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[ad_1] Image copyright Getty Images US retailer Sears, a brand that once dominated shopping malls in the country, has filed for bankruptcy. Sears Holdings - which also owns Kmart - filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday. The company has suffered, along with many other traditional retailers, from rising online competition from firms such as Amazon. Sears has been closing stores and selling properties as it grapples with a debt load of more than $5bn. The company has 90,000 employees and in its heyday owned over three thousand stores. It became America's largest retailer before being overtaken by Walmart in the 1980s. Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection postpones a US company's obligations to its creditors, giving it time to reorganise its debts or sell parts of the business. Businessman Eddie Lampert - who serves as the company's chief executive, biggest inves...

[ad_1] Image copyright Charlie MacGregor Image caption Charlie MacGregor pictured on a beach in Lesbos, which he visits four or five times a year The BBC's weekly The Boss series profiles a different business leader from around the world. This week we speak to Charlie MacGregor, founder of student accommodation group The Student Hotel. Scot Charlie MacGregor says he will never forget watching the boats full of desperate refugees and illegal migrants trying to come ashore on the Greek island of Lesbos. "Some boats didn't know where they were going, so would end up on the rocks," says the 42-year-old. "Some [of those onboard] didn't even make it. "The lucky ones that did were often terrorised, not only by the journey, but [fearing] what would happen to them next." This was in Octob...

[ad_1] Image copyright Getty Images Image caption A Canadian flag with a marijuana leaf flies alongside Parliament Hill in Canada Canada is about to become the second nation to fully legalise recreational cannabis. When prohibition comes to an end on 17 October, Canadian adults will be able to purchase and consume the drug from federally licensed producers.  The country has one of the highest rates of cannabis use in the world, particularly among young people.  Canadians spent an estimated C$5.7bn ($4.6bn; £3.5bn) in 2017 alone on combined medical and recreational use - about $1,200 per user. The bulk of that spending was on black market marijuana.  Uruguay was the first country to legalise recreational marijuana, although Portugal and the Netherlands have decriminalised the drug. Here's a look at some of the co...

[ad_1] It's Monday, it's a new week, and while we won't pretend to know everything that's going to happen over the next seven days, we have some sense of what's coming up. Here's your briefing on some of the most important and interesting stories happening in the week ahead. 1) Crunch time for Brexit talks Image copyright AFP Image caption The colourful room where UK Prime Minister Theresa May will be hoping to have positive talks What's happening? Leaders from across the European Union will meet in Brussels on Wednesday for a crucial summit. Why is it important? UK Prime Minister Theresa May hopes a deal with the European Union on Brexit might be in reach, and this is a chance to make major progress. Both sides had initiall...

[ad_1] Image copyright AFP Image caption Tolo News journalist Samim Faramarz was reporting on a blast in Kabul when a second one killed him and his cameraman More journalists have been killed in Afghanistan this year than in any other country. And although the race to be the first at the scene remains competitive, the pressure is on media organisations to do more to ensure their reporters stay safe, reports the BBC's Najiba Feroz. On 5 September, Tolo News journalist Samim Faramarz was reporting live on a suicide attack in the capital, Kabul . A few minutes later, a second attack at the scene killed him and his cameraman. A car bomber had targeted emergency services responding to the first incident. In total, 26 people died and 70 were injured, inc...

[ad_1] Image copyright Marcus Perkins Image caption Aid worker Robert Ntitima (R) and his driver Clinton Bakala pictured after beating back a bush fire Life on the humanitarian frontline is not as you know it, says former BBC journalist Mark Doyle, who now works in the aid sector and gives his personal view on the job done by aid workers in Zambia. The men in the photo above may not conform to the classic image of aid workers in Africa. A more traditional shots would show a nurse caring for a sick child - and the nurse would quite likely be a visiting European. But the vast majority of people who run aid projects on the continent are in fact Africans. And a huge amount of their time is necessarily devoted to confronting the difficulties of delivering assistance in remote places with poor roads or flooded tracks. Fig...