The Birthday Shoes That Changed Everything
I should have trusted my gut when Debbie, my icy MIL, gifted me expensive yellow patent leather shoes for my birthday. Her smile had been too sweet, her eyes glinting with something I couldn’t place....
After 47 Years of Marriage, He Left — Now He’s Begging for Forgiveness
When John told Nicky he wanted a divorce after 47 years together, she was devastated. He mocked her, bragged about using their joint savings for a six‑month trip to Mexico with a young brunette, and left her with nothing....
In 1960, “He’ll Have to Go” topped both the country and pop charts
In 1960, Jim Reeves changed country music forever with “He’ll Have to Go.” With his smooth, velvet voice, Reeves blended country’s raw emotion with a polished pop sound, creating a hit that topped the Country Chart and reached #2 on the Pop Chart....
A Cop Bought Him Dinner—But It Was the Kid’s Silent Gesture That No One Saw Coming
I was in the booth by the window, half-focused on my phone and a cold coffee, when I noticed the kid come in. Hood pulled tight, eyes on the floor. You could tell by the way he moved—slow and small—that he wasn’t sure he’d be allowed to stay....
'It involved the Mafia, Freemasonry and the Vatican': The mysterious murder of 'God's Banker'
Forty-three years ago this week, the BBC reported on the death of Roberto Calvi, an Italian banker whose body was found in strange circumstances in the centre of London. His bank was linked to the Vatican, a masonic group and the Mafia – and his murder left many unanswered questions....
'It is the role of justice to deal with this man': How the trial of Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie shook the world
In July 1987, 38 years ago this week, a Nazi war criminal, the "Butcher of Lyon", was sentenced to life in prison by a French court for crimes against humanity. Four years earlier, in 1983, the BBC reported on how France felt about this reckoning with its dark past....
'They hold hands, they embrace, they kiss': The woman who changed our view of chimps - and human beings
In 1960, Jane Goodall began her groundbreaking field study by living among chimpanzees in Tanzania. In 1986 she told the BBC how similar chimps and humans really are. On 14 July 1960, 65 years ago this week, a young English woman with no formal scientific background or qualifications stepped off a boat at the Gombe Stream Game Reserve in Tanzania to begin what would become a pioneering study of wild chimpanzees....
Too Much: What film and TV get wrong about London
Films and TV shows have created a glamorous "Notting Hill" version of the UK's capital city. A new Lena Dunham series pokes fun at the stereotypes Americans believe about the country. When Jessica, the heroine of Lena Dunham's new series, Too Much, first arrives from New York to live in London, she thinks she's heading to live on a country estate; the idyllic Jane Austen or Bridgerton-era kind she's seen on screen....
'It's been difficult' - the champion who ran out of challengers
PFL Champions Series: Dakota Ditcheva v Sumiko Inaba Date: Saturday, 19 July Venue: Grand Arena, Cape Town, South Africa When Dakota Ditcheva became the first British woman to win an MMA world title, she had no idea of the frustration that would follow....
