Diary", in 2015. Depp said $200 from the proceeds of each sale would be donated to non-profit Mental Health America.

Persons: Johnny Depp, Ben Makori, Amber Heard, Ralph Steadman, Depp, Heard, Harry Potter, Dior, ” Depp, Elizabeth Taylor, Al Pacino, Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, Marie, Louise Gumuchian, Alex Richardson Organizations: Fine Art, REUTERS, Hollywood, U.S, Sun, Castle Fine, Mental Health America, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, British

If Mayor Sadiq Khan's plan goes ahead, London's Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) will become one of the world's largest to tackle air pollution, encompassing 5 million extra people in the capital's leafier and less-connected outer boroughs. London's transport authority says only one in 10 cars in outer London are not ULEZ-compliant. But Khan, who was diagnosed with asthma and wrote a book this year on air pollution and climate change, says he is determined to face down his critics. "But the further away from the city centre you go, the less you can improve air quality," Verbeek added. "It's absolutely critical that even in a cost-of-living crisis we do not kick the can of air pollution down the road and let more children grow up unhealthy and unwell," she said.

Persons: Toby Melville, Sadiq Khan's, Carl Cristina, Cristina, Khan, Thomas Verbeek, Verbeek, Jemima Hartshorn, Teresa O'Neill, I've, Gavin Jones, William James, Andrew Heavens Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Delft University of Technology, Thomson Locations: Marble, London, Britain, Europe, Rome, Netherlands

☆ Charles' mugs and plates: Workers busy making pottery fit for a new king
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Ben Makori | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

STOKE-ON-TRENT, England, March 16 (Reuters) - British pottery makers are continuing a tradition going back centuries by producing tens of thousands of commemorative mugs, plates and teapots to mark the upcoming coronation of King Charles. Charles will be the first British monarch to be crowned for seven decades following the record-breaking reign of his mother Queen Elizabeth. Workers at the Emma Bridgewater ceramics factory in Stoke-on-Trent, a city in central England famed for its pottery, are already busy producing swathes of handmade and decorated ceramics for the occasion. It follows a tradition of producing pottery to mark notable royal occasions such as births, weddings and anniversaries which goes back hundreds of years, to the time of the current monarch's namesake and predecessor Charles II. Charles himself visited the factory back in 2010, while his daughter-in-law Kate, the Princess of Wales, toured it five years later.

To compound the problem, British shoppers are themselves starting to spend more in the European Union, where they can also reclaim the value-added tax (VAT) charged on goods. OWN GOALBurberry BRBY.L, Britain's biggest luxury retail brand, warned last year that London was losing out to other European cities over the VAT rule. "That's why tax-free was so important for them, and now we are the only country in Europe that doesn't offer it." Cadogan, the main landlord in the west London districts of Chelsea and Knightsbridge, whose estate spans over 90 acres, also called on the government to act. He said he had not considered the VAT issue before, because he was generally spending his parents' money.

"I'd love to work more hours," Sharples told Reuters at the home in northern England she shares with her children and web-developer husband. The Centre for Progressive Policy (CPP) think tank has estimated that around 1.5 million British mums would work more hours if childcare permitted. Business groups and researchers argue that acting on childcare in his March 15 budget would do more to unlock greater economic growth. The government says it has spent more than 20 billion pounds in the last five years helping with the cost of childcare. "Childcare unlocks not just the potential of children, but also the potential of parents," Labour leader Keir Starmer said last month.

☆ 'All That Breathes' director Shaunak Sen 'overwhelmed' with award nods
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Sarah Mills | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Director Shaunak Sen, whose documentary ''All That Breathes'' is BAFTA and Oscar nominated, poses for a photograph during an interview with Reuters in London, Britain January 30, 2023. REUTERS/Ben MakoriLONDON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Indian director Shaunak Sen knew he had something special when making BAFTA and Oscar nominated documentary "All That Breathes", but the 35-year-old filmmaker said it "barely... correlates with the scale" of the recognition he is getting. I also feel overwhelmed," he told Reuters of his awards and nominations. "I haven't got my bearings right yet because this means that the coordinates of life have shifted somewhat, I imagine." Sen hopes this "entanglement of human and non-human life" offers a "valuable lesson".

Small businesses like his in Britain are being hammered by rising costs which they would struggle to pass onto cash-strapped consumers. It has left many small businesses fighting for survival. Over the course of last year citrus ingredients shot up by between 25% and 35% in price, he said. They now cost nearer to 15 pounds because of a 50% jump in the price of tinned tomatoes. He said: "We're just looking into every single aspect of the expenses that we incur to try and make a living."

[1/5] NHS nurses hold banners during a strike, amid a dispute with the government over pay, in London, Britain January 18, 2023. "This job is slowly killing nurses," said David Hendy, a 34-year old nurse joining around 100 others on the picket line outside University College London Hospital. The government has so far resisted pressure to meet nurses' demands for a discussion about pay, insisting it will not revisit the 4%-5% it awarded in 2022/23 on the recommendation of a pay review body, and will only discuss the pay review process for 2023/24. Health minister Steve Barclay told reporters during a visit to a hospital on Wednesday he was disappointed by the strikes and that meeting nurses' pay demands would be unaffordable. Definitely bills are going up and our pay is not reflecting that," said Jenny Gyertson, 42, who has worked as a nurse for two decades.

☆ Medieval-inspired communal bakery aims to help with cost-of-living crisis
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Her solution is "The People's Oven", a monthly event where locals can come to the bakery she set up six months ago in a former warehouse near a canal in Hackney. In an area where artist and design studios in old industrial buildings rub shoulders with newly-built apartment blocks, the bakery, "Hearth", has a hipster vibe. "I came here for like the experience, also to make friends and kind of seek out a community in east London," Ren said. "For sure to help people to save some money, but also to create a sort of community in the area." Reporting by Aiden Nulty and Ben Makori; Writing by Sarah Young; Editing by Alex RichardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 'Gossip behind the scenes': Reaction to Harry and Meghan's Netflix documentary
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, greet people outside Windsor Castle, following the passing of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, in Windsor, Britain, September 10, 2022. REUTERS/Paul ChildsLONDON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Love them, hate them or just don't rate them, Prince Harry and Meghan's Netflix documentary split public opinion after its launch on Thursday. In the documentary, Harry said the British royal family had dismissed race-related hounding of Meghan by the media as a rite of passage and the couple delivered a fierce attack on the tabloid press. "I believe that what they're saying is true, but we can't really tell because we don't really know, it's their life," 47-year-old M'chinda said. Customer support assistant Carmel Williams, 33, said she would like to know what has been happening and how they are feeling, calling it "gossip behind the scenes".

[1/7] Herbs and micro-greens grown at the underground farm in a disused World War Two bunker using hydroponic technology and LED lighting, powered by renewable energy, are pictured in London, Britain November 24, 2022. REUTERS/Maja SmiejkowskaLONDON, Nov 28 (Reuters) - In an underground World War Two air raid shelter where London tube trains can be heard rattling overhead, aromatic coriander leaves tilt towards the pink glow of LED bulbs - a vision of how farms could look in the future. Zero Carbon Farms grows herbs and salads in Clapham, south London, a densely populated area with no room for conventional agriculture. But 30 metres below ground there is a kilometre of tunnels, and technology has made farming here a reality. "What makes this industry so exciting and challenging is that no one's quite cracked it," said Zero Carbon Farm's business development director Olivia O'Brien.

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