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赵祥松|鹰之泪:一个“正能量博主”的右腿内侧事变

上帝的鹰倒下了。

不是在山巅,不是在巡逻祖国边疆的高空,更不是在评论区空投"亡我之心不死"的战斗檄文时中弹。

他,是在医院的X光片上,倒在了自己右腿内侧的一块血管瘤上。

就这地儿,听起来就很私人,很暧昧,很羞耻,像是一场来自命运的精准打击,直接命中了人类尊严和逻辑的共同防线。

过去的几年里,他是微博战场的王牌鹰派飞行员——代号"上帝之鹰",每日高空喊话,口吐《环球时报》,翼展新华网,俯冲评论区斩杀"恨国党"、割裂"颜色革命"、突击西方媒体背后的资本黑手……说实话,他飞得比F22还准,比战狼还硬核。
结果——一脚踩空,被自己右腿内侧给绊住了。

这就像是一个满级骑士,天天骑龙屠魔,突然告诉你:"兄弟我在洗澡时滑了一跤,脑袋磕厕所了。"

尴尬。
但真正让人破防的不是他生病,而是他在微博上发了这样一段话:

"我右腿内侧长了血管瘤,检查费花了几千块,医保还不报。"

这句话的结构跟一般卖惨帖没啥区别,但当这句话从"上帝之鹰"嘴里飞出来的时候,就……很《黑镜》。

鹰哭了,不是因为热爱祖国的眼泪被风吹干了,而是因为"几千块"报销不了。

你说这事要搁一个普通网友身上,那就是一件平平无奇的苦情日常,顶多转发配句"好人一生平安"。

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但放在这位常年高挂"正能量主航母甲板"的博主身上,就瞬间变得讽刺又喜感。
你天天教育别人要自强不息,鼓吹祖国医疗世界领先,转发"我们已经不需要外国药物"的主旋律,结果自己一生病就开始发病账单,还夹带私货:"我从没问粉丝要过一分钱。"
我看到这句的时候,差点把泡面喷在键盘上。这话说得,就跟酒驾司机冲进面包店撞碎橱窗后还要表扬自己"我可从没逃过一次交警的罚款"一样。
这哪里是在展示高尚,这是在讽刺同行。
你这不是明着内涵那些收打赏、开会员、卖"中药粉贴"搞副业的同行吗?谁不晓得你这番"我一分钱都没收"的话术,背后的逻辑就是"但我现在这么惨,你们是不是该懂点事儿"?
于是,在他"我没要钱"的加持下,评论区开始一片祥和——
"哎呀,兄弟真惨……"
"右腿内侧这地方难搞啊……"
"有没有康复的风险啊?"
看到最后这句,我人都笑麻了。
康复的风险?兄弟你是打算治成"超人"吗?还是说一旦治疗成功就要重新归位为"战斗鹰",重回高空俯冲键盘党?
这句"有没有康复的风险",听起来简直像是一个人正在对正能量进行终极质询:

CDT 档案卡
标题:赵祥松|鹰之泪:一个”正能量博主”的右腿内侧事变
作者:赵祥松
发表日期:2025.7.5
来源:
主题归类:上帝之鹰
CDS收藏:公民馆
版权说明:该作品版权归原作者所有。中国数字时代仅对原作进行存档,以对抗中国的网络审查。详细版权说明

——"你要是真治好了,会不会又开始骂人?"

——"你会不会再次把自己当无人机送去网友评论区,隔空投弹’不点赞就是不爱国’八个大字?"

——"你是不是一好起来,就开始鄙视我们这些没转发你病情帖的人?"

咱先不管他病得多严重,但从语言风格和账号走向看,他的确是疼出风格变了。

原来满屏的航母、导弹、奋进的"强国有我",现在换成了: "我一分钱都没要"的道德叙述。

再然后,他干了一件堪称网络历史上最具象征主义的一件事:

他把ID改成了"忠贞不渝艾吉奥"。

艾吉奥是谁?游戏《刺客信条》主角,一个意大利刺客,信奉自由意志,终生反抗权威,主张人的独立与尊严,属于自由主义狂潮中的光辉一员。

你一个年年斥责西方、痛骂美剧、转发"自由就是糖衣炮弹"的人,改网名成了"忠贞不渝艾吉奥"?

这要是艾吉奥知道了,估计会从刺客总部复活跳出来说:

"You betrayed the creed!(你背叛了信条!)"

你忠贞不渝的,到底是艾吉奥,还是某种"身份切换的自由"?

昨天是鹰派巡航导弹,今天是中世纪自由斗士,明天是不是改名"十字军天启勇者·孙文波"?

你到底想当谁啊?

我们明白,这年头博主换ID就跟股票换题材一样,今天是元宇宙,明天是中医抗癌,后天是"天涯明月刀AI版"……但你这从"鹰派打手"突然跳转成"自由意志刺客"的速度太快了,至少打声招呼,让我们看清你换装的瞬间,别老让我们在剧情里迷路啊!

这年头,最流行的一种流量路径叫"苦情洗白"。

嘴上天天说"我不靠卖惨",身体却诚实地晒出病单;嘴上说"我不割粉丝",手却老实地放在了道德绑架的按钮上。

"我没收钱"这句话,并不是高尚,而是一种精致的流量设计。因为只要你说出口,就等于向粉丝抛出一个"反向索取"的诱饵。

"看,我没张口要,但你要是心疼,就主动点吧。"

这跟那种站在路边自称"走丢了"的小孩一样,嘴上不喊救命,眼泪却流得恰到好处,让你不好意思不管。

所以,当他说"我没要钱"时,其实真正的潜台词是:

"你们欠我一个赞,欠我一条评论,最好再欠我一笔打赏。"

这叫"情绪负债经济"。

以前是"你爱国,我给你点赞";现在是"你生病,我给你打赏";再过几天,他康复了,他的粉丝们是不是还得组织个"鹰之归来纪念日"?

但我估计悬。能成为他的粉丝的人,可能还不如他…

你要是真有血管瘤,我们同情;你要是借机洗人设,那不好意思,我们要把"同情"的库存退还给前线抗癌的孩子、送外卖的独臂骑手、以及那些被"正能量博主"扣上"恨国"帽子而依旧坚守底线的普通人。

鹰可以受伤,但不能总演戏。

你有血管瘤没问题,我们都支持你治疗、保重身体。但你不能今天病了就希望网友买单,明天痊愈就骂网友"不爱国"。

这不叫病患尊严,这是流量小丑。

你可以飞,但请不要俯冲向人性底线;你可以痛,但请别利用疼痛营销你的道德高地。

我们不怕鹰落地,我们怕的是:
鹰落地之后,变成了地痞。

这位鹰同志的微博,目前风格混搭严重。

上一条是"美国霸权终将覆灭",下一条就是"血管瘤复查了,感谢大家关心"。

这一种精神撕裂式的表达,让我们普通吃瓜群众陷入了前所未有的审美困境:到底我们该为你的正义叫好,还是该为你的右腿献爱心?

人可以有病,但不能病入膏肓到连逻辑和羞耻心都一并切除。

愿他早日康复,也愿他别再换名。

因为我们实在怕了——今天"忠贞不渝艾吉奥",明天"无限忍痛金轮法王",后天估计就是"瘤中有你·铁血贞德"。

最后,只能赠他一句祝福:

愿你的右腿内侧康复,你的逻辑复位,你的演技收敛。鹰若欲高飞,先修心法。

Sydney Jo's viral TikTok group chat drama, and Superman hits cinemas: What's coming up this week

Sydney Jo / Warner Bros A composite image of Sydney Jo and SupermanSydney Jo / Warner Bros

This week, there's more drama among friends, as Sydney Jo's viral TikTok series about a girls' group chat returns for season 3.

But that's not all the next seven days have in store.

Superman hits the big screen, Last Pundit Standing drops on BBC iPlayer, and it's the Esports World Cup.

Read on for what's coming up this week...

'The internet's favourite show'

It's scary just how relatable Sydney Jo's TikTok series is.

The 27-year-old content creator from New York posted her first video, about friends communicating in a group chat, back in March. She told me me her social media account has blown up since then.

We see the girls bicker, talk in side chats, and send passive aggressive messages to each other, something Sydney said is "a universal experience".

"My friends, work colleagues and sisters all had similar stories about their texts and group chats," she said. "This is something that's only going to continue, as we start having bachelorettes and weddings."

Sydney says she filmed the first episode hungover on a Sunday morning.

But as her followers rocketed from 264,000 to 1.6 million in just a few months, she now has a huge fan base, with Today calling her series "the internet's favourite show".

With season three now out, Sydney said we can expect more camaraderie, more feel good moments, but also more shared common enemies.

She also hinted there could be a boys' group chat series next. "I didn't anticipate the male audience I would draw. I had a 50-year-old dad recognise me recently," she said.

Superman hits cinemas

Getty Images A picture of the stars of SupermanGetty Images

James Gunn's hotly awaited reboot of Superman, a film that Hollywood is hoping can break the plague of "superhero fatigue", is out on Friday.

American actor David Corenswet, 31, plays the Man of Steel in the movie that's intended to kick-start a new era for DC Studios, which writer-director Gunn and producer Peter Safran took over in 2022.

Corenswet, who has previously appeared in TV series The Politician, Hollywood and We Own This City, is the fourth person to play the role in a major Superman movie, and the first for a decade.

It also stars Rachel Brosnahan as the latest Lois Lane and British actor Nicholas Hoult as a bald and menacing Lex Luthor.

DC has struggled to find major hits in recent years, with films like Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman 1984 and Joker: Folie à Deux - part of the wider DC stable - each earning less than $60m (£48m) at the North American box office.

So there's a lot of anticipation to see how this film does - and to drum up excitement, a life-like Superman figure was seen suspended at the top of The Shard in London earlier this week as part of a one-day-only installation.

Think you're good at video games?

By Andrew Rogers, Newsbeat reporter

Well you’re almost certainly not as good as the professional players heading to Saudi Arabia for the Esports World Cup, which starts on Tuesday.

Over seven weeks, the best in the world will compete for a record combined prize pot of $70m (£50m).

Now in its second year, the EWC brings together 25 different esports into one event. That means games fighting games like Tekken 8, first person shooters such as Call of Duty, and battle arena juggernauts Dota 2 and League of Legends, will all be there.

The format has encouraged some consolidation in the esports world, because the Club Competition encourages teams to field players in as many different games as possible. The team with the most points at the end gets a bonus $7m (£5m).

Some fans and players haven't been keen on the EWC though. It's been criticised for taking place in a country where women have fewer rights and being gay is illegal. Others say only with Saudi Arabia's cash can esports grow and compete with traditional multi-sport events like the Olympics.

Finding the next football pundit

BBC/Boom Cymru TV Ltd & JLA Productions A picture from Last Pundit Standing, showing the contestants sitting on blue chairsBBC/Boom Cymru TV Ltd & JLA Productions

On Monday, a new BBC competition series to find the next football pundit starts on iPlayer as well as on BBC YouTube and TikTok channels.

Fronted by footballing legend Troy Deeney and YouTuber and presenter James Allcott, Last Pundit Standing follows 12 football fanatics as they compete to become BBC Sport's next big football content creator.

Think the X-Factor meets the beautiful game, as they face a series of kick-off challenges in their bid to land their dream job.

There will also be star guests, including Alex Scott, Rebecca Welch and Max Fosh, on hand to set tasks and offer expert insight.

The seven-part competition series comes shortly after Gary Lineker left the broadcaster after apologising for sharing an antisemitic social media post.

In May, he was presented with a commemorative cap and golden boot by pundits Alan Shearer and Micah Richards as he signed off from his final edition of Match of the Day after 26 years in the hot seat.

Other highlights this week

  • Building the Band season 1 is released on Netflix on Wednesday
  • Too Much, Lena Dunham's new series, drops on Netflix on Thursday
  • Bless Me Father: A life story, by musician Kevin Rowland, is out on Thursday
  • Moisturiser, the new album by Wet Leg, drops on Friday
  • Modi: Three Days on the Wings of Madness, directed by Johnny Depp, is released on Friday
  • TRNSMT Festival begins in Glasgow on Friday

Why Indian artisans are up in arms over Prada's sandals

BBC The image shows Kolhapuri sandals in different shades of brown displayed at a shop. BBC
The earliest records of Kolhapur sandals date back to the 12th Century.

The Western Indian town of Kolhapur has found itself in an unlikely global spotlight, as thousands of local artisans who hand-craft traditional leather footwear are mounting a collective attack on luxury fashion label Prada for plagiarising their designs without credit.

The rhythmic pounding of the hammer in 58-year-old Sadashiv Sanake's dimly lit workshop bears witness to the hard grind behind handcrafting the iconic Kolhapuri leather sandals.

"I learnt the craft as a child," he tells the BBC. A day's toil goes into making just "eight to 10 pairs" of these sandals he says, that retail at a modest $8-10

Barely 5,000 artisans in Kolhapur are still in the profession – a cottage industry that struggles to compete in a mechanised world, caught in the funk of dismal working conditions and low wages.

It's no surprise then that when Italian luxury brand Prada released a new line of footwear that bore a striking resemblance to the Kolhapuri sandals - but didn't mention the design origins - local artisans were up in arms.

Reuters A model wearing Prada walks on the runway at the Milan Fashion Week in June.Reuters
Prada's leather footwear at the Milan Fashion Week sparked a major controversy

The backlash was swift. Social media was flooded with accusations of cultural appropriation, prompting Prada to issue a statement acknowledging the sandals' roots.

Now local politicians and industry associations have thrown their weight behind the artisans who want better recognition of the craft and its cultural legacy.

Mr Sanake was not aware of Prada's show until the BBC showed him a video of it. When told that that the sandals could retail for hundreds of pounds in luxury markets, he scoffed. "Do they have gold in them?" he asked.

Prada hasn't revealed the price tag but its other sandals retail at between £600 to £1,000 in the UK as per its website.

Women browse through Kolhapuri sandals at a store in Kolhapur, Maharashtra
Women try on Kolhapuri sandals at a store in Kolhapur

The earliest records of Kolhapur sandals date back to the 12th Century.

"These sandals were originally crafted by members of the marginalised Charmakar (cobbler) community, also known as chamars," said Kavita Gagrani, a history professor at the New College in Kolhapur.

Chamar is a pejorative caste term used to describe Dalits (formerly known as untouchables) who work with animal hides.

"But in the early 20th Century, the craft flourished when the then ruler of Kolhapur, Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj granted royal patronage to this community," Ms Gagrani said.

Today, nearly 100,000 artisans across India are engaged in the trade with an industry worth over $200m, according to the Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Agriculture (MACCIA), a prominent industry trade group.

Yet, most of them continue to work in unorganised setups under dismal conditions.

"I was never educated. This is all I know, and I earn about $4-5 a day, depending on the number of orders," said 60-year-old Sunita Satpute.

Women like her play a critical role, particularly in engraving fine patterns by hand, but are not compensated fairly for their long hours of labour, she said.

That's why Sunita's children don't want to continue the craft.

A short distance away from her workshop lies Kolhapur's famous chappal gully, or sandal lane, a cluster of storefronts - many of them struggling to stay afloat.

"Leather has become very expensive and has pushed up our costs," said Anil Doipode, one of the first sellers to open a shop here.

Traditionally, artisans would use cow and buffalo hide to make these sandals. But since 2014, when the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power, there have been several reports of vigilantes - self-appointed protesters or activists - cracking down on alleged cow slaughter, sometimes with physical violence. The cow is considered sacred by Hindus.

In 2015, Maharashtra state banned the slaughter of cows and the sale and consumption of beef, forcing artisans to rely on buffalo leather sourced from neighbouring states, pushing up their production costs.

Traditional sellers are also struggling to compete with synthetic copies flooding the market.

"Customers want cheaper sandals and can't always tell the difference," said Rohit Balkrishna Gavali, a second-generation Kolhapuri sandal seller.

A women threads a needle through a leather Kolhapuri slipper in a workshop in Kolhapur, Maharashtra
Women artisans engrave fine patterns in the leather sandals by hand

Industry experts say the controversy highlights the need for a better institutional framework to protect the rights of artisans.

In 2019, the Indian government had awarded Kolhapuri sandals the Geographical Indication (GI) - a mark of authenticity which protects its name and design within India, preventing unauthorised use by outsiders.

Globally, however, there is no binding law that stops other countries or brands from aesthetic imitation.

Aishwarya Sandeep, a Mumbai-based advocate, says that India could raise the issue at the World Trade Organization under its TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) agreement, of which it is a signatory.

But the system is cumbersome, expensive and often lacks enforceability, both in India and abroad, she adds.

Lalit Gandhi, the president of MCCIA, says his organisation is planning to patent the Kolhapuri sandal design, hoping to create a legal precedent for future cases.

But some say real change can only happen when India starts seeing its traditional heritage in a different light.

"It's about ethical recognition. India must push for royalty-sharing and co-branding," says Ritu Beri, a renowned designer. "The more we take pride in our culture, the less we will be exploited."

Two artisans make leather sandals at their workshop in Kolhapur, Maharashtra
Kolhapur is home to thousands of artisans who have been making these sandals for generations

Of course, this isn't the first time a global fashion brand has been accused of appropriating Indian handicrafts.

Many big labels have featured Indian fabrics and embroidery work with little to no artist collaboration. "Take Chikankari (a delicate hand-embroidery style from the northern Indian city of Lucknow), Ikat (a cloth-dyeing technique), mirror work; they've all been used repeatedly. The artisans remain invisible while brands profit from their inspiration," Ms Beri says.

Mr Gandhi, however, says that Prada's endorsement of Kolhapuri sandals could also be beneficial for artisans.

"Under their label, the value [of Kolhapuri sandals] is going to increase manifold," he says. "But we want some share of that profit to be passed on to artisans for their betterment."

Rohit Balkrishna Gavali, a sandal-seller in Kolhapur, agrees - he has already begun to see the difference.

"The design Prada used wasn't even very popular, but now people are asking for it, with clients from Dubai, the US and Qatar" placing orders, he says.

"Sometimes, controversy can help," he adds. "But it would be nice if it also brought respect and better prices for those keeping this tradition alive."

The issue is unlikely to die down soon.

For now, a plea has been filed in a high court, demanding Prada pay damages and compensation to artisans, along with a court-supervised collaboration between the luxury label and artisan associations.

Prada has told BBC in a statement that it is in talks with the MCCIA on this matter.

Mr Gandhi, its chief, says a meeting between the two sides is going to take place next week.

Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

US debt is now $37trn – should we be worried?

Getty Images Donald Trump waves wearing a baseball cap and suit in front of a huge US flag posterGetty Images

As Donald Trump cheered the passage of his self-styled, and officially named, Big Beautiful Budget Bill through Congress this week, long-sown seeds of doubt about the scale and sustainability of US borrowing from the rest of the world sprouted anew.

Trump's tax-cutting budget bill is expected to add at least $3 trillion (£2.2 trillion) to the US's already eye-watering $37tn (£27tn) debt pile. There is no shortage of critics of the plan, not least Trump's former ally Elon Musk, who has called it a "disgusting abomination".

The growing debt pile leaves some to wonder whether there is a limit to how much the rest of the world will lend Uncle Sam.

Those doubts have been showing up recently in the weaker value of the dollar and the higher interest rate investors are demanding to lend money to America.

It needs to borrow this money to make up the difference between what it earns and what it spends every year.

Since the beginning of this year, the dollar has fallen 10% against the pound and 15% against the euro.

Although US borrowing costs have been steady overall, the difference between the interest rates paid on longer-term loans versus shorter-term loans - what's known as the yield curve - has increased, or steepened, signalling increased doubts about the long-term sustainability of US borrowing.

And that is despite the fact that the US has lowered interest rates more slowly than the EU and the UK, which would normally make the dollar stronger because investors can get higher interest rates on bank deposits.

The founder of the world's biggest hedge fund, Ray Dalio, believes that US borrowing is at a crossroads.

On its current trajectory he estimates the US will soon be spending $10tn a year in loan and interest repayments.

"I am confident that the [US] government's financial condition is at an inflection point because, if this is not dealt with now, the debts will build up to levels where they can't be managed without great trauma," he says.

So what might that trauma look like?

The first option is a drastic reduction in government spending, a big increase in taxes or both.

Ray Dalio suggests that cutting the budget deficit from its current 6% to 3% soon could head off trouble in the future.

Trump's new budget bill did cut some spending, but it also cut taxes more, and so the current political trajectory is going the other way.

Secondly, as in previous crises, the US central bank could print more money and use it to buy up government debt - as we saw after the great financial crisis of 2008.

But that can end up fuelling inflation and inequality as the owners of assets like houses and shares do much better than those who rely on the value of labour.

The third is a straightforward US default. Can't pay won't pay. Given that the "full faith and credit of the US Treasury" underpins the entire global financial system, that would make the great financial crisis look like a picnic.

'Cleanest dirty shirt'

So how likely is any of this?

Right now, mercifully, not very.

But the reasons why are not actually that comforting. The fact is, whether we like it or not, the world has few alternatives to the dollar.

Economist and former bond supremo Mohamed El-Erian told the BBC that many are trying to reduce dollar holdings, "the dollar is overweight and the world knows it, which is why we have seen a rise in gold, the euro and the pound, but it's hard to move at scale so there's really very few places to go".

"The dollar is like your cleanest dirty shirt, you have to keep wearing it."

Nevertheless, the future of the dollar and the world's benchmark asset - US government bonds - is being discussed at the highest levels.

The governor of the Bank of England recently told the BBC that the levels of US debt and the status of the dollar is "very much on [US Treasury] Secretary Bessent's mind. I don't think the dollar is fundamentally under threat at the moment but he is very aware of these issues and I don't think it is something that he underestimates."

Debt of $37tn is an unfathomable number. If you saved a million dollars every day, it would take you 100,000 years to save up that much.

The sensible way to look at debt is as a percentage of a country's income. The US economy produces income of around $25tn a year.

While its debt to income level is much higher than many, it's not as high as Japan or Italy, and it has the benefit of the world's most innovative and wealth creating economy behind it.

At home I have a book called Death of the Dollar by William F Rickenbacker in which he warns of the risks to the dollar's status as the world's reserve currency. It was written in 1968. Mr Rickenbacker is no longer with us - the dollar is.

But it doesn't mean that its status and value is a divine right.

Australian PM vows 'full force of law' after arson attack at synagogue

JAMES ROSS/EPA/Shutterstock Fire marks on the blue door of the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation in Melbourne, with two men to the left in front of an open windowJAMES ROSS/EPA/Shutterstock
Inside the synagogue, some 20 people had sat down for dinner when the attack occurred

Australia's prime minister has promised to take strong action following an apparent arson attack on a synagogue in Melbourne.

Police are looking for a man who poured liquid on the synagogue's front door before setting it on fire on Friday night. Some 20 people having dinner inside at the time were evacuated without any injuries.

Police are also trying to determine if the incident is linked to an attack against a Jewish-owned restaurant in the city on the same night.

A string of antisemitic attacks have occurred in Australia in the past few months, sparked by tensions over the Israel-Hamas war.

JOSH STANYER/EPA/Shutterstock Police take away an anti-Israeli protester with a black face mask, long dark hair and a white top from the restaurant where more police officers and others can be seenJOSH STANYER/EPA/Shutterstock
Protesters at the restaurant shouted slogans against the Israeli military

The Australian government has appointed a special envoy to combat antisemitism, and passed tougher laws against hate crimes following a wave of high-profile attacks.

"Antisemitism has no place in Australia," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said following the attack on the East Melbourne synagogue.

"Those responsible for these shocking acts must face the full force of the law and my government will provide all necessary support toward this effort," Albanese said.

It is not clear if the incident was linked to the attack on the Miznon restaurant in the city's business district during which rioters broke in, throwing chairs and other objects while chanting "death to the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]". Some of the attackers were led away in handcuffs.

"These events are a severe escalation directed towards our community," said Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.

"There have been too many antisemitic attacks in Australia," Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said.

"The Australian government must do more to fight this toxic disease."

The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has become a volatile political issue in Australia.

It has resulted in protests from both Jewish and Muslim communities, as well as a sharp uptick in Islamophobia and antisemitism.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the 7 October 2023 attack, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 57,268 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's health ministry.

Tiny creatures gorge, get fat, and help fight global warming

Prof Daniel J Mayor @oceanplankton A close-up of the head of the copepod, Calanus propinquus, showing its bright red antennae and hair-like feeding appendages.Prof Daniel J Mayor @oceanplankton

A tiny, obscure animal often sold as aquarium food has been quietly protecting our planet from global warming by undertaking an epic migration, according to new research.

These "unsung heroes" called zooplankton gorge themselves and grow fat in spring before sinking hundreds of metres into the deep ocean in Antarctica where they burn the fat.

This locks away as much planet-warming carbon as the annual emissions of roughly 55 million petrol cars, stopping it from further warming our atmosphere, according to researchers.

This is much more than scientists expected. But just as researchers uncover this service to our planet, threats to the zooplankton are growing.

Prof Daniel J Mayor @oceanplankton Female copepods (Calanus simillimus) displaying variable quantities of lipid (fat) reserves – the clear cigar shaped ‘bubble’ within their bodies. Body length approximately 4mm.Prof Daniel J Mayor @oceanplankton
Female copepods (4mm) with cigar-shaped fat stores in their bodies

Scientists have spent years probing the animal's annual migration in Antarctic waters, or the Southern Ocean, and what it means for climate change.

The findings are "remarkable", says lead author Dr Guang Yang from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, adding that it forces a re-think about how much carbon the Southern Ocean stores.

"The animals are an unsung hero because they have such a cool way of life," says co-author Dr Jennifer Freer from British Antarctic Survey.

But compared to the most popular Antarctic animals like the whale or penguin, the small but mighty zooplankton are overlooked and under-appreciated.

Prof Daniel J Mayor @oceanplankton A close-up of the head of the copepod, Calanus propinquus, showing its bright red antennae and hair-like feeding appendages.Prof Daniel J Mayor @oceanplankton
This copepod has hair-like arms for feeding

If anyone has heard of them, it's probably as a type of fish food available to buy online.

But their life cycle is odd and fascinating. Take the copepod, a type of zooplankton that is a distant relative of crabs and lobsters.

Just 1-10mm in size, they spend most of their lives asleep between 500m to 2km deep in the ocean.

Prof Daniel J Mayor @oceanplankton The Southern Ocean copepod, Calanoides acutus, with their green pigmented guts and lipid sacs clearly visible inside its transparent body. Body length approximately 4mm.Prof Daniel J Mayor @oceanplankton
Sacs of fat, or lipids, form in Southern Ocean copepods' bodies and heads after they eat phytoplankton (the green material in the bodies in this image)

In pictures taken under a microscope, you can see long sausages of fat inside their bodies, and fat bubbles in their heads, explains Prof Daniel Mayor who photographed them in Antarctica.

Without them, our planet's atmosphere would be significantly warmer.

Globally the oceans have absorbed 90% of the excess heat humans have created by burning fossil fuels. Of that figure, the Southern Ocean is responsible for about 40%, and a lot of that is down to zooplankton.

Prof Daniel J Mayor @oceanplankton A close-up of Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, showing its specialised front limbs (the ‘feeding basket’) that help them harvest microscopic phytoplankton (algae) from the water. Its green gut demonstrates their effectiveness. It has orange patches in his body and front legs, with a large black eye at the top of its body. Prof Daniel J Mayor @oceanplankton

Millions of pounds is being spent globally to understand how exactly they store carbon.

Scientists were already aware that the zooplankton contributed to carbon storage in a daily process when the animals carbon-rich waste sinks to the deep ocean.

But what happened when the animals migrate in the Southern Ocean had not been quantified.

The latest research focussed on copepods, as well as other types of zooplankton called krill, and salps.

The creatures eat phytoplankton on the ocean surface which grow by transforming carbon dioxide into living matter through photosynthesis. This turns into fat in the zooplankton.

"Their fat is like a battery pack. When they spend the winter deep in the ocean, they just sit and slowly burn off this fat or carbon," explains Prof Daniel Mayor at University of Exeter, who was not part of the study.

"This releases carbon dioxide. Because of the way the oceans work, if you put carbon really deep down, it takes decades or even centuries for that CO2 to come out and contribute to atmospheric warming," he says.

Jennifer Freer Dr Jennifer Freer stands on deck of the Sir David Attenborough polar ship wearing orange high-vis safety clothing, a red hat and sunglasses. She is holding on to the rope railing next to the ocean. Close to the ship is the tip of an iceberg visible at the water surface. The sky is blue with some clouds.Jennifer Freer
Dr Jennifer Freer analysed the zooplankton on board the Sir David Attenborough polar ship

The research team calculated that this process - called the seasonal vertical migration pump - transports 65 million tonnes of carbon annually to at least 500m below the ocean surface.

Of that, it found that copepods contribute the most, followed by krill and salps.

That is roughly equivalent to the emissions from driving 55 million diesel cars for a year, according to a greenhouse gas emissions calculator by the US EPA.

Prof Daniel J Mayor @oceanplankton Five scientists wearing high-vis orange jackets and dark trousers on board the Sir David Attenborough polar ship. They are working with a fishing net equipped with 9 closing nets and has a 1 × 1 m mouth.  There is a large yellow crane above them.Prof Daniel J Mayor @oceanplankton
Plankton sampling often happens at midnight when the animals are closest to the ocean surface.

The latest research looked at data stretching back to the 1920s to quantify this carbon storage, also called carbon sequestration.

But the scientific discovery is ongoing as researchers seek to understand more details about the migration cycle.

Earlier this year, Dr Freer and Prof Mayor spent two months on the Sir David Attenborough polar research ship near the South Orkney island and South Georgia.

Using large nets the scientists caught zooplankton and brought the animals onboard.

"We worked in complete darkness under red light so we didn't disturb them," says Dr Freer.

"Others worked in rooms kept at 3-4C. You wear a lot of protection to stay there for hours at a time looking down the microscope," she adds.

Prof Daniel J Mayor @oceanplankton A collection of Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba. The guts of many of these specimens are green, indicating that they have recently been feeding on microscopic algae (phytoplankton). Body lengths approximately 50-60mm.Prof Daniel J Mayor @oceanplankton
Antarctic krill (50-60mm) with green guts showing they've recently eaten algae

But warming waters as well as commercial harvesting of krill could threaten the future of zooplankton.

"Climate change, disturbance to ocean layers and extreme weather are all threats," explains Prof Atkinson.

This could reduce the amount of zooplankton in Antarctica and limit the carbon stored in the deep ocean.

Krill fishing companies harvested almost half a million tonnes of krill in 2020, according to the UN.

It is permitted under international law, but has been criticised by environmental campaigners including in the recent David Attenborough Ocean documentary.

The scientists say their new findings should be incorporated into climate models that forecast how much our planet will warm.

"If this biological pump didn't exist, atmospheric CO2 levels would be roughly twice those as they are at the moment. So the oceans are doing a pretty good job of mopping up CO2 and getting rid of it," explains co-author Prof Angus Atkinson.

The research is published in the journal Limnology and Oceanography.

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Israeli Ministers Set to Meet on Next Steps Toward Gaza Truce

Members of the government are poised to decide whether to proceed with negotiations after Hamas said it had responded positively to the latest truce proposal.

© Eyad Baba/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A man inspecting damage after an Israeli strike in central Gaza on Friday. The war has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and reduced much of the territory to rubble.

Why did our aunt leave everything to a complete stranger?

Getty Images A close-up image of a hand holding a pen, signing a document titled 'This is The Last Will and Testament.' The document includes blank spaces for the name of the person making the will and their county. A partially visible signature appears at the bottom.Getty Images

In late 2023, sisters Lisa and Nicole were told they had inherited a substantial sum from their late Aunt Christine. But while they were absorbing this life-changing news, the windfall was just as quickly snatched away.

A man unknown to Christine's family, friends or neighbours, appeared - apparently from nowhere - and produced a will, naming him sole heir to her entire estate.

Doubts about the man's claim grew as troubling details emerged. However, the police and probate service said they would not investigate.

Lisa and Nicole's is one of several similar cases investigated by BBC News in the south of England.

We found mounting evidence that a criminal gang has been carrying out systematic will fraud by exploiting weaknesses in the probate system, stealing millions of pounds from the estates of dead people, and committing serious tax fraud.

'My dear friend'

Lisa and Nicole were upset to hear about the death of their aunt, Christine Harverson, whom they had not seen since their early childhood. They were also shocked to be told that they stood to inherit her entire estate, including a house in Wimbledon, south London, which could be worth nearly £1m. She had not left a will, and they were her closest living relatives.

The sisters were alerted to their inheritance by an "heir-finder" company, Anglia Research Services. Heir-finders use an official government register that lists estates where no will has been made. They research the dead person's family in order to identify, locate and contact the rightful heirs.

In return for a portion of the inheritance, these companies act on the heirs' behalf and apply for what's known as a grant of probate. This gives them the legal right to deal with a deceased person's estate – in other words, their property, money and possessions.

However, on this occasion, the application for probate on behalf of Lisa and Nicole was stopped in its tracks.

A Hungarian man by the name of Tamas Szvercsok contacted the probate service, and produced a will describing him as Christine's "dear friend".

It named him the beneficiary of her entire estate, as well as sole executor - the person legally responsible for carrying out the instructions in the will.

An extract from the will of Christine Harverson, which reads: I hereby revoke all former wills, codicils and testamentary instruments made by me and declare this to be my last Will. I appoint my dear friend Tamas Szvercsok to be my executor and direct that all my debts and funeral expenses shall be paid as soon as convenient to do so after my death. 
"I give and bequeath unto my executor the entirety of my remaining estate after paying of my debts, funeral expenses, costs of administering my estate and any taxes there may be. This includes all real estate that I own, and all funds I hold in my bank account, savings accounts, shares, bonds, investments and any cash held at my home."

The possibility that Mr Szvercsok was genuine, initially was not dismissed out of hand.

"It happens - sometimes cases slip through the net and a will is unearthed," says Matt Boardman, a former police officer who works for Anglia Research.

However, there were clear signs something was amiss:

  • Christine's neighbour and friend, Sue, said she had never mentioned a Hungarian friend at any point in the years they had known each other
  • The will was dated 2016 - Christine was housebound and disabled by this time, and receiving practically no visitors
  • The terms of the will meant that Christine would have disinherited her husband and carer Dennis, who in 2016 was still alive (he died in 2020)
  • Moreover, because Dennis was the joint owner of their house, Christine could not have legally bequeathed the house without his consent
  • After Dennis's death, Christine entered a care home, but there was no record of Mr Szvercsok ever visiting her
Joe Dixey/BBC Sue stands in front of a light-coloured brick or stone terraced house. She is wearing a light blue button-up shirt with sleeves rolled up to the elbows and a small embroidered logo on the left chest. Behind her, the house features two large white-framed windows with sheer curtains and a ledge beneath each window. The overall scene is well-lit, and no additional objects or textures are visibleJoe Dixey/BBC
Sue (pictured in front of Christine Harverson's house) cast doubt on the authenticity of her late neighbour's will

Other even more troubling details stood out.

Christine's home address was misspelled on the will, and even though it was dated 2016, the address given for Mr Szvercsok was a block of flats that had not been built until 2021.

Matt Boardman contacted Mr Szvercsok, who replied by email: "I never heard of any family. I'm the sole executor of her will."

Despite presenting what they thought was a strong case to police and the probate service, Lisa and Nicole were told they would have to bring a civil action if they wanted to prove that the will was a fake. That would cost tens of thousands of pounds which they do not have.

Lisa now says she sometimes wishes she had never been told about the will in the first place: "All it's done is bring misery really, and heartache. It's just a whole nightmare."

'Vacant goods'

Stealing a dead person's property and financial assets appears to be extremely easy under UK law, if no will can be located.

The official government register of unclaimed estates in England and Wales is called Bona Vacantia (Latin for "vacant goods"), and is freely accessible online. It currently contains about 6,000 names and is updated daily.

Legitimate heir-hunting companies use Bona Vacantia to research potential clients, but it also appears to have become a valuable resource for criminals.

To claim an estate where there is no known heir, a fraudster simply has to find a promising name on Bona Vacantia, produce a will quickly enough, and be awarded grant of probate.

Since 2017 it's been possible to apply for grant of probate online, but critics of the system say it is failing to detect suspicious applicants, and it also appears to increase the opportunity for tax fraud.

When someone dies, their estate has to be assessed for inheritance tax. This is not payable on estates worth £325,000 or less, but any amount over that threshold – with some exceptions - is taxed at 40%.

It's the responsibility of the person awarded grant of probate to make sure inheritance tax has been paid.

Applicants for grant of probate must complete a form to say this has been done, but under the current arrangements, they need do no more than declare on the online form that no tax is due.

It is a system that relies largely on trust, but gives ample opportunity for that trust to be roundly abused.

During our investigations we have come across cases where estates have been valued at just under the inheritance tax threshold, even though they include property worth far more.

One of these was the estate of Charles Haxton.

Whose house?

At the time of his death in 2021, Charles Haxton was living alone in a terraced house in Tooting, south London.

He was reclusive and only occasionally spoke to neighbours, although one of them, Roye Chapman, was there for him near the end when he suffered a bad fall outside.

"I rang the police and then got him up and got him into the ambulance," he says. "His head was all cut open, and then two weeks later, he died."

No will was initially found for Mr Haxton, and his name and address appeared on Bona Vacantia. This prompted Anglia Research to look for possible heirs, and they told several of his cousins that they could be in line to inherit Mr Haxton's estate.

Joe Dixey/BBC Roye Chapman is leaning on a low wall in front of a red brick house with two windows covered by lace curtains and a wooden door. The house has a small front yard with some grass and plants. Roye is wearing a blue long-sleeve shirtJoe Dixey/BBC
Roye Chapman stands in front of the house of his late neighbour, Charles Haxton

Then, as with Lisa and Nicole, the cousins were told that a will had appeared after all, leaving everything to one man - also Hungarian - called Roland Silye.

The family initially accepted his claim, to have been an old friend of Mr Haxton, but one relation, Barry, obtained a copy of the will and was struck by how odd it looked.

It left Mr Silye two properties - not only Mr Haxton's home in London, but also a house in Hertfordshire.

Together, the two properties would have been worth about £2m. However, Mr Silye listed the value of the estate as £320,500 – just £4,500 short of the amount at which inheritance tax kicked in.

What was even stranger was that Mr Haxton had never owned, and had no connection to, any house in Hertfordshire.

We visited this property. It was large and dilapidated, and neighbours told us it had been unoccupied for a long time.

The puzzle of the extra house also caught the attention of Neil Fraser, a partner in another heir-hunting company. He thinks that Mr Silye may have bundled the Hertfordshire property into a will in an attempt to fake ownership.

"He must have gone past that house and thought, 'I'll just take that derelict house. How can I get that house? Well, I can put it inside a will!"

Crucially, the will was accepted by the probate service, who did not check or raise any questions about the Hertfordshire house.

We were unable to trace Roland Silye in our investigation, and his motivation remains a mystery.

The will would not give him possession of the Hertfordshire house - the property registry and the electoral roll name the owner as a woman who would be in her 70s.

However, Mr Fraser speculates that the will could be used in future as leverage to take ownership when the real owner dies.

Despite reporting his suspicions to the police and the probate service, he says action was not taken.

Mr Silye cleared probate not only for Mr Haxton's estate, but also that of George Woon, an elderly man from Southall, west London.

Mr Woon also died in 2021, and shortly afterwards, his name appeared on Bona Vacantia. Mr Silye came forward with a will which named him as sole heir. Mr Woon's house was later sold at auction for £360,000.

A complex web

We asked an expert in financial fraud, Graham Barrow, to check whether there could be any connection between Roland Silye and Tamas Szvercsok.

Both have names of Hungarian origin, and, according to Companies House, both appear to be directors in a complex and interlinked web of companies.

Mr Barrow established that the address Mr Szvercsok gave in Mrs Harverson's will was also used by Mr Silye for some of his companies.

What these companies do is unclear, although some have been struck off for fraudulent addresses, and others have been warned for failing to provide accounts.

The pattern - multiple businesses, related addresses, similar names - is one which often indicates a criminal network, says Mr Barrow.

He adds that owning multiple companies can allow criminals to disperse funds across different accounts and locations, and makes life more difficult for law enforcement.

Another Hungarian name featuring in this web of companies is Bela Kovacs, who, according to a will dated 2021, was heir to the entire estate of Michael Judd, from Pinner, west London.

A single-story brick house with a steeply pitched roof and two chimneys. The house features white-framed windows, including a large bay window at the front. Overgrown vegetation surrounds the house, and debris is scattered on the ground near the side of the building. The sky above is clear and blue.
Michael Judd's estate included his bungalow in Pinner, west London

According to his neighbours, Mr Judd was a multi-talented individual with a distinguished record in the security services. However, in his final years he had become something of a hoarder, seldom leaving his house.

One neighbour, Chris, told us he thought the will had sounded strange and not only because Mr Judd had never mentioned Bela Kovacs.

A few months before his death in 2024, Mr Judd told Chris he had made a will long ago, but the people named on it were all now dead. In any case, he added, he did not know where it was.

"I suppose I better try and dig it out some time," Chris remembers him saying.

He feels it's inconceivable that Mr Judd would have troubled himself with these decisions if he had made a will three years previously.

We tracked Mr Kovacs down to a luxury estate in the Watford area but he refused to talk to us.

Joined-up writing

Other factors seem to connect these cases.

The wills made out for Charles Haxton, George Woon and the others we have seen, appear to have been written by the same person, according to handwriting expert Christina Strang.

"The numbers two, four and seven are all written in the same way on several addresses," she says.

She also sees other similarities, such as the spacing of the letters in different signatures, and the positioning of the signatures on the line.

"It seems to be one person actually signing, forging all of these."

Christina Strang has short grey hair and is wearing a blue garment and sitting in front of a computer monitor. The background includes part of the monitor and a beige wall
Handwriting expert Christina Strang says it seems one person signed all the wills

Ms Strang also thinks this same person may have also forged signatures for the witnesses named on the wills, none of whom, we found, were apparently known to the deceased, and some of whom might have been completely fictitious.

There are disturbing similarities in the way that properties were treated during and after the probate process:

  • Shortly after Mr Szvercsok made his initial claim on Mrs Harverson's estate, her nieces discovered her Wimbledon house had been ransacked
  • A workman employed to empty Mr Judd's house told us he had been instructed to empty it quickly, even though this meant having to destroy what appeared to be valuable heirlooms
  • After Mr Haxton's house was cleared, the windows and doors were blacked out, and the locks strengthened; a year later, it emerged that it was being used as a cannabis farm (a fact that only emerged when a rival gang tried to force entry and neighbours alerted the police)
Joe Dixey/BBC Three individuals stand in front of a reddish-brown textured building. The person on the left wears a patterned jacket featuring various colors and designs, including shades of brown, black, and orange. The person in the middle wears a dark blue long-sleeve shirt and leans slightly against the wall. The person on the right wears a light-colored button-up shirt and a necklace with a circular pendant. Behind them is an orange-brown wooden door marked with the number '46' and a mail slot beneath it. To the right of the door is a window with lace curtains.Joe Dixey/BBC
Charles Haxton's neighbours, Delorie, Roye and Sharon (L-R), alerted police to strange goings-on at their late neighbour's house

A system in trouble

As a result of our investigation, bank accounts for dozens of companies connected to the suspected fraudsters, have been suspended.

In addition, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has told us it now wants to question Roland Silye about inheritance tax which he might owe on the estate of Charles Haxton.

Bela Kovacs was granted probate over the estate of Michael Judd, which was valued at £310,000 - just below the inheritance tax threshold. However, HMRC's interest was also piqued by this case, and it has now suspended a planned sale of Mr Judd's bungalow in Pinner.

Meanwhile, the dispute over Christine Harverson's estate means the probate process has been frozen, and it looks unlikely to be resolved soon. Tamas Szvercsok cannot take possession of her Wimbledon house, but Lisa and Nicole lack the funds to go to the civil court and prove his will is fake.

Old photo of Christine Harverson, with curly hair is standing outdoors in front of a wooden fence and some plants. She is wearing a dark-colored, long-sleeved shirt with horizontal stripes and a necklace with a small pendant. The background includes greenery and part of a brick wall.
Probate for Christine Harverson's estate has been frozen because of the dispute between her nieces and Tamas Szvercsok

We wrote to Mr Szvercsok and Mr Silye at the addresses supplied with their probate applications, offering them a right of reply, but we did not hear back.

When we shared our findings with the Ministry of Justice, which is ultimately responsible for the probate system, it told us that it was "working with law enforcement to ensure criminals feel the full force of the law".

However, a different picture emerges from others who know the system.

"Because probate isn't high profile – it's not sort of, for want of a better word, politically sexy, it doesn't stay in the headlines," says former MP Sir Bob Neill, who until the 2024 general election was the chair of the House of Commons Justice Select Committee.

In 2023, the select committee launched an inquiry into the probate system, but it was cut short by the election.

Sir Bob believes an over-eagerness to cut costs by digitising the probate system, has produced weaknesses which fraudsters are now exploiting.

"When you had regional offices you had human awareness, contact and scrutiny that was better suited to pick up cases where things have gone wrong," he says. "A purely sort of automated system isn't really good at doing that."

Sir Bob Neill stands in front of a building featuring large dark gray doors and beige stone walls. He is dressed in a dark suit jacket over a light blue checkered shirt, open-necked.
Sir Bob Neill

He says the system introduced in 2017 was a cheap and quick fix. It lacks the sophistication, he says, of programs used by insurance companies to deal with fraud, which can detect patterns of suspicious behaviour.

His concerns are echoed by Anglia Research's investigator, Matt Boardman, who says that previously, executors of wills would have had to attend their local probate registry to swear an oath, which "would allow the registrar to evaluate every single case on its own merit".

He says the system's move online "completely eliminated" the chance to question the executor's demeanour or behaviour.

"Goodness knows just how many of these have already gone through and been processed by the probate registry," he says, "and how rich we're making these people."

Crying at work: A sign of strength, weakness or just being human?

House of Commons via PA Media Rachel Reeves crying in the House of CommonsHouse of Commons via PA Media

Pictures of a weepy Rachel Reeves dominated the newspaper front pages and TV news after her tearful appearance at Prime Minister's Questions earlier this week.

The markets were spooked so much by her emotional appearance that the cost of government borrowing immediately jumped and the pound took a dive.

The sight of most of us crying in the workplace is unlikely to move financial markets, but does it matter if you do?

Does it show weakness, or strength, or simply that you're in touch with your emotions?

Anecdotally, it's not unusual to have a bit of a sniffle at work. Several people got in touch with the BBC to say they had let it all out.

Clara, 48, from Lancaster, said she had become emotional when she was a young graduate getting a "blasting", and years later "in frustration".

"I've also cried after receiving bad news from home and left work immediately."

Emma, meanwhile, felt she had to keep her emotions under wraps because she worked in "a tough male-dominated environment" and would give herself a hard time for "showing emotion or 'weakness'."

Although some research has suggested women are more likely than men to cry, plenty of men told us they had also shed tears in front of colleagues.

Guy Clayton, a doctor, said he had often cried "with patients, colleagues and families over the years, when I've shared their sadness".

A 38-year-old from London who works in finance said he had become emotional at work when dealing with personal issues and felt it showed "a professional dedication" to still turn up.

'Strength, not a liability'

So is crying a strength or a weakness? Executive coach and success mentor Shereen Hoban says it's old-fashioned to think weeping at work is unacceptable.

"We've moved beyond the old-school idea that professionalism means leaving emotion at the door," she says. "In today's world, emotional intelligence is a strength, not a liability."

Career coach Georgia Blackburn says it's not unusual for people at work to be upset, so firms need to know how to handle and support staff who are feeling a bit fragile.

Ultimately, she says it will mean workers get more done.

"An employer that truly listens, shows compassion and understanding, is so much more likely to keep their staff motivated and happier in the long run," she says.

Amanda Amanda, who has blonde hair, smiles at the camera with her head tilted slightly to one sideAmanda
Amanda cried during an interview - and still got the job

That's been the case for Amanda in Stockport who contacted the Jeremy Vine show on BBC Radio 2.

She cried at a job interview at the University of Manchester 17 years ago, just after her father had been diagnosed with cancer.

She got the job and is still there.

"I cried every day for about nine months until my dad sadly passed away. It just made me realise what an amazing person I work for, and what an amazing place I work at, where that was OK."

'Bring back crying'

Getty Images Amy Powney, dressed in black, with long brown hair and red lipstick, stands in front of a red backgroundGetty Images
Amy Powney thinks showing your emotions at work has become demonised

Fashion designer Amy Powney was having a bit of a rough time at the end of last year.

She was having an "intense" time leaving a job, and it coincided with traumatic things happening in her life.

Amy, who founded sustainable fashion brand Akyn earlier this year, also felt pressure to be a "poster child" for ethical fashion.

"My to-do list at that time was: feed the kids, pick them up from school, sort that nursery thing out, design the next collection, make sure the staff are OK, sort out that VAT return... and then save the world," she told BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour.

"I went through this period of time where I just could not stop crying and I was doing it in public places, I was doing it on stage."

She thinks that showing emotion at work has been "demonised" and is unapologetic about breaking down.

"I just think bring back the crying, bring back the emotions," she says.

"Women in leadership should be able to show their emotion. I think it's a superpower. I think it's a strength."

Men v women, staff v bosses

But not everybody thinks that way. Some people are still a teensy bit judgemental, says Ann Francke, chief executive at the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).

Women who weep are seen as "too emotional" while men who mope can be shamed for being soft and vulnerable, she says.

Junior staff can get away with it more than their bosses, but this shouldn't necessarily be the case, she adds.

"When a senior leader cries, it can be seen as shocking or even inappropriate. But when handled with authenticity, it can also be powerful. It shows that leaders are human and care deeply about what they do," she says.

But if you want to climb the greasy pole, it could be best to keep a stiff upper lip, at least in some organisations, says executive coach Shereen Hoban.

Crying could affect your promotion prospects, she says. "Let's be honest. There's still a bias in some workplaces that sees composure as strength and emotion as instability."

But she says some organisations see things differently, and value leaders who are "real, self-aware, and able to navigate complexity, including their own emotions".

She adds that if you break down once at work it "won't ruin your career", and that what matters more is the bigger picture:

"Your performance, your presence, and how you bounce back or move forward with intention," she says.

What to do if you become tearful at work

  • Give yourself permission to step back and take a moment
  • You don't need to hide your emotions, it often shows you care deeply about your job – that's not a bad thing
  • But you should feel supported, so maybe talk to a trusted colleague, take a short break or ask for support from your manager or HR
  • Managers and colleagues need to acknowledge when their staff are crying – offer a tissue to them, don't pretend it's not happening

Provided by the CMI

客座评论:国共必定会再次分道扬镳

张俊华
2025-07-01T12:26:56.902Z
台湾前总统马英九在他中国之行的最后一站敦煌研究院阐述了“和平民主统一”理念

(德国之声中文网)马英九终于结束了他这次“漫长”的中国之行。 他参加了中共第十七届海峡论坛, 并专门访问了福建宁德下党乡,参观了习近平领导下脱贫成果,走了不少地方。好多活动无疑是为共产党捧场甚至背书。 但马英九这次访问,也许他已察觉到,以往那种绕圈子的说法,共产党似乎总是误解,利用这次中国之行,应该把话说得更明白些。

马英九的统一情怀

在他中国之行的最后一站,即在莫高窟旁的敦煌研究院,他脱稿阐述了他“和平民主统一”的理念。而正是他对这个理念的解释,反映了他的“统一情怀”,但也表明了他的“统一”的底线。而正是这种底线的存在,共产党将不会给她太多好脸色看。

首先,马英九的“统一情怀”是有其历史和血缘的基础。这点在向他这样一个年龄层次,而且祖辈曾生活在大陆的人来说,可以理解。 但马英九这里显然把自己的“统一情怀”绝对化。因为在当代社会,享有类似的文化或者相同的语言,但却生活在两个不同的国度的国家案例不少。他们之所以没有“统一”,是因为当地选民并不认为统一之后一定会带来更多的幸福和自由。希特勒也是一个“统一狂”,所以他非要吞并奥地利,把这个作为“大日耳曼”帝国象征。但二战后,双方还是分离了,而且双方并没有因为回到自己的独立地位而感到难受。相反,享用同一种语言和类似的文化传统民主国家,能从这种和平共处中共同获益。 从这点来说,马英九的“统一情怀”似乎太绝对化了。

马英九6月21日在甘肃省天水市参加中华人文始祖伏羲祭典后接受采访

两个绝然不同的思路

笔者以为,了解当前国民党对华策略关键在于,他们把最好情景看成了现实,或者是可以实现的现实。那就是双方能平等对待,放弃武力,最终达到和平统一。而民进党则是把最坏情景看成是必然会出现的,即一个威权主义的政权因为接受不了一个民主政权,而且,威权国家认为自己有足够的武力征服对方,所以,中共用武力吞并台湾几率很高。 为此,台湾就必须充分做好防止大陆“武力统一”的准备。

而国民党则在向自己的公众表明,“放心吧,共产党不会打我们的,只要我们也显示出和平的意愿,并且,只要我们确实也愿意统一的话“。 实际上,国民党如果真正地了解自己以往在国共合作的历史,自己心里也明白,两家心里想的还是不一样。

马英九和国民党的说教,有点类似当今的特朗普对待正在侵略乌克兰的普京。 首先,特朗普完全从单维度的角度来比较双方的力量,那就是,俄罗斯的军力远强于乌克兰。国民党对对岸共产党的武力也是如此判断。正是因为如此,特朗普决定说一大堆普京的好话,强调他是个好人,是个热爱和平的人。但使得特朗普沮丧的是,普京并不买他的帐,所以他根本不接受特朗普的和平建议。

同理,马英九以及他的追随者,也希望通过说一大堆共产党的好话,使得对方停止动武。这就是为什么马英九认同“九二共识“的重要性,这也说明马英九为什么说”我们必须相信习近平(不会采用武力来统一)。“ 这也是为什么马英九为什么去花了自己基金会的钱去参观习近平的脱贫项目等等,为共产党背书。

中共不喜欢马英九的底线

但如果我们仔细观察一下马英九的言行,他还是一个有底线的人。 尽管他在维护他的底线方面,做的不仅不够,而且甚至是背道而驰。 但公众必须了解他的底线,那就是他在中国最后一天访问时强调的“和平民主统一“的理念。

首先,如上所说,他的一个大前提就是,大陆和台湾一定会统一。 由于在中国的听众都喜欢听他强调的“统一情怀“,所以,当他脱稿开始提出这个理念时,人们只是以为他就是在讲统一,于是赢得台下一片掌声。但掌声过后,情况就不一样了。 因为他开始强调一些”小前提“,而没有这些”小前提“, 统一还是不可能实现。

首先,双方的统一必须是用和平的方式,而非使用武力。其次,这个统一必须用民主的方式。所谓民主的方式,就是要尊重台湾人民的意愿。 换言之,应该用当代民主的思维,允许台湾人决定自己的命运,是统一还是保持现状。 马英九的话暗示着,中国政府也应该平等地对待台湾政府,尊重当地人民的意愿,毕竟,马英九也曾是这个国家的通过民选被选出的总统啊。

马英九的底线就是体现在“民主“这个概念上。 而正是这一点使得中共非常恼火。 但为了表示客气,中国国台办主任宋涛只是在会上回应了,”应该尊重中国人民的意愿“。言下之意,你台湾人的意愿算老几?统一台湾还不是中国说了算?

当时,在敦煌说这番话的马英九应该也察觉到共产党对他的“民主统一“理念非常反感。所以,他即刻说“我的想法如有不当之处,请批评指正”。

可以想象,随着时间的推移,国民党和共产党在这个议题上分歧将越来越大,且不说台湾人越年轻,越缺少这种”统一情怀“。 就连那个在大陆网上红的发紫的台湾”馆长“,由于“统一情怀”并没有像马英九那样浓厚,当他情不自禁地在大陆人面前表明“我是中华民国人”时,被中国大陆人骂成“台独分子”。一个亲自跑到大陆去赞美中国的台湾人,最终还是被骂成“台独分子”,那台湾的台独分子不就到处都是了嘛。

马英九的底线向国民党提示,即便你说对岸的共产党一百次好话, 一旦涉及到民主,一个威权国家是绝对不会因为你说一些好话而把你的底线当回事的。 而正是因为这一点,双方撕破脸是必然的。这只是个时间问题。

本文作者张俊华为德籍华人政治学者,在德国生活三十余年。他曾就读于德国法兰克福大学,并获得哲学博士学位。此后曾执教于柏林自由大学等高校。现为法国Ecole Universitaire de Management客座教授。

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金砖峰会两大巨头缺席:成员国齐聚巴西面临挑战

德正
2025-07-05T09:52:38.691Z

(德国之声中文网) 金砖国家领导人将于周日(7月6日)起在里约热内卢举行年度峰会,但此次会议将面临一个显著的“缺席”。中国国家主席习近平将自2012年上任以来首次缺席这一新兴经济体联盟的年度峰会。

金砖国家集团,常被视为制衡西方力量的中国主导力量,此次会议正值其成员国即将面临与美国迫在眉睫且代价高昂的关税战。金砖国家最初在二十年前被构想为一个快速增长经济体的论坛,如今已日益由中国主导,其经济增长速度和规模远超其他成员。

中国方面尚未说明习近平缺席此次峰会的原因。前美国国家安全委员会中国事务主任、现布鲁金斯学会智库学者哈斯 (Ryan Hass) 表示:“我预计外界会对习近平缺席的原因进行猜测。最简单的解释可能最具说服力,习近平最近在北京接待了卢拉。

习近平并非唯一缺席的重量级人物。因战争罪被国际刑事法院通缉的俄罗斯总统普京也选择不亲自到场,但克里姆林宫表示他将通过视频连线参与会议。同样,伊朗总统佩泽什基安 (Masoud Pezeshkian) 也将缺席,该国仍在与以色列持续12天的冲突中挣扎。

哈斯认为,普京的缺席以及印度总理将作为巴西的贵宾也可能是习近平缺席的考量因素。“习近平不希望被将获得国宴款待的莫迪 (Narendra Modi) 抢了风头,” 哈斯说,“我预计习近平决定委派国务院总理李强出席,正是基于这些因素。”

尽管如此,习近平的缺席对于东道主巴西总统卢拉 (Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva) 来说仍是一大打击。卢拉希望巴西在全球舞台上扮演更重要的角色。在截至2025年11月的一年里,巴西将接连主办G20峰会、金砖峰会以及COP30国际气候谈判,随后将在明年迎来竞争激烈的总统大选。外界预计卢拉将史无前例地寻求第四个总统任期。

中国国家主席习近平将首次缺席金砖峰会,俄罗斯总统普京也选择不亲临现场(资料图片)

经济议题优先 挑战美元主导地位

对于那些将前往“美妙之城”里约热内卢的金砖国家领导人而言,经济议题将是首要议程。卢拉周五重申了寻找美元替代方案以用于金砖国家间贸易的设想。

“我知道这很复杂。存在政治问题,” 卢拉在一次金砖银行活动上表示,“但如果我们不找到一种新模式,我们21世纪的结局将与20世纪的开始如出一辙。”

然而,鉴于包括中国在内的许多国家正与美国进行艰难的贸易谈判,他们可能对激怒变幻莫测的美国总统特朗普持谨慎态度。特朗普已发出警告,从周五(7月4日)起,各国将陆续收到信函,告知其对美国出口商品将被征收的关税金额。他还威胁对挑战美元国际主导地位的国家征收100%的关税。

里约天主教大学金砖政策中心主任费尔南德斯 (Marta Fernandez) 告诉法新社:“我们预计此次峰会将保持谨慎基调:最终宣言中将很难直接提及美国。”她特别指出,对中国而言,“现在似乎不是进一步加剧这两个世界主要经济体之间摩擦的合适时机。”

扩员带来机遇与挑战 内部共识面临考验

除了经济议题,从“中东问题”到“气候变化”,金砖国家成员将不得不克服根深蒂固的分歧。

金砖国家最初的成员包括巴西、俄罗斯、印度和中国,后来加入了南非。近期,沙特阿拉伯、伊朗、阿拉伯联合酋长国、埃及、埃塞俄比亚和印度尼西亚也已加入。分析人士认为,扩员增强了该集团的潜在国际影响力。金砖国家目前的人口占全球近一半,GDP占全球的40%。

然而,金砖国家成员的增加,也催生了许多新的内部矛盾,尤其是在如何强硬挑战美国的问题上。费尔南德斯表示,这种扩张“使得建立强有力共识变得更加困难。”

据瓦加斯基金会国际关系教授斯图恩克尔 (Oliver Stuenkel) 称,由于“利益分歧”,金砖国家成员此前未能就伊朗与以色列冲突以及随后的美国军事打击发表强烈声明。

尽管如此,巴西仍希望成员国能在峰会上采取共同立场,包括在最敏感的议题上。巴西外交部长维埃拉 (Mauro Vieira) 告诉法新社:“金砖国家(成员),在其历史上,已成功地在重大国际问题上发出一致声音,没有理由这次在‘中东问题’上不能如此。”人工智能和全球治理改革也将是此次峰会的重要议题。

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达赖喇嘛:梦想再活几十年

德正
2025-07-05T10:07:10.160Z
周六(7月5日),达兰萨拉,藏传佛教精神领袖达赖喇嘛与成千上万流亡藏人一起祈祷。

(德国之声中文网)在90岁生日前夕,藏传佛教精神领袖达赖喇嘛周六(7月5日)表示,他梦想还能再活几十年。他当天与成千上万流亡藏人一起祈祷。

隆隆的鼓声,低鸣的号角,回荡在印度达兰萨拉山顶的寺庙中。身着红色僧袍的僧尼齐声诵经,为丹增嘉措祈求长寿。信众们相信他是转世的第十四世达赖喇嘛。

达赖喇嘛看起来健康良好,身穿传统的酒红色僧袍和黄色披肩。他带领众人祈祷。几天前,他刚刚确认,拥有600年历史的藏传佛教转世制度将在他去世后继续存在

许多流亡藏人担心,中国会自行指定一位达赖喇嘛继任者,以加强对西藏的控制。1950年,中国军队进入西藏并一直统治至今。

“至今为止,我已尽我所能。若继续得到观音菩萨的加持,我希望还能活三、四十年,继续服务众生,弘扬佛法。”他说。

达赖喇嘛的追随者称赞他为争取西藏更大自治所做的不懈努力。西藏是一片高原,面积与南非相仿。

共同愿望:避免痛苦,追求幸福

在他说话的地点——印度喜马拉雅小镇达兰萨拉的主寺中,达赖喇嘛将教义传递给更广泛的听众。自1959年拉萨起义被中国军队镇压后,他便和众多流亡藏人居住于此。

“在我这一生中,我遇到过各式各样的人,有些人信仰宗教,有些人对此毫无兴趣。这是自然的,因为每个人的性情不同。”他用藏语说道。“然而,无论是藏人还是其他人,大家共同的愿望是避免痛苦,追求幸福。”

这位富有魅力的佛教领袖曾表示,达赖喇嘛制度是否延续,将取决于公众意愿。本周三,他确认该制度会继续的声明,令全球信众感到宽慰。

他说,他收到了来自西藏境内和流亡地区的藏人,还有来自喜马拉雅地区、蒙古、俄罗斯部分地区以及中国的佛教徒的多次请求。

他表示,寻找第十五世达赖喇嘛的责任将“完全由”他设于印度的办公室——甘丹颇章基金会(Gaden Phodrang Trust)承担。

相关图集:1959年的西藏起义

亲中代表:1959年3月28日,中国国务院发布命令,宣布解散西藏地方政府,由西藏自治区筹备委员会代行西藏地方政府职权。任命班禅额尔德尼·确吉坚赞为自治区筹备委员会代理主任委员。当年21岁的班禅喇嘛对中共不乏好感。
翻越喜马拉雅山逃亡:毛泽东将达赖喇嘛出逃看作是一个将他定义为叛徒的绝好机会。一周之前,毛泽东已笔头指示:如果达赖喇嘛与他的随从一起逃跑,“我军一概不要阻拦。”1959年3月21日,也就是逃亡的第四天,23岁的达赖喇嘛翻越惹嘎拉山口来到藏南。
剑拔弩张:当流亡印度的达赖喇嘛在阿萨姆获得友好的政治庇护后,中印关系更由紧张转为敌对。
进军西藏:西藏的武装力量无法抵御中国人民解放军。但西藏的险峻地形构成了一道天然的屏障。因此,中国军队必须为进藏修建新的桥梁。直到1954年,从原属西藏的安多地区(今青海省)到拉萨的第一条公路才正式修通。
友好往来:作为回访,达赖喇嘛于1959年9月4日前往新德里的尼赫鲁府邸做客,与尼赫鲁的女儿英迪拉·甘地进行了交谈。
不顾千难万险:西藏起义之后,许多藏民追随达赖喇嘛,历尽险阻,长途跋涉逃往印度。
被迫妥协:1951年,拉萨政府与北京方面签署《十七条协议》,被迫承认西藏是中国的一部分,接受“人民民主社会”的改造。作为条件,中央政府允许西藏在改革上实行较长的过渡期。协议也规定西藏将实行民族区域自治,保持西藏现行的制度不变。1954年9月,十四世达赖喇嘛和班禅额尔德尼入京参加第一届全国人大第一次会议。
边境冲突:1959年4月,中国方面加强了中印边境的驻军,并封锁了通往尼泊尔和克什米尔拉达克的关口。西藏起义使得一直处于紧张状态的中印关系一触即发。1959年8月和10月发生在边境一带的武装冲突更使双边关系雪上加霜。
抗议化为愤怒:1959年三月底,一群藏人在印度边境城市噶伦堡(Kalimpong)举行抗议
反抗斗争:从1956年开始,西藏的社会主义改造和针对“达赖集团”的斗争进一步深化,尤其以1958年开始的“大跃进”为甚。越来越多的藏人起来反抗汉人的统治。1959年3月10日,有关达赖喇嘛可能遭到绑架的消息传出后,抗议活动激化为暴力冲突。3月17日,以妇女为主的数千示威者聚集在布达拉宫门前,抗议共产党政权的占领和压迫。几个小时之后,武装冲突爆发。
政治收编:在1954年10月13日召开的首届人大会议上,中国国家主席毛泽东与达赖喇嘛向外界展示了友好融洽的关系。毛泽东一直清楚地知道,“西藏问题”不能单纯以军事方式得以解决。然而,他低估了西藏历史和文化的特殊性,这一错误为1959年爆发的西藏起义埋下了伏笔。
达赖喇嘛逃亡:1959年3月17日,正在罗布林卡夏宫内的达赖喇嘛听到附近传来枪声,决定出逃。与此同时,解放军在拉萨河谷向起义者开火。
边境哨所:一扇木板门标志着印度与西藏之间的边界。摄于1959年4月初。
增兵西藏:为了防止暴动规模扩大,中共中央军事委员会1959年3月20日决定向西藏增派部队,发起“全面反攻”。
军事控制-1950年:1949年,中国共产党取得内战胜利后开始制定将西藏从政教合一的旧有制度中“解放”出来的初步计划。当时,西藏实际上处于政治独立的状态。为防止西藏的独立地位在国际上得到承认,毛泽东很早就意识到要尽快解决“西藏问题”,推进中国的“统一”。1950年10月6日,中国人民解放军开始向西藏进军。
起义失败:不久,西藏起义被镇压。这张图片摄于3月21日,画面上的起义民兵正在等待被押往监狱。
缴出武器:西藏起义者在拉萨向解放军缴械。这张图片的拍摄时间不详,1959年4月13日由纽约一家图片新闻社首次发表。
一边交好,另一边交恶:达赖喇嘛获得政治避难许可之后,于1959年九月首访印度首都新德里,并在那里受到了热情接待。在西藏起义发生8个月后,中印这两个在50年代交好并共同从中获益的邻邦变成了敌人。
流亡印度:1959年3月,大批西藏难民抵达印度米萨马里的过渡性营地。
护卫下歇脚:尽管如此,达赖喇嘛及其随从仍然受到追踪。在贴身护卫及“四水六岗护教志愿军”的护卫下,达赖喇嘛于1959年3月31日越过了中印边界。
政治声援:1959年4月24日,印度总理尼赫鲁前往喜玛拉雅山脚下的穆索里会见达赖喇嘛。此前几天,也就是4月18日,显然受到印度支持的达赖喇嘛要求西藏从中国独立出来。

金瓶掣签制度被滥用将失去意义

自称是信仰共产主义的无神论者的中国政府则迅速作出回应。中国谴责这位诺贝尔和平奖得主是“叛乱分子”和“分裂分子”。

中国外交部发言人毛宁周三向媒体表示,“达赖喇嘛、班禅喇嘛以 及其他佛教伟大人物的转世灵童,必须通过金瓶掣签的方式确定,并报中央政府批准。”

那只金瓶掌握在北京手中。而达赖喇嘛曾警告称,如果该方法被滥用,将不具备“任何精神意义”。

(法新社)

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日本要对不生孩子的人收税了,但大概率没啥用

高龄少子化已经成为日本社会迫在眉睫的危机,尽管近十年来日本政府一再呼吁并已出台各种政策,但均未能有效扭转这一趋势。将从2026年4月开始实施的育儿支援金政策招致诸多非议,引发日本国民对生育环境和社会不公的再思考。在自民党腐败丑闻和日本生活成本持续走高引发国民日益不满的当下,该政策恐不仅对即将到来的参议院选情助益甚微,亦难从根本上遏制生育率的颓势

(本文首发于南方人物周刊)

南方人物周刊特约撰稿 华浩男

责任编辑:李屾淼

2025年5月5日,日本宫城东松岛市,市民在儿童节活动中举起孩子留影(视觉中国/图)

作为全球经济大国,日本社会长期面临严重的高龄少子化危机。尽管这是发达国家所共同面临的难题,但对日本而言尤为艰难。据厚生劳动省的统计,日本在2024年的新出生人口仅有68.6万,较前年减少4.1万。这也是自1899年实行人口普查以来,日本新生人口总数首次低于70万,总和生育率跌破1.15。

与此同时,日本65岁以上的人口已增至3624万,占总人口的29.3%,75岁以上人口则高达2078万,占总人口的16.8%,社会福利和政府的治理压力空前加剧。

照此趋势,日本政府担忧该国将陷入严峻的萎缩危机,故而将本世纪20年代剩余的5年视作挽救日本社会的最后窗口期。为此,日本政府在近十年内出台了各种生育保障政策。

“儿童·育儿支援金”作为日本政府所倚仗的基本手段之一出台,但因其在机制上需向全体国民征收款项用于补助育儿家庭,因此也被不少网民诟病为“单身税”。

即使承受巨大的社会质疑和在野党的压力,自民党政府恐怕也无法取得预期的效果,这些保障措施在日益攀升的生活成本面前,也只能陷入杯水车薪的窘境。

另外,由于自民党层出不穷的腐败丑闻和执政失能,育儿支援金的出现只能徒增民众的不满,进一步冲击自民党的执政基础,在接下来的参议院选举中,为日本政治增添更多不确定性。

这不是税,只是要你交钱而已

育儿支援金并非突发奇想的产物。早在2012年民主党的野田佳彦政府时期,经由民主党、自民党、公民党三党合意,日本国会就通过了《儿童·育儿支援法》,旨在应对少子化危机,规定了对育儿家庭进行一定的保障和补贴。2024年6

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校对:赵立宇

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