It was 20 years ago when Jill Robinson MBE first walked into a bear bile farm and uncovered one of Asia's darkest secrets. The young animal lover found sweet, Asiatic black bears incarcerated in tiny wire cages with rusting metal catheters implanted in their abdomens through which bile was being extracted for use in traditional medicine.
It's Green Office Week, so I've put together some useful tips for 'greening-up' the workplace...
So although like most people, I have a "bucket list" I decided being optimistic at heart, I would need to call my wish list something else that was more appropriate, and so I have a "Pink List". Why a "Pink List" you may well ask? Well if you are sitting comfortably then I'll tell you why pink became significant to me.
Above the Hillary one senses success - the approach ridge is guarded by a furious gale, seemingly hidden until this precise moment. It rears, screams in your ears, sears your exposed skin and tries desperately to throw you like an unwanted intruder from your precarious path.
The Oxford grooming trial has been a grim reminder that even though we are living in the 21st Century there are still some people who have medieval attitudes towards young girls. The barbaric treatment of the victims in this case was depraved and must never be allowed to happen again.
Leonard Cheshire was one of the youngest commanding officers 617 Squadron ever had and one of the most decorated pilots of the conflict. The experiences he had during the war changed his life - and quite literally has transformed the lives of thousands of disabled people across the world.
Basically, as Jay-Z might say, I got 99 problems and bipolar is one. It's that thing Catherine Zeta-Jones and Stephen Fry both have, that seems to make people shocked to discover celebrities have none-diet-related-problems.
Yes I think we should divert those busted for minor drug crime into treatment, but I absolutely do not see the point if all we are doing is increasing the users at the other end of the line. We need to contain from both ends - and places like Amazon should be slapped on the wrist.
Throughout winter, there were numerous, in fact too many, cases of women who just happened to accidently get burned while sleeping too close to the heater, which for reasons unknown to the public tipped over the victim. Cases like these are obviously honor-tainted
There is no place anywhere, ever for female genital mutilation. But somehow Britain has become the 'capital of FGM' in Europe. Better news is that the UK Government has now pledged up to £35 million towards the global eradication of FGM.
'Tax haven' may increasingly be a term of abuse but for multinationals, they remain extremely popular places to have subsidiaries. With their low tax rates and high secrecy, their financial benefits outweigh their reputational risks.
Angelina Jolie's personal account of being told she has a fault in her BRCA1 gene and decision to have a double mastectomy to reduce the risk of her developing breast cancer has struck a chord with many individuals and families.
Bullfighting -- a horrible spectacle of animal abuse that ends in the slow and tortuous death of an animal provoked and repeatedly gored with knives and swords -- is justly in decline. The torment and death of animals for amusement can never be acceptable.
Stuart Hazell, 37, was a man with a violent and scarred background which is nothing unusual in such crimes. But, tellingly, he also had an addiction to images of children being sexually abused. Police discovered hundreds of such pictures on his computer hard drive. He had also visited websites searching under 'illegal incest pics' and 'sex with young children'.
Churches are not only of interest to worshippers, just as Titian is not only of interest to lovers of Greek mythology. They are the physical expression, in stone and mortar, of Britain's communal past, built not only by the wealthy but also by ordinary local people.
"Teenage stress? Not in my day. We just got on with it!" A common reaction, usually accompanied by a supercilious smile. Or, "Teenagers? They don't know they're born! Wait till they've got bills and taxes and children and no holidays - then they'll know about stress!" More supercilious smiles. But many adults working or living with teenagers have a different narrative. They see symptoms of negative stress: sleep problems, poor concentration and performance, irritability.