Feeding the 2,000

Presents wrapped? Turkey basted? Getting ready for Christmas is exhausting for most of us.
But imagine planning your Christmas Day party for a guest list of 2,000.

Now suppose that every one of those guests is a child or young person who does not expect to receive presents and has nowhere else to go on Christmas Day.

That is the challenge faced by Camila Batmanghelidjh and her staff at Kids Company. Read more in my BBC Christmas feature.

Homophobic Hate

Just as gay and lesbian people are starting to enjoy equal rights, homophobic crime is on the rise. I explore why for BBC News.

Poison Doctor

The trial of a doctor who spiked his lover's drinks to try to induce a miscarriage reveals tangled love-lives, twisted with jealousy and deception. Here's my analysis of the case for BBC News.

Staying power

In the winter of 1969, a vicar opened the basement of his church in central London's Soho as a temporary night shelter for the homeless.

Forty years on, Centrepoint looks very different.

Cutty Sark delay

I discovered the reopening of the famous 19th Century ship Cutty Sark has been postponed until the spring of 2011. Here's my piece for BBC News.

Tai Chi record breakers

More than 30,000 people have taken part in a record-breaking Tai Chi session outside Beijing's Bird's Nest Stadium.

The display was part of China's celebrations marking a year since it successfully held the Olympic Games.

Here's my TV report for BBC News.

Robot farm

A Chinese farmer who was struggling after several poor harvests has turned his hand to making robots.

Some of his creations help around his house and farm, but he now sells so many they are his main source of income.

Here's my BBC News TV report.

License to Thrill

She spins around a pole in her lingerie. Twisting seductively, she gives a mischievous smile to the transfixed crowd. She winks. Then she removes her stockings and bra.

You may be forgiven for thinking you are surrounded by rowdy men in a strip-joint. But you look around and it is mainly couples and groups of girls in the crowd. It has been a night of glamour, theatre and comedy. A night of burlesque.

The burlesque scene has enjoyed a revival in recent years but that could all come to an end with plans that may see it treated in the same manner as simple strip joints. Is there really much of a distinction anyway?

I find out for BBC News.

Yoga wars

You might think yoga is all about discovering inner strength and peace in your own time. But many of those at this year's British yoga championships have a different view and it's threatening to split the world of yoga in two.

Here's a feature I wrote and a video I shot and edited for BBC News.