'IF YOU WERE 30% BRAVER, what would you do to be a better ancestor?" An enthusiastic facilitator posed this icebreaker to a roomful of delegates in New York, gathered for a conference on democracy. "Take 60 seconds to think and share your answers in your small groups."
My small group consisted of seasoned activists from different parts of the world. They were eager to discuss their opinions on courage and legacy. "I'd spend more time with my kids," said one. "I would speak to people I disagree with more often," said another. I kept quiet hoping no one would notice.
"You're being quiet," said one of them when everyone else had spoken. My small group turned to me.
"Oh, I don't know. It's a difficult question." I tried to get myself out of the trap. "I need more time to think about it."
The thing is, I didn't need time to think about it. My answer was right there, staring me in the face. Now that my small group was staring at me just as insistently, I couldn't face sharing my thoughts with them. It seemed like I needed to be 30% braver just to utter the answer.
"If I were braver, to be a better ancestor, I'd join the army. The Ukrainian armed forces."
At that moment, it was the only answer that rang true.
My response was met with the sort of uncomfortable silence I seem to bring to most social conversations. A friend has found a good term for that: a Ukrainian killjoy. It applies to those of us who keep talking about the war when people want to talk about their kids, the future and all those wonderful things that give us hope. Sometimes, we don't even need to offer a digest of Russia's recent bombardments, we end conversations just by entering the room.
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Starlink's conquest of the Amazon leaves Brazil in a dilemma
The helicopter swooped into one of the most inaccessible corners of the Amazon rainforest. Brazilian special forces commandos leaped from it into the caiman-inhabited waters below.
Dalai Lama's mountain town feels the strain of tourist boom
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Hopes that tensions in the South China Sea might ease have been short lived.
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After the final report of the Grenfell fire inquiry was published, Hisam Choucair, who lost six family members in the blaze, said: \"We did not ask for this inquiry... It's delayed the justice my family deserves.\"
Celeriac soup with almond pangrattato
I'm not ashamed to say that as soon as September hits, my stick blender comes out. Just as I embrace salads when the clocks go forward in the UK, I wholeheartedly throw myself into soup season once the summer holidays end. Autumn is approaching in the northern hemisphere and I'm ready with my ladle. Celeriac is one of my favourite soup heroes, because it gives the creamiest, silkiest finish with little effort. You don't have to make the almond pangrattato, but it is a wonderful addition.
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A darkly humorous encounter between an American spy-cop and the members ofan eco-commune she is hired to infiltrate
All work and no play
Hard Graft, a powerfulnew London exhibition, focuses onworkersâ exploitation, from the ruined hands ofa washerwoman to mothers forced to sell their bodies
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It should have been an Instagram-perfect wedding image, but it turned out to be something more embarrassing.