Simona Tabasco breakout star of The White Lotus
GUERIN BLASK AND LEVON BISS FOR FORBES
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The fight goes on
This week, we marked International Women’s Day, a moment to celebrate women’s achievements worldwide, and a rallying call to accelerate women’s equality.
Forbes celebrated by hosting the second 30/50 Summit in Abu Dhabi, a global gathering of female leaders from our Under 30 lists and 50 Over 50 lists, alongside Hillary Clinton, Jessica Alba and Malala Yousafzai.
The mood was more somber inside the U.K. Houses of Parliament. Jess Philips MP continued her annual tradition of reading the names of every woman killed in the U.K. where a man has been convicted or charged as the primary perpetrator. This year, the names of over 100 women were read out loud, acting as a powerful reminder of the daily injustice women face not just in the U.K., but worldwide.
Despite this, there are growing numbers of people crying “equality has gone too far”. The latest findings from the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership make for difficult reading. While 68% agree inequality between men and women still exists, over half of respondents this year felt men are being expected to do too much to support equality and 48% felt things have gone so far that men are being discriminated against.
The advancement of women does not come at the expense of men. Equality isn’t up for debate. The fight goes on.
Five Things We Learned
The youngest on this year’s Forbes Under 30 Europe is just 14 years old. The 8th edition of the Under 30 Europe list celebrates the brightest and best from across the continent, introducing the next generation of celebrities, cultural leaders and CEOs.
Amsterdam is clamping down on ‘nuisance tourists’. In a bid to ‘clean up the city’ and attract more highbrow visitors, authorities will ban cannabis in the red light district, the weekend sale of alcohol in downtown areas after 4pm across the weekends and cut legal hours for sex workers. The end for Europe’s most liberal capital?
Elon Musk apologized after publicly mocking a disabled Twitter employee. Musk’s latest gaff resulted in a rare public apology, after the billionaire owner of Twitter criticized an employee’s work and his need for disability accommodations. “Better to talk to people than communicate via tweet” said Musk.
Kids raised by same-sex parents can outperform ‘traditional families’. Analysis by the British Medical Journal found children raised by LGBT parents fare as well as, or better than, children of the opposite sex. The latest research suggests around 15% of same-sex couples in the U.S. have children in their household.
European ski resorts are switching to summer destinations. In response to another relatively snow-free winter season, iconic ski destinations like Chamonix are pivoting to summer visitors. Climate change is threatening the winter ski industry, with one environmental group finding 9 out of 10 Italian ski resorts now depend on snow cannons to survive.
The Good
There’s a new breakthrough vaccine for tuberculosis. TB remains one of the world’s biggest killers as current vaccines are sensitive to temperature and destroyed by sunlight, making them challenging to use in the developing world. A new freeze-dried, temperature stable vaccine has shown promising results in trials.
The Bad
Hot tap water burns thousands of Americans every year. Injuries from tap water burns cost an estimated $80m every year. There’s a simple fix available: adding a thermostatic valve, which mixes hot and cold water, and costs from just $30.
Watch
Olena Zelenska, First Lady of Ukraine, received the Torch of Freedom. Hillary Clinton presented the inaugural award at the Forbes 3050 Summit in Abu Dhabi in front of an audience of the world’s leading female changemakers. Forbes, YouTube, free to watch worldwide.
Listen
The true story behind ‘that Oscars mixup’. Remember when La La Land won best picture in 2017 and then subsequently didn’t? Learn what really happened and the psychology behind mixups. Cautionary Tales, Pushkin, free to listen worldwide.
Read
Will AI elevate or alienate us? Fans of Sapiens and Homo Deus will love this poignant new take on the biggest questions facing our species. I, Human: AI, Automation, and the Quest to Reclaim What Makes Us Unique. HBR, from $28.
Taste
Elevate your cocktails by discovering the art of ice-making. Jonathan Baker is a Self-proclaimed ‘ice nerd’ Jonathan Baker shares his secrets for perfecting an ice-cooled cocktail. You’ll never look at ice cubes the same again.
