A new era for Sierra Leone?

The so named ‘Peace Diamond’ of Sierra Leone has successfully been sold at auction for $6.5m, hopefully marking a new era for the West African country. Peace Diamond looks to be a positive change for the people of Sierra Leone, and one that can be celebrated in the sector....

Manchester to get Tower of Light

Many cities around the world are seeing their populations swell as more and more people become urbanised and move to the most built up areas. In response to the inevitable housing difficulties this creates, cities are building vertically instead of horizontally in an attempt to maximise the available space; Manchester is no exception to this trend.

Apple slips up with software bug

Often touted as one of the most advanced, secure and competent firms, Apple is not often subject to scrutiny. However the tables have turned for the tech giants this week as it clambers to fix an almighty security flaw....

Is it worth investing in: Supreme?

Matt Steiner and Christian Wong of Florida, USA, are perhaps not the types of entrepreneurs you’d expect to meet in a board room or an episode of the apprentice. They’re what might be referred to as unconventional, working from Stein’s mother’s dining room table and only working on a Thursday....

Knock it down and start again

The Guardian Cities column recently reported on a fascinating aspect of Japan’s built environment – the country’s preoccupation with prefabricated houses. Indeed, this feature of the Japanese housing market is so entrenched that it is not uncommon for homes in the country to hold no value after about 30 years due to a model where houses older than that are simply knocked down and replaced....

Yields from fields

AETHAER, whose strapline is ‘breathe clean, live refreshed’, has caused a stir across the globe for the sale of its flagship product: bottled air. The company, headed up by 27 year old businessman Leo De Watts, sells jars of air ‘farmed’ from the British countryside. The AETHAER jars contain fresh air from locations across the UK including Somerset, Dorset, Wales and Wiltshire and will set you back a hefty £80....

Global infrastructure investment needs to increase

The World Bank recently published its Global Infrastructure Outlook, which compares seven sectors across 50 countries, and the results are extremely interesting. The aim is to use the data to forecast what infrastructure investment will be needed around the world by 2040, as well as putting a number on the cap between what is currently being spent and what will have to be spent by that time....

The rich won’t leave

Writing in The Guardian this week, Cristobal Young, the author of The Myth of Millionaire Tax Flight: How Place Still Matters for the Rich, has countered the often made claim of conservatives that higher taxes would mean that the rich would flee....

Norway jolts global energy industry

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is by far the largest in the world. Valued at US$1tr, any move it makes tend to have a significant impact on whatever industry is in its path. This week, Norway has been advised by its central bank that it should consider divesting from oil and gas....

Office of the future

Bloomberg’s brand new European Headquarters in the City of London has been named the most sustainable office in the world, receiving the highest score ever achieved by any large development during design stage....

Utopian cities continue to appeal

An investment firm headed up by Bill Gates, the former head of Microsoft and a multi-billionaire, has invested US$80m into a proposed ‘smart city’ in Arizona, USA. The community, to be known as Belmont, “will create a forward-thinking community...

The world’s most advanced dog?

Robotic design company Boston Dynamics, which was sold back in June by Google's parent company Alphabet Inc to Japanese telecommunications firm SoftBank Group Corp, has just released a teaser video for its latest project, the SpotMini....

Universal Basic Income is coming to the UK

Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk and other Silicon Valley moguls have more than one thing in common at least. Apart from being laughably rich and powerful, more than a few of them think that governments around the world should look into trialling a Universal Basic Income for their citizens.

Green climate funds mapped

The 15th UN climate conference met in Copenhagen in 2009 and started to get serious about helping the developing world deal with climate change. The agreement made at the conference stated that developing countries would spend US$100bn a year by 2020 tackling climate change around the world....

Singles day encourages new laws

China's internet shopping websites have been cautioned by Chinese authorities in an attempt to reduce the number of fabricated promotional advertisements aimed at those looking to make a splash on Singles Day.

The People’s Pier

Destroyed by a fire in 2010 the historic Hastings Pier has been bought back to its full glory, rounded off by winning the accolade of the 2017 RIBA Stirling prize for the best building in the UK....