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Girl Scouts defend Muslim faith badges amid criticism
The Girl Scouts of the USA has pushed back against criticism from right-wing commentator Natalie Winters, who accused the organisation of promoting Islamic content through badges awarded via its affiliated group, Girl Scouts of the Islamic Faith. Winters highlighted badges recognising activities such as sharing Ramadan with a friend and completing the Hajj pilgrimage, questioning…
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China’s humanoid robot games showcase advances and failures
The World Humanoid Robot Games, a five-day event that concluded this week in Beijing, showcased both dramatic robot failures and striking technological progress, underlining China’s determination to lead the global humanoid robotics race. Alongside spectacular mishaps, such as robots losing limbs, catching fire and toppling into judges’ tables, the competition revealed genuine leaps in hardware…
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Derby County Handed Transfer Blow As Sheffield United Clinch Leicester City Move – Football Lowdown
Sheffield United have reportedly beaten Derby County to the permanent signing of Leicester City’s Hamza Choudhury. The move matters because it removes a potential target for Derby while giving United cover at right-back after Femi Seriki’s knee injury. Choudhury, 28, previously made 19 appearances for Sheffield United during a loan spell and is expected to…
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Nurture not nature? How young women can learn to better wield economic power | Heather Stewart
A decade-long research project in Zambia has found that teaching young women negotiation skills as teenagers can significantly improve their long-term economic and social prospects. The study, led by female US academics including Prof Corinne Low of Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, suggests that skills traditionally associated with confident, assertive behaviour can in fact be…
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Inside Meta’s push to put robots to work in data centers
Meta is testing robots to carry out physical tasks in its data centres, such as plugging in cables, resetting servers and swapping networking equipment, according to current and former staff. The previously unreported effort could eventually allow Meta to run its rapidly growing data centre operations with fewer human technicians, helping to control labour costs…
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UK asks banks for feelgood stories about keeping out dirty money
The UK Treasury is asking banks, lawyers and other City firms to submit positive case studies showing how they have blocked dirty money, as ministers try to convince the global Financial Action Task Force (FATF) that Britain’s anti-money-laundering controls have improved. The push follows a damning 2018 FATF assessment that helped cement London’s reputation as…
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AA faces £5bn takeover move by German insurer Allianz, reports claim
The German insurer Allianz is reportedly weighing a £5bn takeover bid for the AA, Britain’s breakdown recovery firm, according to Sky News. Allianz is said to be one of several parties in talks with the AA’s advisers, with private equity firm EQT also understood to be a bidder. A sale of this scale would mark…
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Women in UK arts feel they do not have equal opportunities for roles, says report
A new report from the support group Women in the Arts has found that women working in the UK arts sector believe they lack equal opportunities for roles, particularly as they grow older, with researchers describing an industry fixated on “young and emerging” talent. The findings matter because they point to persistent, widely felt gender…
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‘That’s what saved me’: Darren Raymond and Mark Rylance on the prison drama workshop that brought them together
Darren Raymond, artistic director of the London theatre charity Intermission Youth, is directing his friend Mark Rylance in the lead role of his adaptation of Molière’s Tartuffe, opening at the Marylebone theatre. The pair first met in 2004 when Raymond, then serving a prison sentence at HMP Brixton, attended a Shakespeare workshop that Rylance, then…