women

  • American heiress Ariana Rockefeller: ‘There’s something about the solace of being with your horse’

    In a grassy meadow on a farm in Hampshire, Ariana Rockefeller prepares to mount a dark bay thoroughbred by the name of Echo. Normally this would be a simple matter for Rockefeller. But he’s a borrowed steed, and she’s wearing a billowing Carolina Herrera skirt for our shoot, so the logistics are rather complicated.

  • I moved from London to a sleepy Devon valley – here’s what I’ve learnt from life in the countryside

    “The sheep look like they’re bonking” called out neighbour number one. “I’ve come to see these horny sheep,” said neighbour number two scurrying up the lane. Half a day since our contribution to the village advent calendar had gone up in the windows of our white washed cottage and it was reassuring to know that the village gossip birds were winging their way through the inclement weather.

  • The dos and don'ts of re-gifting – and how not to get caught

    Eyeing your unlooked-for new candle collection and wondering whether any are refundable? Furtively returning those sequinned items that seemed so vital when purchased drunk on December 17th, then rejected in favour of a giant pullover come New Year’s Eve? You are not alone. Spouses aren’t the only thing disposed of in January. Still exhausted from the great December shopping onslaught? Well, now you can exhaust yourself un-shopping.

  • Over half of domestic abuse victims contact police at least twice before action is taken, finds new survey

    'It takes a huge amount of courage to come forward – victims need to know that their report will be handled with the upmost seriousness and not dismissed,' says Valerie Wise of Victim Support.

  • ‘I am not a man, I can’t follow one of them’: The referee making football history

    Googling ‘female football referee’ makes for startling reading. A quick scroll and you can take your pick from what I’m sure must all be groundbreaking journalistic works. There’s: ‘Hottest Female Football Referees (Most Searched In 2022)’. Or perhaps you’d prefer: ‘The 10 Hottest And Most Sexy Female Football Referees In The World’? Very important to be both hot and sexy, I’m sure you’ll agree.

  • What is 'downblousing' as government announce plans to make it a criminal offence?

    The government has announced the act of taking photos down a person's top without consent will soon be illegal.

  • Catherine Zeta-Jones on 22 years of marriage: ‘It’s impossible for there not to be ups and downs’

    Catherine Zeta-Jones is telling me about The One That Got Away. It still haunts her, even after all these years. If only the timing had been right. And no, we’re not talking about a man, but a role: the role she was born to play. ‘I had the chops to be a female Bond,’ explains the Oscar-winning star of Chicago. ‘For many years I was Bond material. Actually, I used to dream of being a female spy when I was a kid – if I didn’t make it as an actress. Then, later, I had big aspirations, and this was

  • Should menopausal women at work be indulged?

    Menopausal women working in the NHS will be able to work from home if their symptoms require it, the head of the NHS has said. Writing in The Telegraph, Amanda Pritchard said that “flexible working pattern” – including lighter duties – will be considered for those struggling with their symptoms and that other employers should follow suit. But is this right? Here, two women who are divided on the issue explain their reasoning...

  • Want to get ahead in business? Be like a woman

    Would the world be better off if more of our leaders were women, or acted like them? Heather Hanbury, head of the Girls Schools Association said so this week. She argued that “the world would certainly be a more generous, happier place with more empathy, sympathy and collaboration in it”, adding that “soft skills” deliver results at work and in politics. It would be easy to point to the leadership of Liz Truss, or Cressida Dick to instantly show that female leadership is no panacea. But many bus

  • World Cup: Who is Alex Scott? Everything you need to know about the BBC Sports presenter

    From her early career to her love life, here's everything you need to know about the sports presenter.

  • Maintaining friendships is hard work – but at 60, I’ve never been more grateful for mine

    When you’re confronted on your 60th birthday by 10 mature adults of both sexes, all wearing blonde bob wigs and sporting various forms of leopard print, you know you’ve got friends. It was a crazy homage; a cluster of doppelgangers conceived by two long-term playmates to rescue my recent milestone birthday.

  • Flexible working app matches people with their dream jobs

    The new site aims to to match people with their dream working roles after research reveals 87% want to work flexibly.

  • Thank you, Jennifer Aniston, for telling the truth about IVF

    Thank you Jennifer Aniston. Thank you for being brave. For the first time ever – and after years of speculation about the status of your womb – you have ‘come out’ about your struggle to conceive and your years of IVF.

  • What to do if you're being stalked after victim calls for better legislation

    One in five women and one in 10 men will experience stalking across England and Wales.

  • 'This is an attempt to prevent abortion at any cost': the US anti-abortion extremists targeting Britain

    It is 8.30 on an autumnal Wednesday morning, and a group of people are standing on a grass verge outside Bournemouth’s abortion clinic. One middle-aged man holds up rosary beads. A silver-haired woman is carrying a placard which reads ‘Pregnant? Need Help?’ and is accompanied by a phone number. They have gathered to protest against abortion as part of a six-week ‘vigil’ organised by Texas-based group 40 Days For Life.

  • ‘I was paid half as much as my male counterpart’

    It is early morning and the doors of Peter Jones are closed to the public, but up on the second floor, John Lewis boss Pippa Wicks is already in the Sloane Square store, posing for photos. In a green patterned blouse from the company’s new Anyday range, she tells me the new collection is “flying off the shelves” – the mannequins decked out in the collection’s dresses, coats and sweaters look more Top Shop than John Lewis. “It works,” she beams.

  • Early menopause may increase dementia risk and other things you need to know

    From mood swings to libido shifts, here's everything you need to know about the menopause.

  • ‘Auntie, he will kill me’: The woman murdered while the police asked her for paperwork

    When Raneem Oudah migrated from Syria to join her mother Khaola Saleem in the UK in 2014, she was full of hope for the future. Reunited with her loving family that had settled in Solihull, Raneem was keen to learn English and embark on a career. She felt safe, having escaped a war-torn country.

  • Why I’ll never regret my gap year tattoo

    I blame my school friend Sarah. We were 18-year-olds on our gap year, taking a ferry to the island of Koh Phi Phi in Thailand when she got talking to a woman on the wooden bench beside us. I say woman, she was more tattoo than woman. Every inch of her fleshy arms and legs was branded with dark ink. “You can’t go to Phi Phi and not get a bamboo tattoo,” she told Sarah, explaining that the island was famous for such tattoos, a technique originally used by Thai monks who branded warriors with Buddh

  • 'Tour managing Mick Jagger was like nannying an overgrown kid'

    Sally Arnold was used to her phone ringing in the middle of the night – at least once. As tour manager to some of the most iconic rock bands in the world including the Rolling Stones, the Who and Peter Gabriel she would often take calls at 3am to “fix” situations involving the police or track down intoxicated band members who’d gone Awol before sellout gigs.