Seventeen years after losing her council job due to needing endometriosis surgery, Michelle Dewar’s campaign for paid menstrual leave gained 50,000 signatures in a week, reports ELIZABETH SHORT

WITH the city of Kherson in southern Ukraine now back in Ukrainian hands, there is no longer any hiding place for Putin or his general staff when it comes to the disastrous state of Russia’s military campaign after nine months.
It has revealed the Russian military machine to be substandard on land, at sea and in the air, dispelling the illusion of superpower status when it comes to its conventional armed forces.
Whether the ill-fated attempt to mount a lightning strike and circle Kiev at the outset of the conflict, resulting in significant losses of men and materiel; whether the sinking of the Moskva, flagship of the much-heralded Russian Black Sea Fleet in April; whether the rout suffered by Russian forces in the north-east around Kharkiv in September, losing thousands of square kilometres of territory in a matter of a weeks and leaving behind intact tonnes of equipment in the process; or whether now the grievous (from a Russian perspective) loss of Kherson, the only regional capital to have fallen under Russian control; all of it will haunt the Kremlin for years to come — and justifiably so.

In recently published book Baddest Man, Mark Kriegel revisits the Faustian pact at the heart of Mike Tyson’s rise and the emotional fallout that followed, writes JOHN WIGHT

As we mark the anniversaries of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, JOHN WIGHT reflects on the enormity of the US decision to drop the atom bombs

From humble beginnings to becoming the undisputed super lightweight champion of the world, Josh Taylor’s career was marked by fire, ferocity, and national pride, writes JOHN WIGHT

Mary Kom’s fists made history in the boxing world. Malak Mesleh’s never got the chance. One story ends in glory, the other in grief — but both highlight the defiance of women who dare to fight, writes JOHN WIGHT