Rajini Vaidyanathan
@BBCRajiniV
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BBC Presenter/Correspondent. Sometimes on the road/sometimes in the studio. Postings in Asia/Washington/Westminster. My views. DMs open. insta: bbcrajini.
London, England
Joined January 2011
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Last Seen Profiles
Pinned Tweet
In 2017 the BBC met a
#Rohingya
refugee baby, just hours after he was born. His mother had walked for days to flee the
#Myanmar
junta for safety. 5 years on, we tracked Anwar down.
@NehaSharma_BBC
@AamirPeerzadaa
@md_yasiein
.
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As
#India
celebrate a win over
#Australia
, I'm marvelling over the story of Mohammed
#Siraj
. The son of a rickshaw driver, his father died just before he could see his son play his first test. He handled racism with grace, and was part of the winning team.
#INDvsAUS
(image:PTI)
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BREAKING -
#India
has decided to impose "reciprocity" on UK nationals arriving to India from UK. From Oct 4, all UK nationals regardless of vaccination status, have to test before travel, on arrival, another test on day 8, and do mandatory quarantine for 10 days at home.
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This was perhaps the most surprising moment in the interview. I asked the Dalai Lama if he stood by his earlier comment that if his successor was female, she should be attractive.
He said he did. Watch here:
#DalaiLama
#BBCDalaiLama
.
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The interview was wide ranging.
The Dalai Lama was scathing about President Trump arguing he has “no moral principle”. He hit out at his America First policies.
Watch the clip here.
#BBCDalaiLama
.
#DalaiLama
#Trump
.
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Zaki Anwari, a 19 year old Afghan who played in the national junior football team died as he fell from a US military plane, according to this post from the Afghan Sports Society. A young man with much promise and talent. What a tragic way to die.
#Afghanistan
.
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An important thread 👇🏽
Many of us take water for granted - but imagine living in a big city, where the taps have run dry. That's the plight of people in one of India's largest cities,
#Chennai
.
And what's going on there, could affect the wider world too.
#ChennaiWaterCrisis
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A thread 👇🏽.
Last week I travelled to Dharamsala to the residence of the
#DalaiLama
.
He’s lived in exile in India for more than 60 years, after China sent troops into
#Tibet
in 1959.
As he approaches his 84th birthday I asked him a range of questions.
#BBCDalaiLama
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No women in the great offices of state - but four of us flying the flag in Downing Street.
@ionewells
@BethRigby
@SophyRidgeSky
@BBCNews
@SkyNews
.
#reshuffle
.
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I’ve had messages accusing me of stirring up controversy. Not true.
I read/watched the Dalai Lama’s past interviews. When I saw the women/refugee statements I decided to ask him for clarification like any journo would. His answers are his answers. He chose to say what he said.
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It’s significant that the
@DalaiLama
hasn’t met or talked to
@realDonaldTrump
because he had such a strong relationship with past US presidents. Barack Obama and George W Bush most recently. George W Bush even did a painting of the Dalai Lama.
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Remember these images from the pandemic? They were shot by Danish Siddiqui, who died in
#Afghanistan
while embedded with Afghan forces. His bravery and talent will not be forgotten.
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#Exclusive
: We've spoken to more than a dozen police who say they've defected from
#Myanmar
to
#India
after refusing to carry out orders of the military. "I had to desert the police dept as I could not open fire on innocent people," one said.
#WhatsHappeningInMyanmar
@BBCWorld
.
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Question Time is on BBC1 right now. They’re discussing black history and the issue of statues. Here’s this week’s audience panel.
#bbcqt
.
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The Myanmar beauty queen standing up to the military.
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Thread: The story of Ramesh, a hero of the
#SriLankaAttacks
.
Ramesh was at church in
#Batticoloa
when a stranger w a backpack tried to enter, saying he wanted to film the Easter service. Ramesh said he couldn’t enter w a large bag + forced him outside.
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My friend in
#London
sent me this. It's worth reading if you don't know the city and the spirit of Londoners.
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I’ve posted this before, but it’s one of my faves. Six years since dad left us, the pain never really goes away. This photo makes me laugh because I’d tell dad I was on TV - so he’d watch every hour, complaining sometimes that it was the same story every hour and a bit boring. 😆
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Former DGs, floor managers, producers, make up, presenters, editors, travel desk, reporters, camera crew, directors - many came to say bye to George Alagiah. His legacy in journalism is unrivalled, so too his kindness and humanity. Few could draw such a crowd.
#GeorgeAlagiah
.
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While in the toilets I heard a woman sobbing uncontrollably in stall next to me. I asked if she was ok. She told me she testified earlier.
Don’t forget how hard it must be for these young women not only to relive their ordeal. But to do so IN FRONT of their abuser
#LarryNassar
.
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- "My boss ordered us to fire at the crowd. I refused to shoot them"
- "People were beaten up...My conscience wouldn’t permit me to take part in such evil acts"
Our TV piece on the police fleeing
#Myanmar
for
#India
.
@AakritiThapar
@sanjayganguly
#WhatIsHappeninginMyanmar
.
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Wayne from Texas is a "big time" supporter of
#trump
. Says he represents a section of society usually neglected.
http://t.co/StulkXycck
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We met Valarmathi, who has to live with her family on 5 buckets of water a day. That's to bathe, cook, drink and wash clothes. It's hard to imagine how you'd survive on that in any situation. But India is also in the middle of a heatwave
#ChennaiWaterCrisis
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The southern city of
#Chennai
is one of India's largest and richest. Yet millions now rely on water trucks as taps have run dry. There's a scramble when the truck arrives - sometimes it can even get tense. In the area we visited families get 5 buckets a day.
#ChennaiWaterCrisis
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We already knew he’d get life behind bars bars. What we didn’t see coming at the start of this hearing was the sheer strength these women showed.
#Nassar
It all started with this woman Rachael DenHollander.
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The brave and brilliant
@bbclysedoucet
anchoring
#bbcnewsten
live from
#Israel
. An expert in world affairs. One of the BBC’s finest.
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I’ve been reporting on the aftermath of a huge fire at the worlds largest refugee camp in
#Bangladesh
. Aid groups say 45,000 people have been left homeless. At least 15 people have died, 400 are still missing. It’s the latest suffering for
#Rohingya
refugees.
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Gowri says now the city has run dry, she'll never again take water for granted.
"Water is more precious than food and gold," she told me.
What's going on in
#Chennai
makes you think about how much water many of us use without worrying for the next drop.
#Chennaiwatercrisis
.
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Muslim families in
#India
are living in fear their homes may be bulldozed.
“We sacrificed everything to build this house - they came and said it’s illegal and threatened to break it down. We’re insects for them. They can crush us anytime.”
@NehaSharma_BBC
@Imo_Anderson
The Supreme Court is to decide whether demolishing homes of Muslims who criticise the govt is justified by the Constitution. Authorities claim the houses are 'illegally constructed'. Critics say it is a deliberate policy
@BBCRajiniV
reports w
@NehaSharma_BBC
@Imo_Anderson
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Myanmar coup: 'We were told to shoot protesters', say police who fled.
We talked to policemen and women who are in hiding in
#India
, after escaping
#Myanmar
.
#WhatsHappeningInMyanmar
.
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India’s most prominent Muslim MP
@asadowaisi
says police violence is a systemic issue in the country, and it’s been a long standing problem. The country’s police force hasn’t seen major reform since the days it was a colonial force. Is now the time for major change?
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Michelle Carter, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for encouraging her boyfriend to take his life, will be sentenced shortly.
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In India, the world’s largest democracy
@amnesty
says it has been forced to halt human rights work after reprisals from the Indian government. It says bank accounts have been frozen and it's been forced to lay off staff in the country. The government has yet to respond.
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We've just had our bananas confiscated at
#Inauguration
security because they weren't chopped into pieces.
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Of the many videos I’m seeing from
#Afghanistan
, this is one of the most heartbreaking. Afghan girls sing a song on the airport runway -“I became homeless”. Their sweet, soothing voices filled with the pain so many there are feeling. Via
@MuslimShirzad
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A non
#COVID19
thread: When I first moved to
#India
, I'd open the newspaper to finds ads like these, for missing children. It made me wonder - where do they end up? Every 8 seconds a child goes missing in the country. So
@Imo_Anderson
investigated.
#IndiasMissingChildren
👇
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This is quite astonishing, ridiculous and racist.
#Modi
's arrival at the G20 summit 'announced with Apu meme'
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Jailed for a joke he hadn’t told. Shows called off after threats from Hindu nationalists. I speak to
@kunalkamra88
and
@munawar0018
about their comedy, and how free they feel speech is in today’s
#India
. w
@shaluyadavbbc
@AakritiThapar
@sanjayganguly
.
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Cricket fans in
#India
, incl a teacher were jailed for celebrating
#Pakistan
’s win in their #
#T20WorldCup
match. Some say it’s overreach + example of free speech being stifled - the Govt says it’s to avoid potential law + order situations.
@KunalSehgal92
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My goal for this
#worldcup2018
- see how many pics I can get of fans from different countries. It’s like a real life
@OfficialPanini
sticker book....sort of.
#1
- Mexico.
#worldcup2018
#FootballFever
#worldcupfans
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My friend and colleague
@annaefoster
is doing a sterling job in difficult circumstances, anchoring coverage for BBC News from Southern Israel. Backed by brilliant producer
@HelenDevlin4
. Both are part of a wider BBC team doing important work round the clock.
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The Dalai Lama says he’s a believer in the spirit of the European Union and supports the UK
#remaining
- but one of his quotes was once used in a poster for the
#leave
campaign. And it’s a controversial one. I asked him about this - and the answers are surprising.
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A thread on police brutality in
#India
. 👇🏽
#JayarajandBenix
died in police custody, arrested after officers claimed their phone shop was open beyond a
#Covid_19
curfew.
Their family say they were tortured. Police brutality isn’t rare in India, but it’s rarely challenged.
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A BBC investigation has uncovered evidence of migrant workers dying in workplace accidents in Qatar, in the final weeks before the World Cup. Families in
#Nepal
blame poor safety standards. Qatar's govt says it’s committed to the safety of all workers.
@pateriyaram
@rajneeshb
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#WATCH
: Sri Lanka's hospitals are running out of life saving drugs.
Doctors fear patients will die + are pleading for international help.
"This is public health system in distress - no-one knows how or when Sri Lanka will recover."
Our
@bbcnews
report w
@dannyabull
+ Zaufaran
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After Ramesh forced the man out of the church, a bomb detonated. If it had exploded inside the packed church many more would have lost their lives.
Ramesh died but his actions saved many. He leaves behind a wife and two children.
#SriLankaAttacks
.
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Almost all of the families waiting for bodies to be released are Muslims. Many say they have no homes to go to now, after theirs were burnt or looted in the violence.
#DelhiRiots2020
#DelhiBurns
.
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Personal announcement: After nearly 6 wonderful years in the United States, I’m relocating to take up the role of BBC South Asia correspondent, based in
#Delhi
. Thanks for your support twitter peeps, I’lll soon be sharing updates from
#India
,
#Nepal
,
#Bangladesh
,
#SriLanka
+ more
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George Alagiah is one of the best journalists at the BBC. A supportive colleague, and my dear friend’s uncle. So thrilled to hear he’s recovering after testing positive for
#CoronaVirus
. Some good news among the gloom.
@BBCAlagiah
@LouLouDenington
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It’s no surprise Twitter is full of tributes to George Alagiah. He was one of the most loved and admired journalists. To my mate he was “Uncle George” - when I’d meet him in the newsroom on trips to the UK, I’d send her a photo of us. This is from 2013 - we’ll miss that smile. ❤️
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“Go back to your country” - IS a phrase embedded in racism.
Many of us grew up being told this in lands we were born in.
RT me if you had to deal w this, or still do. It might remind others how widespread it is.
In today’s world we can’t normalise this stuff. It’s racist.
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This comes after there was anger in India, after UK said it would accept the AZ vaccine, but not Indian vaccine certificates. More context here:
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#Nepal
, one of the world's poorest nations, is in a devastating second wave. The PM has pleaded to the UK - Nepal's oldest friend - to send vaccines. Warning: our report is distressing - a reminder this pandemic isn't over. w
@shaluyadavbbc
@moosecampbell
@rajneeshb
#Covid_19
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“We forget the oneness of humanity,” the Dalai Lama told me when I asked him about why there is so much intolerance in today’s world.
#DalaiLama
.
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Today I walked a socially distant 20K with mum, to celebrate her birthday safely in these times. I learnt that Milton Keynes, my home city, has more nature than I realised. And I got to see the infamous concrete cows. Happy birthday to my truly inspirational mother!
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Great to finally meet the brilliant
@ionewells
in person. It’s been a cold, busy morning here in Downing Street…..
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The
@WHONepal
refutes UK newspaper reports which claim a new variant of Covid has been detected in
#Nepal
.
WHO is not aware of any new variant of SARS-CoV-2 being detected in Nepal. The 3⃣confirmed variants in circulation are: Alpha (B.1.1.7), Delta (B.1.617.2) and Kappa (B.1.617.1). The predominant variant currently in circulation in Nepal is Delta (B.1.617.2).
@mohpnep
@PandavRajesh
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Volunteers hold signs asking for silence. It's so rescuers can listen to signs of life in the rubble.
#MexicoQuake
.
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Happy Diwali from
#Delhi
, to those who celebrate, wherever you are! A festival which is all about the triumph of good over evil, light over dark, knowledge over ignorance - a universal message in these times!
#HappyDiwali
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#Thread
👇🏽
Imagine not being able to access information/news on
#Coronavirus
?
It's just one challenge for
#Rohingyas
living in the world's largest refugee camp after the
#Bangladesh
govt cut off internet in the camps last Sept.
"We don't know about
#coronavirus
,” says Saydur.
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“No matter what shorts I was wearing, he still found a way to get inside of me.”
Every story in this courtroom is horrifying. Every story.
And there are 158.
#LarryNassar
.
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#Faizan
’s mother told me that as news of the protests in the US over the death of
#GeorgeFloyd
reached her she frustrated there wasn’t the same public outcry over her son’s death. She believes it’s because she’s Muslim, in a Hindu majority country.
#PoliceBrutality
.
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At the mo, you still have to test before flying to India from UK, and test on arrival - but day 8 test is new. (At some stages in last yr, there's also been mandatory home quarantine). Now, being fully vaxxed won't serve as exemption (since, it doesn't for Indian vaccines in UK)
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Many people in the room were desperate to catch a glimpse of Donald
#Trump
Jr, - such is the star power the Trump name commands. Except when
#Bollywood
is involved. Now film star Shah Rukh Khan is in the room, the crowd is buzzing desperate to get a glimpse of him.
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.
@UNICEF
’s
@1james_elder
has returned from Northern
#Gaza
. There, he met a newly orphaned boy who kept closing his eyes..
“He was just so terrified he's going to forget what his mum and his dad look like. So he wants to keep picturing them…”
(Contains distressing details).
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This photo is of the Sunday school at the Zion church in
#Batticoloa
. About twenty minutes after this was take children spilled into the courtyard outside before Easter Service. Shortly after a suicide bomber detonated explosives. At least 13 children died.
#SriLankaAttacks
.
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I’ve started taking more photos on the road. Here are more from today at
#Singhu
border and beyond. Story to come.
#FarmerProtest
.
#india
.
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The power of Michelle
#Obama
. Watch the crowds go wild, in Arizona, a traditionally
#Republican
state.
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This photo is of brother and sister Sharon and Sarah, who were 11 and 12. They were both killed on Sunday at Zion church in
#Batticoloa
. They were buried side by side on Monday. The pain of burying one child is tough enough, but two is just unbearable.
#SriLankaAttacks
.
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Can twitter help find Sunita Kumari, a decade after she was trafficked away from her parents?
#RT
#IndiasMissingChildren
.
In Jan police arrested 2 women in connection w trafficking Sunita. Police couldn’t find her in Delhi. They think she moved to Himachal but may be overseas w the family she worked for. These are newer photos of her. Maybe twitter can help find Sunita? RT
#IndiasMissingChildren
.
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So according to reports, they’ve pulled out all the stops to reduce
#pollution
levels in
#Delhi
. Begs the question, why isn’t this just done every day for all of us who regularly breathe this toxic air?
#TrumpIndiaVisit
#NamasteTrump
.
#DelhiPollution
.
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This is a reciprocal move, so as soon as the UK government changes its rules, the Indians will likely too. At the mo in Delhi there's 7 days home quarantine, but not enforced tightly. Now I suspect it will be. This is about sending a message to the UK govt, more than anything.
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During the interview the Dalai Lama said one reason he likes living in India is because he’s free to speak openly, unlike in China. In many ways that’s what happened in this interview. He was brutally honest. Some of his answers were surprising and shocking. But he was honest.
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Coming up on BBC 1
#bbcnewssix
. Our ground report from
#India
’s
#FarmerProtests
. (And again on BBC Radio 4 soon too).
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The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby says he feels “ashamed and sorry” for the Jallianawala Bagh massacre in 1919, in which British troops opened fire on thousands of Indians. Visiting the site today, he described it as a place of “great wickedness”.
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For those of you who want to see/hear the longer interview. It airs on BBC TV and Radio this weekend.
Here’s the details if you’re listening on the wireless.
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The interview wasn’t without controversy. I asked the
@DalaiLama
about his previous comments on refugees and migration where he’d said “Europe is for Europeans”. One of quotes on the topic was even used in posters by the
#leave
campaign. His answer was surprising. Watch it here:
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Our story looking at cricket's gender pay gap. I got to interview Indian captain
@M_Raj03
and England captain
@Heatherknight55
.
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As the world wishes
@therealkapildev
a speedy recovery in hospital in
#Delhi
, here’s a chance to remind ourselves why he’s such a cricketing legend. One of the greatest all rounders, who knows how to hit a six! Get well soon!
#KapilDev
.
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Leaving
#SriLanka
, after an historic week. Thanks to fab team inc
@jackwgarland
@ScarlettBarter
@Saajidn
@rangaba
@archanajsr
@andrewclarance
@tessa_wong
@JackyMartens
+ more - AND to Sri Lankans who shared their stories - hoping the island turns a corner 🙏🏾 will be back soon.
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As a journalist there’s often a moment where a story hits you. Mine was in a taxi in
#SriLanka
. Jayantha said he’s waiting in fuel queues for days, needs more customers, so hasn’t seen his kids for days. “If I don’t see them soon, I fear they won’t call me as their father.”
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#Chennai
's main reservoirs (which supply the city) have run dry, after poor monsoon rains last year. Just look at these images of what was once a lake to see how stark things are.
#ChennaiWaterCrisis
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In
#Pakistan
- after the floods, the misery continues. A dramatic spike in waterborne diseases has seen hospitals overwhelmed. Many of those contracting severe malaria are young children. Our report from
#Sindh
-
@uszahid
@MalikMudassir2
.
#PakistanFloods
.
#PakistanFloods2022
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Today is fathers day. It’s also the day
#India
play
#Pakistan
at cricket.
My late father was cricket crazy. He took me to the oval as a kid to see
#IndvEng
and
#EngvWIndies
.
And on the day he died in 2016, he asked us what the cricket score was before he said a last goodbye.
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Everyone who visited
#GeorgeHWBush
’s casket as it lay in state was given a commemorative card, with a touching message from the
#Bush
family on the back.
#GeorgeHWBushFuneral
#Remembering41
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The Dalai Lama told me China’s President Xi has yet to ask him for a meeting. He did say he’s talked to some retired Chinese officials in recent years though, which I found interesting. Other officials have been less than flattering, one called him a demon. More on China here:
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Around 70,000 children go “missing” in India every year. They end up in domestic slavery, sex work and child labour. We went on a raid with
@BBAIndia
as they rescued boys who’d been in child labour in bakeries. One of them was a boy we’ll call Ahmed...
#IndiasMissingChildren
.
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