Take a stopover in Baku, a boom-town, secular Dubai August 11, 2025 Just 5.5 hours from London, Baku – the oil-rich capital of Azerbaijan – is an easy yet still exciting escape. The city presents a jumble of architecture: futuristic skyscrapers straight out of Tron, formidable Soviet structures, and a 12th century walled old city, a one-time Silk Road stop still peppered with caravanserais, palaces and mosques. [...]
Faberge offloaded by stone miner Gemfields August 11, 2025 Luxury jewellery maker Faberge has been sold by its London-listed owner Gemfields to a tech entrepreneur in a deal worth $50m (£37.2m). The firm, best known for its opulent, ornate eggs, was sold to Sergei Mosunov’s US-based private equity house, SMG Capital, after coloured stones miner Gemfied announced a strategic review of the brand, after [...]
Lammy and Vance host national security advisers ahead of Trump-Putin summit August 9, 2025 The Foreign Secretary will host a meeting of allied national security advisers on Saturday as Donald Trump pushes for a peace deal in Ukraine. Downing Street announced that the meeting at David Lammy’s official country retreat, Chevening, would bring together advisers from the US, Europe and Ukraine to “discuss progress towards securing a just and [...]
Trump hikes India tariffs to 50 per cent for fuelling Russian ‘war machine’ August 6, 2025 President Donald Trump has imposed an additional 25 per cent tariff on India after the country’s government imported Russian Federation Oil. In an executive order signed on Wednesday, the White House said it would slap Indian imports with the fresh levy taking their overall rate to 50 per cent. The President warned on Tuesday he [...]
Inside the amazing Pollocks Toy Museum in Leadenhall Market July 30, 2025 The grand Victorian setting of Leadenhall Market is the perfect backdrop to The Pollocks Toy Museum, a wonderful little City attraction offering a series of toy artefacts from across the generations. The central attraction is a fabulous exhibition about Pearly Kings and Queens. The first Pearly King was 1880s rat catcher and orphan Henry Croft. [...]
‘Publicity stunt’ claims against Shapps as Abramovich ally’s sanctions challenge fails at top court July 29, 2025 Eugene Shvidler claims the Supreme Court rejection of his UK sanctions appeal brings him back to the USSR 36 years after he left 'as a stateless refugee'
Trump hails relationship with Starmer – but no steel exemptions yet July 28, 2025 In a Scottish golfing holiday that has swiftly given way to a multi-sided international summit, Keir Starmer has held a bilateral meeting with Donald Trump which has spanned from the UK-US trading relationship to immigration policy and international conflicts. Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds had tempered expectations of immediate steel tariff progress ahead of the meeting, [...]
UK Government response to alleged Russian elections interference upheld by ECHR July 22, 2025 The UK Government's response to alleged Russian interference in UK elections, including the 2019 general election, did not violate the right to free elections, rules top European court
UK government to sanction companies driving illegal migration July 22, 2025 The UK government is set to introduce a new sanctions regime targeting people smuggling gangs and rogue companies driving illegal migration as part of efforts to curb small boat crossings and stop modern slavery in the UK. In new reforms unveiled by the Foreign Office, individuals and companies responsible for irregular migration will see their [...]
This Pacific Ocean country is one of Earth’s most biodiverse places July 10, 2025 This Pacific Ocean hideaway offers incredible sea life in brilliant luxury Anyone for fruit bat stew? “It’s delicious!” the museum guide assured me. “You cook the bat whole and serve it up in a soup, so it gazes up at you from the bowl. And you eat the entire bat. Because its diet is fruit, [...]