This breathless and hugely entertaining financial heist show isn’t just packed with twists. It’s a clever meditation on the evil of money – in which you’re rooting for the Game of Thrones star The trick, Zara Dunne tells her new underling as she shows her round the trades processing floor of the pension management company for which they both now work, is not to dwell on the fact that every day tha...
This breathless and hugely entertaining financial heist show isn’t just packed with twists. It’s a clever meditation on the evil of money – in which you’re rooting for the Game of Thrones star The trick, Zara Dunne tells her new underling as she shows her round the trades processing floor of the pension management company for which they both now work, is not to dwell on the fact that every day that passes is another day wasted. And to know where the nice biscuits are. This is very good advice for any twentysomething starting their first job, but especially one called Myrtle, as this one is, whom I imagine has already had much of the stuffing knocked out of her by her peers’ reactions to this odd parental choice of moniker. Soon, however, they are all in need of substantially more comfort than even a chocolate Hobnob can provide, as a team of armed villains swarms the floor. From there, the glossy new six-part thriller Steal kicks into high gear and doesn’t let up for a moment. The baddies – sporting not masks but sophisticated, subtle prosthetics that can fool all the facial recognition software the police will soon be applying to the CCTV footage – herd Zara (Sophie Turner, continuing to deliver sterling work post-Game of Thrones), Myrtle (Eloise Thomas), Zara’s friend and colleague Luke (Archie Madekwe) and the rest of the rank into one conference room while the management committee is locked in another. A couple of gruesome beatings later, so that nobody is in any doubt about the dedication of the villainous gang, Luke and Zara are yanked out and forced to help them execute a set of trades worth £4bn, and the committee is forced to sign off on them all. At one point, Luke crumbles and Zara must step in to save the day. She is hailed as a hero once the thieves have completed their hi-tech heist and left the building. Continue reading...
State provision for psychological health services is lamentable. Until things improve, let’s not judge those who turn to an app for help It’s a sunny afternoon in a Roman park and a peculiar, new-to-this-era kind of coming out is happening between me and my friend Clarissa. She has just asked me if I, like her and all of her other friends, use an AI therapist and I say yes. Our mutual confession f...
State provision for psychological health services is lamentable. Until things improve, let’s not judge those who turn to an app for help It’s a sunny afternoon in a Roman park and a peculiar, new-to-this-era kind of coming out is happening between me and my friend Clarissa. She has just asked me if I, like her and all of her other friends, use an AI therapist and I say yes. Our mutual confession feels, at first, quite confusing. As a society, we still don’t know how confidential, or shareable, our AI therapist usage should be. It falls in a limbo between the intimacy of real psychotherapy and the material triviality of sharing skincare advice. That’s because, as much as our talk with a chatbot can be as private as one with a human, we’re still aware that its response is a digital product. Viola di Grado is an Italian author Continue reading...
Sami al-Saei has defied social stigma to speak out about what a report calls a ‘grave pattern’ of sexual violence Warning: contains graphic descriptions of torture Sami al-Saei said he heard the Israeli prison guards who raped him laughing through the assault, before they left him lying blindfolded, handcuffed and in agony on the floor to take a cigarette break. At least one of the group knew a cr...
Sami al-Saei has defied social stigma to speak out about what a report calls a ‘grave pattern’ of sexual violence Warning: contains graphic descriptions of torture Sami al-Saei said he heard the Israeli prison guards who raped him laughing through the assault, before they left him lying blindfolded, handcuffed and in agony on the floor to take a cigarette break. At least one of the group knew a crime was being committed and intervened, not to stop the torture but to prevent its documentation. Al-Saei said he heard the man warning others “don’t take a photo, don’t take a photo” as they attacked. Continue reading...
Gelsenkirchen savings bank was raided over Christmas by criminals who used huge drill to access vault Faqir Malyar, a carpet trader from the western German city of Gelsenkirchen, was on his way to visit one of his customers during the Christmas holidays when he heard news on the radio of an astonishing bank heist. Thieves had drilled a hole in the wall of the vault of a local Sparkasse – savings b...
Gelsenkirchen savings bank was raided over Christmas by criminals who used huge drill to access vault Faqir Malyar, a carpet trader from the western German city of Gelsenkirchen, was on his way to visit one of his customers during the Christmas holidays when he heard news on the radio of an astonishing bank heist. Thieves had drilled a hole in the wall of the vault of a local Sparkasse – savings bank – and made off with the contents of almost 3,250 deposit boxes. The robbery, likened by a police spokesperson to the Hollywood film Ocean’s Eleven, made international headlines: it is estimated that the thieves’ haul could have been worth as much as €300m (£260m), a sum that would make it the one of the biggest bank heists in a country wearily familiar with them. Continue reading...
When I swapped my iPhone for a Nokia, Walkman, film camera and physical map, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But my life soon started to change When two balaclava-clad men on a motorbike mounted the pavement to rob me, recently, I remained oblivious. My eyes were pinned to a text message on my phone, and my hands were so clawed around it that they didn’t even bother to grab it. It wasn’t until an el...
When I swapped my iPhone for a Nokia, Walkman, film camera and physical map, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But my life soon started to change When two balaclava-clad men on a motorbike mounted the pavement to rob me, recently, I remained oblivious. My eyes were pinned to a text message on my phone, and my hands were so clawed around it that they didn’t even bother to grab it. It wasn’t until an elderly woman shrieked and I felt the whoosh of air as the bike launched back on to the road that I looked up at all. They might have been unsuccessful but it did make me think: what else am I missing from the real world around me? Before I’ve poured my first morning coffee I’ve already watched the lives of strangers unfold on Instagram, checked the headlines, responded to texts, swiped through some matches on a dating app, and refreshed my emails, twice. I check Apple Maps for my quickest route to work. I’ve usually left it too late to get the bus, so I rent a Lime bike using the app. During the day, my brother sends me some memes, I take a picture of a canal boat, and pay for my lunch on Apple Pay. I walk home listening to music on Spotify and a long voice note from a friend, then I watch a nondescript TV drama, while scrolling through Depop and Vinted for clothes. Continue reading...
I was 23 and one of my closest friends had just died. Our friendship group all but moved into the Bard’s back room, insulated from time and gossip, doing our best to comfort one another The Crown Bard in Rhyl had always been there, on the main road on the way out of town. Despite living a five-minute walk away, I don’t remember ever going there in my teens, but I must’ve passed it thousands of tim...
I was 23 and one of my closest friends had just died. Our friendship group all but moved into the Bard’s back room, insulated from time and gossip, doing our best to comfort one another The Crown Bard in Rhyl had always been there, on the main road on the way out of town. Despite living a five-minute walk away, I don’t remember ever going there in my teens, but I must’ve passed it thousands of times. Local wisdom dictated it was where the rugby lads drank, while the pub directly opposite was where you’d find the football crowd. Continue reading...
The maverick theatre-maker Pip Simmons, who died two years ago aged 80 , is captured on stage and off in a book by photographer Sheila Burnett documenting the radical troupe’s years of European touring Continue reading...
The maverick theatre-maker Pip Simmons, who died two years ago aged 80 , is captured on stage and off in a book by photographer Sheila Burnett documenting the radical troupe’s years of European touring Continue reading...
Ricky Lawrence’s daily routine often began behind the wheel of his 1986 Rolls-Royce, cruising through the pristine streets of London’s elite Belgravia district in convoy with his friends in their luxury cars. This exclusive club would pull up along Motcomb Street, a short, polished stretch lined with designer boutiques and cafés, before walking into Motcombs Restaurant, their regular haunt. Known ...
Ricky Lawrence’s daily routine often began behind the wheel of his 1986 Rolls-Royce, cruising through the pristine streets of London’s elite Belgravia district in convoy with his friends in their luxury cars. This exclusive club would pull up along Motcomb Street, a short, polished stretch lined with designer boutiques and cafés, before walking into Motcombs Restaurant, their regular haunt. Known to locals as the “Motcomb regulars,” they’d sit for hours puffing on cigars and quaffing red wine while their cars gathered parking tickets and passersby took photos. But that’s over now. Lawrence, a 34-year-old originally from south-east London who owns a local tailor called Lawrence & Winslade, is the only one left after the rest sold their cars and moved abroad recently. Some of the others, who spoke to Bloomberg and asked not to be identified, said they got out ahead of the government’s promised tax hikes on the UK’s wealthiest residents. “Every single one of us had a Ferrari, a Porsche or a Rolls-Royce,” Lawrence said. “I’m the only one left. The other six have gone.” Lawrence’s friends are part of a group of wealthy business owners, heirs and expats who’ve left London since the Labour government began targeting the rich with tax rises and cracking down on tax breaks for them. The government abolished a two-century-old tax benefit for non-domiciled residents last April and targeted the nation's wealthy elite in other ways including a levy on private school fees. Luxury-car sales are under pressure globally, but the UK is suffering a “major impact,” potentially due to the so-called non-dom changes, said Daniele Ministeri, a senior consultant at automotive research firm Jato Dynamics. Ferrari’s UK registrations slumped 44% in the third quarter of 2025 from a year earlier to just 116 vehicles, according to Jato data, marking its weakest quarter in the country this decade. In an October interview with the Financial Times, Chief Executive Officer Benedetto Vigna said Ferrar...
生於香港、現居倫敦的設計師Robert Wun雲惟駿，於2014年在倫敦創立同名品牌。2023年1月，他在香奈兒時尚總裁Bruno Pavlovsky的支持下，於巴黎舉行首場時裝秀，更成為史上首位以客座成員身份，入選法國高級定制和時尚聯合會（Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode）官方高訂日程的香港設計師，躋身國際時尚界最高殿堂。綜合官網、外媒和貿...
生於香港、現居倫敦的設計師Robert Wun雲惟駿，於2014年在倫敦創立同名品牌。2023年1月，他在香奈兒時尚總裁Bruno Pavlovsky的支持下，於巴黎舉行首場時裝秀，更成為史上首位以客座成員身份，入選法國高級定制和時尚聯合會（Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode）官方高訂日程的香港設計師，躋身國際時尚界最高殿堂。綜合官網、外媒和貿發局等，其品牌以精湛工藝與獨特敘事風格，探討時裝中的可見性與解放精神。 十年歷程：從深水埗到全球舞台 Robert Wun雲惟駿的時裝之路始於香港。據貿發局網站的訪談所述，他早年流連深水埗大南街尋寶、在二手店改造舊衣的經歷，以及與祖母的深厚情感，均成為其創作養分。2012年，他於倫敦時裝學院的畢業作品被Joyce Boutique發掘，其後以自由身工作兩年，最終在倫敦成立品牌，初期專注於定制服飾及充滿電影與自然靈感的鞋履配飾。 十年間，品牌迅速獲得國際認可。他於2022年贏得ANDAM時尚大獎特別獎，亦獲《Business of Fashion 500》、《Vogue Business 100》及《Tatler Asia》評為行業最具影響力人物之一，並獲英國時裝協會提名2023年時尚大獎女裝新銳設計師。 星光熠熠的客戶與跨界合作 Robert Wun雲惟駿的設計以其戲劇性結構與細膩情感見稱，吸引眾多國際巨星青睞。其客戶包括Beyoncé、Celine Dion、Lady Gaga、Adele、Cardi B、Florence Pugh、Cate Blanchett及Idris Elba等。此外，他亦曾與倫敦皇家芭蕾舞團、《飢餓遊戲 The Hunger Games》電影系列，以及導演王家衛合作，展現其跨媒介的創作能量。 值得一提的是，近日於澳網華麗登場的前「一姐」大坂直美，其以水母及蝴蝶為靈感的賽場造型，正是由她本人與Robert Wun及運動品牌共同合作設計，足見其影響力已延伸至體育時尚領域。 十周年「回家」：於香港故宮舉辦時裝匯演 正值品牌成立十周年，Robert Wun獲邀擔任2024年CENTRESTAGE ELITES品牌設計師，並將於香港故宮文化博物館舉行時裝匯演。他形容該次回歸既是「飲水思源」的「源」，亦是象徵圓滿的「圓」。他在貿發局訪問中透露，此次匯演將是一...
Presented by Salesforce In 2025, Salesforce conducted a series of C-suite research studies to capture if and how top decision-makers are building an agentic AI strategy. While the research shows positive signals like agent adoption is expected to surge 327% over the next two years, the dominant one is clear: leaders may be racing to deploy AI agents, but unlocking real value hinges on trust in dat...
Presented by Salesforce In 2025, Salesforce conducted a series of C-suite research studies to capture if and how top decision-makers are building an agentic AI strategy. While the research shows positive signals like agent adoption is expected to surge 327% over the next two years, the dominant one is clear: leaders may be racing to deploy AI agents, but unlocking real value hinges on trust in data, systems, employees, and, above all, the leadership guiding the change. Trust is the connective tissue that determines whether companies can actually scale AI agents and unlock the value they’re projecting. At Salesforce, this trust imperative is operationalized through Agentforce. The Agentforce 360 Platform, the foundational layer of the company's agentic platform, embeds trust directly into how agents reason, act, and collaborate with humans. This ensures leaders can implement agentic AI at scale. "As organizations scale AI agents, trust becomes the accelerator," says Joe Inzerillo, chief digital officer of Salesforce. “When leaders trust their data, their systems, and their governance, AI moves from experimentation to enterprise impact. Trust isn’t a constraint; it’s the foundation that allows companies to move faster, align teams, and unlock the full value of the agentic enterprise.” Trust is the accelerator — and the bottleneck Quality data, security, and employee adoption are the pillars of trust, according to the research among hundreds of CIOs , CFOs and CHROs : One of CIOs’ top two fears around AI implementation is a lack of trusted data 66% of CFOs say security or privacy threats keep them up at night regarding their AI strategy Chief HR Officers (CHROs) see trust through the lens of their people: 73% say their employees remain unaware of how AI agents will impact their work “What’s striking is how aligned leaders have become around trust,” Inzerillo says. “Whether it’s CIOs wrestling with data quality, CFOs scrutinizing security risk, or CHROs focused on emplo...
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung downplayed US threats of punishing tariffs on foreign-made chips, while reaffirming his commitment to existing trade agreements. “There is talk of a 100% tariff on semiconductors, but I’m not seriously concerned about that,” said Lee, 62, during a press conference in Seoul Wednesday. Rhetorical statements sometimes arise during negotiations, but it’s important ...
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung downplayed US threats of punishing tariffs on foreign-made chips, while reaffirming his commitment to existing trade agreements. “There is talk of a 100% tariff on semiconductors, but I’m not seriously concerned about that,” said Lee, 62, during a press conference in Seoul Wednesday. Rhetorical statements sometimes arise during negotiations, but it’s important to stay focused and adhere to established policies and principles. “Rough waves come, but they are not severe enough to damage the ship.” The comments follow US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick ’s warning earlier this month that South Korean and Taiwanese chipmakers may face tariffs of up to 100% unless they commit to increased production on American soil. Given the dominant market share held by South Korea and Taiwan, however, such tariffs would likely raise prices in the US and hurt American consumers, Lee said. South Korean memory is used widely in electronic devices, cars, data centers and industrial equipment. Washington and Seoul previously agreed that South Korea would not be disadvantaged relative to Taiwan regarding chip tariffs, leading Lee to quip, “I am rooting for Taiwan.” The US and Taiwan reached a trade pact this month that would lower tariffs on goods from the self-governed island to 15% — in line with Japan and South Korea — and have Taiwanese tech companies invest at least $250 billion in the US, backed by an additional $250 billion in government credit guarantees.