Bangladeshi slum kids work over 60 hours a week to make clothes: research

By Nita Bhalla NEW DELHI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – One third of children living in the slums of Bangladesh’s capital spend more than 60 hours a week making clothes for the garment sector, well beyond the legal working limit, a London-based thinktank said on Wednesday. The Overseas Development Institute (ODI) said 32 percent of children aged between 10 and 14 living in Dhaka’s slum settlements were out of school and engaged in full-time work in clothing factories – according to a survey of 2,700 children. “Our survey raises serious concerns over the issue of child labor in the supply of garments from factories in Bangladesh to consumers in Europe, the U.S. and elsewhere,” ODI said.

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Bangladeshi slum kids work over 60 hours a week to make clothes: research

World’s first albino beauty pageant in Kenya defies deadly stigma

By Amanda Fisher NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – With its evening gowns, celebrity judges and tears of joy, the beauty pageant in Kenya’s capital was like others elsewhere, except for one thing – all 20 contestants who strutted, sashayed and swaggered down the catwalk had albinism. The competition, which drew a crowd of about 1,000 including Deputy President William Ruto, was designed to celebrate people with albinism – who lack pigment in their skin, hair and eyes – and challenge stigma and persecution. “Even when I was dating, it was difficult for girls to say I’m handsome,” said Isaac Mwaura, Kenya’s first parliamentarian with albinism and founder of the Albinism Society of Kenya, which organized the pageant.

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World’s first albino beauty pageant in Kenya defies deadly stigma

Bollywood actress apologizes after twitter outrage over ‘refugee’ t-shirt cover

By Nita Bhalla NEW DELHI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Popular Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra on Monday apologised for a glossy travel magazine cover after it sparked outrage with social media users accusing her of insensitivity towards refugees and migrants. The 34-year-old former Miss World is featured on the cover of the October edition of Condé Nast Traveller India wearing a white t-shirt with the words, “REFUGEE”, “IMMIGRANT” and “OUTSIDER” crossed out in red — leaving only the word “TRAVELLER”. Condé Nast Traveller tweeted the cover photo on Oct. 7 with the tagline “Bold and fearless, @priyankachopra makes a statement on our 6th anniversary issue cover.

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Bollywood actress apologizes after twitter outrage over ‘refugee’ t-shirt cover

Exclusive: India cracks down on illegal mica mines after expose reveals child deaths

By Nita Bhalla and Jatindra Dash NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Authorities in India have raided mica mines, arrested traders and begun steps to regulate the underground industry, local officials said, after a Thomson Reuters Foundation expose revealed a cover-up of child deaths in illegal mica mining. A three-month investigation in the mica-producing state of Jharkhand found that a flourishing black market had resulted in at least seven children being killed since June, mining for the prized mineral that adds sparkle to makeup and car paint.

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Exclusive: India cracks down on illegal mica mines after expose reveals child deaths

Jenny Mannerheim for Each x Other: ‘Each x Other plays with timeless codes’

Ahead of Paris Fashion Week (September 27 to October 5), Relaxnews caught up with designer Jenny Mannerheim, cofounder of the label Each x Other, whose spring/summer 2017 collection previews September 30 at 3.30pm. The “Oh la la land” collection was inspired by iconoclastic silhouettes: the dancer, the rocker, the dandy, the Lolita. Who is the collection aimed at?

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Jenny Mannerheim for Each x Other: ‘Each x Other plays with timeless codes’

Zombies out, cool tech in: Climate comics sketch new vision of warmer world

By Laurie Goering LEEDS, England (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Thanks to the success of Hollywood disaster films, from “Waterworld” to “The Day After Tomorrow”, it’s not hard to imagine an apocalyptic future as climate change takes hold. If you don’t have any jeopardy, you don’t really have a plot,” said James McKay, an engineer who runs a centre for low-carbon technologies and bioenergy at the University of Leeds, in northern England. “If everything’s going well, there’s not much dramatic tension.” But McKay, who for 20 years has moonlighted as a creator of comics, thinks he has found a way to overcome that: through publishing “graphic novels” that paint a picture, in drawings and stories, of a better future.

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Zombies out, cool tech in: Climate comics sketch new vision of warmer world

Fashion’s deadliest disaster prompts Bangladeshi workers to opt for university

By Nita Bhalla NEW DELHI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – It was a disaster which shook the global fashion industry – laying bare the stark reality of the dangerous factory conditions faced by millions of Bangladeshis who stitch the clothes sold in the gleaming high street stores of the West. In all, the bodies of 1,136 garment workers were pulled out of the rubble when the Rana Plaza building – an eight-floor factory complex supplying clothes to big brand fashion retailers – collapsed in April 2013 on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital. Three years on, as experts lament how government, retailers, factory owners and consumers have done little to safeguard workers, a small miracle has emerged from the tragedy and is slowly taking shape in the southeastern corner of the country.

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Fashion’s deadliest disaster prompts Bangladeshi workers to opt for university

Acid-attack survivor Laxmi becomes face of fashion brand

By Rina Chandran MUMBAI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – An acid-attack survivor in India has been made a model for a fashion brand, drawing attention to the crime in the country with one of the highest rates of acid violence in the world. Laxmi, who goes by one name, features in an advertising campaign for a new range of apparel from Viva N Diva in an initiative the company said is aimed at raising awareness of those who have lost their physical beauty to acid attacks. A video clip titled ‘Face of Courage’ ( https://youtu.be/uJucK5qmV-w ) shows Laxmi being made up and then striding down the catwalk while smiling at the cameras, her scarred face in focus.

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Acid-attack survivor Laxmi becomes face of fashion brand

British Fashion Council/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund shortlist announced

The shortlist for the British Fashion Council/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund has been announced. Womenswear designers Emilia Wickstead, Mother of Pearl and Osman, eyewear and swimwear designer Prism and shoe designer Sophia Webster have all been nominated for the 2016 award. Previous winners have included Christopher Kane, Erdem and Nicholas Kirkwood.

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British Fashion Council/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund shortlist announced