UK’s first hijabi international cricket player stars in BBC children’s show

Scottish cricketer Abtaha Maqsood reading on CBeebies Bedtime Stories. (BBC)
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Updated 16 July 2023
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UK’s first hijabi international cricket player stars in BBC children’s show

  • 24-year-old read a children's book about the Islamic tradition of wearing a headscarf

LONDON: Scottish cricketer Abtaha Maqsood appeared on a BBC children’s television series reading a book about the Islamic tradition of wearing a headscarf. 

The 24-year-old Birmingham Phoenix player is the UK’s first hijab-wearing Muslim woman to play international cricket, The Mirror reported.

She read “Not Now, Noor!” by Farhana Islam and Nabila Adani for an episode of CBeebies Bedtime Stories, which aired on Friday, days before the start of South Asian Heritage Month. The story is about a young girl named Noor who wonders why the women in her family wear headscarves.

“It shows why the hijab is so important to a lot of Muslim women,” Maqsood said.

“It’s all about modesty and (having) a clear identity that you are a Muslim, and (are) proud to be a Muslim. It’s a really nice, sweet message for children.”

On why she chose the story, Maqsood told The Mirror that it was a “simple and honest” way “of describing what it is like to actually wear the hijab and what it means to a lot of Muslim women out there.

“It is just really good for children to get a simple answer — it does it really well and in an entertaining way, so that was a book that really jumped out at me.”




 Maqsood reading “Not Now, Noor!” by Farhana Islam and Nabila Adani. (BBC)

Maqsood told The Mirror that the story reflects her own experiences in Islam, as she wore a hijab from a young age and was the first woman to do so while competing in The Hundred in 2021, a fast-paced form of cricket designed to be simpler to follow and enjoy.

Maqsood, who is studying to be a dentist, is also the first British woman of Pakistani descent to play international cricket for Scotland.

“It was a no-brainer to wear the hijab playing cricket. It wasn’t hindering me and I kept going with it,” she said.

“It’s about modesty and having a real sense of identity, to show people I am who I am and I am proud to be Muslim. I think that’s really important. I think by playing cricket with my hijab in big stadiums like Edgbaston (where Birmingham Phoenix play), it’s such an important message to say to people that, ‘It doesn't matter what you wear, what you look like, you can still do whatever you want. You can play in big stadiums and live your dream, or do anything else that you want.’

“When I was younger, I never really had a role model (whom I) could see wearing a hijab and playing professional sport at a high level, (whom) I could look up to and say ‘I want to be that person.’ I just hope that I can do that a little bit and inspire other people that anything is possible. You can be Muslim and be a cricketer, or a footballer, or whatever.”

Birmingham Phoenix created a sporty hijab for Maqsood to ensure she was comfortable wearing it during games, The Mirror reported.
 


A Hong Kong zoo seeks answers after 9 monkeys die in 2 days

Updated 1 min 29 sec ago
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A Hong Kong zoo seeks answers after 9 monkeys die in 2 days

HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s oldest zoo is seeking answers in a monkey medical mystery after nine animals died in two days, including three members of a critically endangered species.
Part of the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens has been sealed off and disinfected, and experts have been called in to conduct necropsies and toxicological tests, Hong Kong leader John Lee said in his weekly press briefing Tuesday.
Eight monkeys were found dead on Sunday, and another died Monday after unusual behavior. The deceased animals included a De Brazza’s monkey, a common squirrel monkey, four white-faced sakis and three cotton-top tamarins — a species listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
“Whenever we have any news, if there’s a new development, an announcement should be made as soon as possible, so that everyone can know about the facts,” Lee said.
On Monday, the government held an urgent interdepartmental meeting about the deaths. It said in a statement that another De Brazza’s monkey’s behavior and appetite were found to be unusual, requiring further observation.
But all 80 other animals in the gardens were in normal condition, it added.
Jason Baker, senior vice president of animal rights group PETA Asia, said the deaths raised concerns about a possible outbreak of a zoonotic disease such as monkeypox, which can jump from animals to humans.
“Monkeys in captivity are often exposed to pathogens that cause diseases that can be transmitted to humans, including tuberculosis, Chagas disease, cholera and MRSA,” he said in a statement.
He said the only way to ensure the well-being of animals and prevent the spread of zoonotic diseases is to stop confining them in unnatural environments.
The Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens — the oldest park in the former British colony — fully opened to the public in 1871. It is a rare urban oasis in the downtown Central district of the financial hub which returned to Chinese rule in 1997.


Boeing will lay off 10% of its employees as a strike by factory workers cripples airplane production

Updated 12 October 2024
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Boeing will lay off 10% of its employees as a strike by factory workers cripples airplane production

  • Boeing has lost more than $25 billion since the start of 2019.

Boeing plans to lay off about 10% of its workers in the coming months as it continues to lose money and tries to deal with a strike that is crippling production of the company’s best-selling airline planes.
New CEO Kelly Ortberg told staff in a memo Friday that the job cuts, which could total about 17,000 positions, will include executives, managers and employees.
The company has about 170,000 employees worldwide, many of them working in manufacturing facilities in the states of Washington and South Carolina.
Boeing had already imposed rolling temporary furloughs, but Ortberg said those will be suspended because of the impending layoffs.
The company will delay the rollout of a new plane, the 777X, to 2026 instead of 2025. It will also stop building the cargo version of its 767 jet in 2027 after finishing current orders.
Boeing has lost more than $25 billion since the start of 2019.
About 33,000 union machinists have been on strike since Sept. 14. Two days of talks this week failed to produce a deal, and Boeing filed an unfair-labor-practices charge against the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.
As it announced layoffs, Boeing also gave a preliminary report on its third-quarter financial results — and the news is not good for the company.
Boeing said it burned through $1.3 billion in cash during the quarter and lost $9.97 per share. Industry analysts had been expecting the company to lose $1.61 per share in the quarter, according to a FactSet survey, but analysts were likely unaware of some large write-downs that Boeing announced Friday.
The company based in Arlington, Virginia, said it had $10.5 billion in cash and marketable securities on Sept. 30.
The strike has a direct bearing on cash burn because Boeing gets half or more of the price of planes when it delivers them to airline customers. The strike has shut down production of the 737 Max, Boeing's best-selling plane, and 777x and 767s. The company is still making 787s at a nonunion plant in South Carolina.
“Our business is in a difficult position, and it is hard to overstate the challenges we face together,” Ortberg told staff. He said the situation “requires tough decisions and we will have to make structural changes to ensure we can stay competitive and deliver for our customers over the long term.”


Partial remains of British climber believed found 100 years after Everest ascent

Updated 11 October 2024
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Partial remains of British climber believed found 100 years after Everest ascent

  • The expedition found a foot encased in a sock embroidered with “AC Irvine“
  • The pair, who were seeking to become the first people to conquer Everest, were last seen around 245 meters from the summit before they disappeared

LONDON: The partial remains of a British mountaineer who might — or might not — have been one of the first two people to climb Mount Everest are believed to have been found a century after their ascent of the world’s highest peak, according to an expedition led by National Geographic.
Ahead of the release of a documentary film, the television channel said Friday that the expedition found a foot encased in a sock embroidered with “AC Irvine” and a boot that could be that of Andrew “Sandy” Irvine, who disappeared at the age of 22 along with his co-climber, the legendary George Mallory, near Everest’s peak on June 8, 1924.
The pair, who were seeking to become the first people to conquer Everest, were last seen around 800 feet (245 meters) from the summit before they disappeared. Their fate has been debated by climbers and historians alike, with some postulating that they had stood atop of the world before heading down and disappearing.
Mallory’s body was found in 1999 but there was no evidence that could point to the two having reached Everest’s summit at 29,032 feet (8,849 meters).
There is still no such evidence, though the apparent discovery of Irvine’s remains could narrow the search for a Kodak Vest Pocket camera lent to the climbers by expedition member Howard Somervell. For mountaineers, it’s the equivalent of the Holy Grail — whether there is photographic proof on that camera to show that the two did reach the summit before Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953.
The sock and boot were found at a lower altitude than Mallory’s remains, on the Central Rongbuk Glacier below the North Face of Mount Everest.
“This was a monumental and emotional moment for us and our entire team on the ground, and we just hope this can finally bring peace of mind to his relatives and the climbing world at large,” said climb team member and National Geographic explorer Jimmy Chin.
Chin did not say exactly where the remains were found because he wants to discourage trophy hunters. But he’s confident that other items — and maybe even the camera — are nearby.
“It certainly reduces the search area,” he told National Geographic.
The Irvine family has volunteered to compare DNA test results with the remains to confirm his identity.
His great-niece and biographer, Julie Summers, said she reacted emotionally when she found out about the discovery.
“I have lived with this story since I was a 7-year-old when my father told us about the mystery of Uncle Sandy on Everest,” she said. “When Jimmy told me that he saw the name AC Irvine on the label on the sock inside the boot, I found myself moved to tears. It was and will remain an extraordinary and poignant moment.”
The find, made by Chin along with climbers and filmmakers Erich Roepke and Mark Fisher, was reported to the London-based Royal Geographical Society, which jointly organized Mallory’s and Irvine’s expedition along with the Alpine Club.
“As joint organizer of the 1924 Everest expedition, the society deeply appreciates the respect Jimmy Chin’s team has shown Sandy Irvine’s remains and their sensitivity toward Sandy’s family members and others connected to that expedition,” said Joe Smith, director of the society.
The partial remains are now in the possession of the China Tibet Mountaineering Association, which is responsible for climbing permits on Everest’s northern side.


Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs sex trafficking trial set for May 2025

Updated 11 October 2024
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Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs sex trafficking trial set for May 2025

NEW YORK: Music mogul Sean Combs is set to go on trial for racketeering and sex trafficking on May 5, 2025, a judge said in a court hearing Thursday.
The rapper known as “Diddy” will remain incarcerated, said federal judge Arun Subramanian, after he was indicted last month on three criminal counts that allege he sexually abused women and coerced them into drug-fueled sex parties using threats and violence.
Combs has twice been denied bail, as prosecutors have voiced concerns of witness tampering. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
As he entered the courtroom, Combs, wearing a light-colored wrinkled shirt and pants, greeted his mother and children who were attending the hearing.
Prosecutor Emily Johnson said there was still more evidence to explore, noting that 96 electronic devices had been seized in March and that more charges were possible.
Allegations have been building against the Grammy winner since last year, when singer Cassie, whose real name is Casandra Ventura, alleged Combs subjected her to more than a decade of coercion by physical force and drugs as well as a 2018 rape.
A spate of similarly lurid civil lawsuits since have painted a picture of Combs as a violent man who used his celebrity status to prey on women.
And in a bombastic announcement, lawyers said more than 100 people who say Combs assaulted or exploited them — some of them children — were planning more legal action.
The explosion of allegations against him has highlighted a culture in the music industry that many people contend allows for a wider pattern of rampant sexual misconduct.


BBC Weather app wrongly shows 18,995 mph wind speeds in Britain

Updated 10 October 2024
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BBC Weather app wrongly shows 18,995 mph wind speeds in Britain

  • App malfunction suggested winds were 150 times stronger than Hurricane Milton currently battering Florida

LONDON: Britons woke up to alarming news on Thursday, with the widely used BBC Weather app forecasting winds 150 times stronger than Hurricane Milton, due to a data malfunction.
With television news channels showing Milton smashing into Florida in the United States, the unprecedented winds forecast on the BBC Weather app prompted many people to turn to social media for an explanation.
“Go home BBC weather app, you’re drunk. It’s about 37mph,” said one X user, posting under the username Larky McRory, next to a screenshot of the app showing wind speeds of 18,995 mph.
Hurricane Milton was registered as a Category 3 hurricane in Florida, with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (195 kph).
BBC Weather sought to reassure the public that they did not in fact have to brace for hurricane winds, with a post on X saying that the weather was more likely to be a typical autumnal day of cold air and blustery showers.
“Don’t worry folks, there isn’t a hurricane on the way today for Scotland, and Edinburgh isn’t going to see wind gusts of an impossible magnitude of 17246mph!,” BBC Scotland Weather said on X. “There is a major error in the data being ingested into the app.”
A banner announcement on the app said: “We’re experiencing issues with our forecast data. We’re working to resolve it.” BBC Weather noted some temperatures were also displaying wrongly and apologized.
The malfunction prompted some social media users to recall the moment in 1987 when Britain’s then leading weather presenter, Michael Fish, reassured viewers that reports of a brewing hurricane were not accurate, just hours before hurricane-force winds hit the country.