EDITION 724
30 JULY 2018

As another week slips by, here are 10 things which caught my attention and may have escaped yours. This newsletter is sent to more than 50,000 subscribers each Monday morning. Please share on social media and forward to your colleagues and friends so they can subscribe, learn and engage. I'd be very grateful if you did.

1. How to keep your meetings on track. When someone derails a meeting, it’s easy to assume that they’re the problem and the solution is to rein them in - but your assumptions may also be off-track. For smoother meetings, try these techniques. [READ MORE]
    
2. No more concessions, grassroots tell Theresa May. Theresa May has been warned by her own constituency chairman that she must not concede any further ground to the European Union. Meanwhile, ministers have put together plans to send in the army to deliver food, medicines and fuel in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Supermarkets are warning their suppliers to stockpile supplies such as tea and coffee. Sunday Telegraph
    
3. Tremor on Wall Street as Twitter plunges. Twitter’s shares followed Facebook into a sharp plunge yesterday. The fall came amid fears that social media giants are "facing a reckoning" that will limit their profits, sending a "tremor" through Wall Street. Twitter shares were down 19% on Friday afternoon, just 24 hours after Facebook’s shares shed the same percentage in the biggest one-day loss of value in US stock market history. Financial Times
    
4. City to open ladies' loos to transgenders. Women’s toilets at dozens of landmarks including Tower Bridge, the Old Bailey, and Museum of London could be opened to people who identify as transgender. The City of London is planning to open all its women’s facilities and services to anyone who "self-identifies" as a woman or girl, regardless of whether they have transitioned. Feminists say the plan is a "mind-blowing" erosion of women’s protected spaces. The Times
    
5. Clouds ruin the blood moon show for UK fans. Sky-gazers around the world have witnessed the longest "blood moon" eclipse of the 21st Century. The "totality" period, where light from the Moon was totally obscured, lasted for one hour, 43 minutes. However, UK viewers were left disappointed because, despite weeks of uninterrupted sunshine, thunderstorms and clouds obscured the skies. The next total lunar eclipse will be visible in the UK on 21 January 2019. BBC
    
6. The world in figures.Since 1960, child deaths have plummeted. UN data show that in the 1820 1950s and 60s around 20 million children younger than five died every year. That figure is down to 5.6 million today. We need to know both facts to see that the world is both very much better today than it was in the past (so there’s no need to feel hopeless), yet at the same time still awful (so we cannot afford to be complacent). The figure today still represents 11 children dying every minute. Forbes
    
7. Growing bill as NHS doctors prescribe toiletries. Doctors are dishing out free prescriptions for toothpaste, bodywash and shampoo, costing the NHS £3.4m last year. The number of prescriptions for toiletries has soared by nearly 600% in a decade, from 79,000 in 2007 to about 471,000 last year in England. These includes products made by consumer giants such as Colgate and Neutrogena. Sunday Times
    
8. England's worst service station is named. Norton Canes on the M6 toll road has been named England’s best service station with a 100% satisfaction rating. Bottom of the pile is Thurrock on the M25 – just 68% of respondents were satisfied. Transport Focus quizzed 9,600 customers on several factors including staffing, food and toilet facilities. Overall, only 66% thought that the food and drink available was good value. The Independent
    
9. One in four pupils get unconditional university offers. 2,985 school leavers received at least one unconditional university offer in 2013. 67,915 received at least one unconditional university offer this year – a rise of about 2,175 per cent. 7.1% of offers made by universities this year were unconditional. The Times
    
10. The bottom line.Britain’s publishing houses collectively made a record £5.7bn last year, a 5% increase. Physical book sales continue to outpace digital ones with revenues up 5% last year to £3.1bn, while total digital sales income including journals rose 3% to £1.8bn. The Bookseller