'Men only' rule finally lifted by Shetland Viking festival / Photo: © AFP
-
Pakistan web controls quash dissent and potential
-
1,000 Pakistan protesters arrested in pro-Khan capital march
-
ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrant for Myanmar junta chief
-
Philippine VP's bodyguards swapped out amid investigation
-
EasyJet annual profit rises 40% on package holidays
-
Ukraine sees influx of Western war tourists
-
Greeks finally get Thessaloniki metro after two-decade wait
-
New EU commission to get all clear with big push on defence and economy
-
Thousands of Lebanese head home as Israel-Hezbollah truce takes hold
-
Australia takes step to ban under 16s from social media
-
Volkswagen says to sell operations in China's Xinjiang
-
Japan prosecutor bows in apology to former death row inmate
-
Thailand to return nearly 1,000 trafficked lemurs, tortoises to Madagascar
-
Namibia votes with ruling party facing its toughest race yet
-
Indian protest wrestler given four-year ban for avoiding dope test
-
UK parliament to debate assisted dying law
-
Ireland has a cultural moment, from rock and books to cinema
-
South Korean capital hit by record November snowfall: weather agency
-
Sinn Fein hope election will propel it to power in Ireland
-
Ceasefire takes hold in Israel-Hezbollah war
-
Chinese island plastic pollution turned into artistic omens
-
Anti-mine treaty signatories slam US decision to send landmines to Ukraine
-
Vietnamese EV maker Vinfast reports $550 million Q3 loss
-
Hello Kitty owner plunges 17% on sharesale plan
-
Giannis-less Bucks edge Heat, Rockets advance in NBA Cup
-
Environmentalists slam lobbyist influence on plastic talks
-
Global security hotspots awaiting Trump in 2025
-
Eddie Jones tells Japan to keep faith after heavy defeats
-
Five forgotten conflicts of 2024
-
Adani Group says it lost nearly $55 bn as US charges sparked rout
-
Bumper election year brings headwinds for liberal democracies
-
New Zealand pace bowler Smith to make debut in first England Test
-
Australia remembers cricketer Phillip Hughes 10 years after death
-
Protesters for jailed ex-PM Khan cleared from Pakistan capital's centre
-
'Very, very slow': plastic treaty talks grind forward
-
Australian cop guilty of manslaughter after tasering 95-year-old
-
Trump names trade envoy, top economic advisor to fill policy team
-
China expected to hit peak coal consumption in 2025: report
-
What to expect from the new EU top team's first 100 days
-
New EU commission to get all clear as daunting task awaits
-
German family winery taps into zero-alcohol trend
-
World leaders react to Lebanon war ceasefire
-
Paddington: the affable bear who became a lucrative business
-
Hand-built fantasy tower brings value to Tokyo, creator says
-
Asian markets mixed as traders eye fresh trade tensions
-
Ceasefire begins in Israel-Hezbollah war
-
Banned Ryan Garcia eyes New Year's Eve exhibition in Japan
-
In US, a guitar trademark feud gets political
-
China investigates defence minister for corruption: report
-
'American Railroad' musical project showcases untold immigrant stories
NYSE - LSE
| RBGPF | 100% | 60.1 | $ | |
| RYCEF | -0.29% | 6.78 | $ | |
| CMSC | -0.65% | 24.57 | $ | |
| CMSD | -0.61% | 24.43 | $ | |
| RIO | -1.53% | 62.03 | $ | |
| NGG | -0.68% | 62.83 | $ | |
| SCS | -1.33% | 13.54 | $ | |
| RELX | 0.51% | 46.81 | $ | |
| GSK | -0.38% | 34.02 | $ | |
| AZN | -0.06% | 66.36 | $ | |
| BTI | 1.01% | 37.71 | $ | |
| BCC | -2.76% | 148.41 | $ | |
| BP | -1.24% | 28.96 | $ | |
| VOD | -0.56% | 8.86 | $ | |
| BCE | -1.46% | 26.63 | $ | |
| JRI | -0.98% | 13.24 | $ |
'Men only' rule finally lifted by Shetland Viking festival
Women and girls have finally been allowed to take part in a torchlit procession on Tuesday at a festival in Shetland celebrating the Scottish islands' Viking past.
The committee in charge of the "Up Helly Aa" festival in Shetland's main town of Lerwick announced last year that it was time to lift a ban on women taking part in the traditional procession.
The event, which marks the end of the Christmas season, is popular among tourists.
It traditionally involves around 1,000 male participants known as guizers, who wear Viking dress and divide into squads to parade through the town.
The procession is led by the Guizer Jarl, or chief guizer, and culminates in the participants using their flaming torches to set ablaze a replica Viking longship.
The modern event, first held in 1881, is known for its festive parties that often involve traditional Shetland dancing and copious alcohol consumption.
Rural "Up Helly Aa" processions on Shetland, which lies in the middle of the North Sea some 400 miles (640 kilometres) from Edinburgh, started allowing women to take part in 2015.
But the town of Lerwick's committee initially stood firm against allowing female participants to get involved in celebrating the island's Norse heritage.
This year -- despite the lifting of the gender restrictions -- there are no women in the main Jarl squad which leads the procession. However, women are taking part in other historic costumed squads involved in the event.
Festival organisers said it was not necessarily a surprise that there were no female participants for the 2023 Jarl Squad, since it was formed back in 2021, before the lifting of gender restrictions was announced in June 2022.
"It is expected that females participating in the Jarl Squad will evolve in the coming years, but we'll see females participating in some of the other 46 squads from the 2023 festival," the "Up Helly Aa" committee said ahead of the event.
The torch-lit processions and longboat burning are an echo of pagan Norse rituals -- the Shetland and neighbouring Orkney Islands were ruled by the Norse for about 500 years until they became part of Scotland in 1468.
S.Keller--BTB