As the History of Advertising Trust turns 50, our writer revels in its vast archive, remembering the bread boy on his bike, the suggestive coffee-drinkers and the Hamlet smoker adjusting his comb-over Hanging over the toilet in the gents’ loos at the History of Advertising Trust’s archive in deepest Norfolk is a photograph of Ian Botham. It’s not just the cricketing great’s mullet that tells you t...
As the History of Advertising Trust turns 50, our writer revels in its vast archive, remembering the bread boy on his bike, the suggestive coffee-drinkers and the Hamlet smoker adjusting his comb-over Hanging over the toilet in the gents’ loos at the History of Advertising Trust’s archive in deepest Norfolk is a photograph of Ian Botham. It’s not just the cricketing great’s mullet that tells you this is 1986, but the fact that Beefy is smoking a cigar. The caption below answers the question that has troubled philosophers since Aristotle: “Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet.” If the past is a foreign country, then the history of advertising is a whole alternate universe, one in which excitable metallic martians induced us to buy Cadbury’s powdered potatoes with the slogan: “For mash get Smash.” It’s a place where bowler-hatted chimps dressed as removal men wooed us into buying PG Tips tea, while legions of sports stars energetically advertised carcinogenic smokes. Continue reading...
Last summer, a 14-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by an asylum seeker in Epping and this small community was engulfed in protest. Can it recover? When Sherzod* moved to Epping in 2025, he was dreaming of a little garden, long dog walks in the forest and more space to breathe. At 20, he had moved from Uzbekistan to the UK to study law, then lived in north London for decades. In his mid-40s, af...
Last summer, a 14-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by an asylum seeker in Epping and this small community was engulfed in protest. Can it recover? When Sherzod* moved to Epping in 2025, he was dreaming of a little garden, long dog walks in the forest and more space to breathe. At 20, he had moved from Uzbekistan to the UK to study law, then lived in north London for decades. In his mid-40s, after establishing himself in a media job, he began visiting the forest – 5,900 acres of green lung saved by the Epping Forest Act 1878. The pretty shops of the old south-west Essex town delighted him. “I just liked the high street, I liked the people,” he says. “The people were really friendly.” Epping was created by the canons of Waltham Abbey in the 13th century as a market town on the road from London to Cambridge. Its high street is still thriving. There is a Gail’s bakery and an M&S Food shop; the four-bed semis in the estate agents’ windows are listed at just shy of £1m. Continue reading...
The beloved BBC sitcom is now a quarter of a century old. Ahead of two TV celebrations, here are 25 things you didn’t know about television’s funniest workplace mockumentary Fetch the acoustic guitar and twiddle your TM Lewin tie because it’s the 25th anniversary of The Office. Yes, it’s a quarter of a century since we were introduced to Wernham Hogg paper company’s David Brent – a friend first, b...
The beloved BBC sitcom is now a quarter of a century old. Ahead of two TV celebrations, here are 25 things you didn’t know about television’s funniest workplace mockumentary Fetch the acoustic guitar and twiddle your TM Lewin tie because it’s the 25th anniversary of The Office. Yes, it’s a quarter of a century since we were introduced to Wernham Hogg paper company’s David Brent – a friend first, boss second, probably an entertainer third. To commemorate the majestic mockumentary’s silver jubilee, actors Martin Freeman and Mackenzie Crook are reuniting to present a BBC documentary looking back at the show. Meanwhile, co-creator Ricky Gervais is releasing a retrospective special on his YouTube channel . Continue reading...
A mainland Chinese court has claimed jurisdiction over an investor lawsuit against a Hong Kong-listed firm for the first time, with the move likely to increase scrutiny of corporate disclosures. Mainland investors filed the lawsuit with the Beijing Financial Court, alleging that an overseas-incorporated company had failed to disclose irregular loans, unauthorised guarantees and related-party trans...
A mainland Chinese court has claimed jurisdiction over an investor lawsuit against a Hong Kong-listed firm for the first time, with the move likely to increase scrutiny of corporate disclosures. Mainland investors filed the lawsuit with the Beijing Financial Court, alleging that an overseas-incorporated company had failed to disclose irregular loans, unauthorised guarantees and related-party transactions in 2017 and 2018, in violation of Hong Kong’s listing rules, according to a recent report by...
Taiwan’s flagship “T-Dome” air defence programme is facing possible delays to 2028 after budget disputes left one of its critical indigenous missile systems without a clear funding source. The island’s opposition-controlled legislature approved a reduced NT$780 billion (over US$24 billion) special defence budget in May, rejecting a larger NT$1.25 trillion package proposed by the government. Among ...
Taiwan’s flagship “T-Dome” air defence programme is facing possible delays to 2028 after budget disputes left one of its critical indigenous missile systems without a clear funding source. The island’s opposition-controlled legislature approved a reduced NT$780 billion (over US$24 billion) special defence budget in May, rejecting a larger NT$1.25 trillion package proposed by the government. Among the excluded projects was funding for the indigenous Chiang-Kong (Strong Bow) anti-ballistic missile...
kyoshino/E+ via Getty Images 7:00 AM MBA Mortgage Applications The Mortgage Bankers' Association compiles various mortgage loan indexes. The purchase applications index measures applications at mortgage lenders. 10:30 AM EIA Petroleum Status Report The Energy Information Administration, or EIA, provides weekly information on petroleum inventories in the U.S., whether produced here or abroad. 1:00 ...
kyoshino/E+ via Getty Images 7:00 AM MBA Mortgage Applications The Mortgage Bankers' Association compiles various mortgage loan indexes. The purchase applications index measures applications at mortgage lenders. 10:30 AM EIA Petroleum Status Report The Energy Information Administration, or EIA, provides weekly information on petroleum inventories in the U.S., whether produced here or abroad. 1:00 PM 10-Yr Note Auction Treasury notes are sold at regularly scheduled public auctions. The competitive bids at these auctions determine the interest rate paid on each Treasury note issue. 2:00 PM FOMC Minutes Detailing the issues of debate and consensus among policymakers, the Federal Open Market Committee issues minutes of its latest meeting three weeks after the meeting. 3:00 PM Consumer Credit The dollar value of consumer installment credit outstanding. Changes in consumer credit indicate the state of consumer finances and portend future spending patterns. The consensus looks for another robust $17.5 billion May increase in consumer credit outstanding after a big $20.7 billion jump in April. More on U.S. Markets 6-Month Treasury Yield Rises To 4%: Bond Market Tells The Fed To Get On With The Rate Hikes Will Markets Start To Price In Lower Inflation Risk? Treasury Yields Snapshot: July 2, 2026 Dow posts record close, Nasdaq leads Wall Street higher as semiconductor stocks rebound Dow ends at all-time high, Nasdaq struggles after weaker-than-expected payrolls
Shares of Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) were drifting lower last month, continuing a broader pullback this year. While there was no major news out on the leading streamer, skepticism about its business strategy at a time when its core markets are maturing seemed to push the stock lower. Semafor reported that the company had bid on Roku , which agreed to be acquired by Fox , and that it was interested in ...
Shares of Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) were drifting lower last month, continuing a broader pullback this year. While there was no major news out on the leading streamer, skepticism about its business strategy at a time when its core markets are maturing seemed to push the stock lower. Semafor reported that the company had bid on Roku , which agreed to be acquired by Fox , and that it was interested in buying Lionsgate , following Warner Bros. Discovery's decision to sell itself to Paramount Skydance instead of Netflix. Continue reading
In this article XAU= @GC.1 XAG= XPT= Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Gold prices swung between gains and losses on Wednesday, as concerns around inflation and higher interest rates rose after fresh U.S. strikes on Iran lifted oil and the dollar ahead of the release of the Federal Reserve's June meeting minutes. Brendon Thorne | Bloomberg | Getty Images Gold prices swung between gai...
In this article XAU= @GC.1 XAG= XPT= Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Gold prices swung between gains and losses on Wednesday, as concerns around inflation and higher interest rates rose after fresh U.S. strikes on Iran lifted oil and the dollar ahead of the release of the Federal Reserve's June meeting minutes. Brendon Thorne | Bloomberg | Getty Images Gold prices swung between gains and losses on Wednesday, as concerns around inflation and higher interest rates rose after fresh U.S. strikes on Iran lifted oil and the dollar ahead of the release of the Federal Reserve's June meeting minutes. Spot gold rose 0.5% to $4,125.59 per ounce by 0305 GMT, after dropping to its lowest since July 2 earlier in the day. U.S. gold futures for August delivery shed 0.5% to $4,136.30. "Over the past 24 hours, there was a little bit of a scare again on the inflation front. So bonds came in lower, the dollar popped a little, gold pulled back, and now seems to be kind of stabilizing after that correction," said Ilya Spivak, head of global macro at Tastylive. "At this point, we've been watching gold attempt to carve out a bottom." The U.S. military unleashed a new wave of strikes against Iran on Tuesday and revoked a licence allowing the country to sell oil after three tankers were hit by projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. oil prices jumped nearly 3% in early trade, U.S. Treasury yields advanced, while the dollar clung to its highest levels of the week against most of its peers as the strikes against Iran put pressure on an already fragile ceasefire. Markets have increased their bets for a September Federal Reserve rate hike to an over 63% chance, up from about 57% on Tuesday, the CME FedWatch tool showed. Investors also awaited minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee's June 16-17 meeting, due later today, for fresh clues on the interest rate path under Fed Chair Kevin Warsh. While gold is seen as an inflation hedge, high interest rates tend to weigh on the n...