Making it in the UAE – Dani Afiouni – From the Arctic to Abu Dhabi: Entrepreneur Dani Afiouni wants to help you live your best life July 17, 2026 THERE are easier ways to find a business idea than running marathons at the North Pole and on Everest. But for Dani Afiouni, years spent climbing mountains, racing in extreme conditions and testing the limits of his body became the foundation for Longevity Wellness Hub. The Dubai-born wellness business was launched in 2019 after Afiouni [...]
Heartstopper Forever review: Bucketloads more queer joy from Netflix July 17, 2026 Heartstopper Forever review and star rating: ★★★★ “Everyone thinks teenage relationships don’t last,” teases Joe Locke’s Charlie Spring in the feature length finale of Heartstopper. To be fair, they tend not to. But Netflix’s LGBTQ teen romance series has always been dished with a side of fantasy: literal multicoloured sparks fly across the screen when [...]
Oura Ring 5 vs Google Fitbit Air: The battle of the fitness trackers July 16, 2026 This summer has seen the release of two hotly anticipated pieces of health tech, each aimed at polar opposite ends of the market. I wore the Oura Ring 5 and Google Fitbit Air for two weeks to see how these wearables compared to my Apple Watch Series 7. The Oura Ring 5: A sleek but [...]
McMurtry Spéirling Pure: the £1m electric hypercar redefining what speed means July 16, 2026 | Sponsored The McMurtry Spéirling Pure made its public debut at Goodwood this month. With fan-powered downforce and a record-breaking acceleration claim, the British-built track car offers a glimpse of where extreme performance is heading. The ultimate measure of a performance car used to be simple enough. First it was engine size, then horsepower, then lap times. [...]
Toast the City Awards 2026 finalists announced – vote now! July 16, 2026 It’s here: the Toast the City Finalists have been announced, with bars, restaurants, coffee shops, green spaces and more from across the City being celebrated in the Square Mile’s biggest and best awards. Now is your chance to vote for your favourite city spots – just visit our Toast the City website and cast your [...]
Why lighter, chilled Claret is causing a stir July 16, 2026 Bet on Claret – but the Brit fave is changing Wine has a habit of making things more complicated than they need to be. The terminology, the labelling, the annoying communicators warbling on about “mouthfeel” and describing perfectly enjoyable bottles as tasting of “tar”, “tennis balls” and that Sauvignon Blanc classic “cat’s pee”. (Sorry about [...]
Jamie’s Italian is awful but don’t worry, there are some great new Mediterranean restaurants too July 15, 2026 This week I talk about two Italians, one Greek, a talented Cypriot and an irritating Englishman. Prepare to read about two restaurants you should visit (Bancone and Zylia) and one you should reserve for your worst enemies (Jamie’s Italian)… ZYLIA Covent Garden is a part of London that you only go to for a specific [...]
Land Rover Defender OCTA: Can an Off-Road Super SUV Really Conquer the City? July 15, 2026 | Sponsored With 635PS, Dakar-inspired engineering and a £147,000 price tag, the Defender OCTA is built for extremes – but does any of that make sense on urban streets? What is the Land Rover Defender OCTA and why is it gaining so much traction? Land Rover has a reputation for totally blinging out some of its models [...]
I saved hundreds watching a tribute band over the real thing July 15, 2026 Tired of spending hundreds on stadium gigs, Damien Gabet set off on a long, dark journey to Cheltenham to watch a System Of A Down tribute band. It might have been better than the real thing We can all recall a piece of music that, on first listening, irreversibly rewired our minds. I can vividly [...]
Everything’s going to sh*t. Here are 25 of the best dystopian novels July 15, 2026 The genre has roared back onto bookshelves and best-seller lists. Harry Owen asks why we keep returning to this bleakest of genres – and recommends some top dystopian fiction Dystopian fiction is once again lining the bookshelves of Waterstones. And is it any wonder? All good dystopia really hinges on its ‘plausibility’, the writer concocting [...]