Latest news with #British-style
What's On
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- What's On
Watch the FIFA Club World Cup Final in Dubai this weekend
The football season isn't quite over yet – and it's ending on a high. The FIFA Club World Cup Final kicks off this Sunday, July 13 at 11pm GST, with Chelsea set to take on either Real Madrid or PSG (who play their semi-final tonight). This year's expanded tournament features 32 of the world's biggest clubs and is being held in the United States, which means a late-night kick-off for fans watching in the UAE. Not up for streaming solo at home? Whether you're a die-hard fan or just tagging along for the snacks, here are six great spots in Dubai to soak up the action, pint in hand. garden on 8 This is one of Media City's most underrated spots for a match night. Think long picnic tables, two huge outdoor screens, drink deals, and a menu packed with crowd-pleasers like sliders, wings, and loaded nachos. Location: Media One Hotel, Dubai Media City Times: Noon – 2am Contact: (04 427 1000) 71 Sports Bar This sports-centric bar knows how to do match night right. Expect dozens of HD screens, pub-grub classics, a buzzing crowd, and plenty of parking. Indoors or on the terrace, there's not a bad seat in the house. Location: DAMAC Hills, Trump International Golf Club Times: 9am – midnight Contact: (04 245 3988) Barasti One of Dubai's best-loved beach bars, Barasti has serious big-match atmosphere. You'll find giant screens across the venue, flowing hops, a late-night food menu, and sand-between-your-toes energy. Location: Le Méridien Mina Seyahi Times: Daily 9am – 3am Contact: (04 318 1313) Belgian Café Head here for a Euro-style viewing experience – Belgian brews, sharing platters, and multiple screens playing the game inside and out. It's great for smaller groups who want a laid-back but lively night. Location: Grand Millennium Dubai, Barsha Heights Contact: (04 423 4100) Huddle Sports Bar & Grill Huddle is a classic no-frills sports bar with mega screens, wallet-friendly drinks, and fan-focused energy. Expect a lively crowd and plenty of post-match banter – this spot stays buzzing until late. Location: Citymax Hotel, Kuwait Street Times: Daily until 3am Contact: (050 100 7065) ICON Bar & Lounge This sleek British-style pub delivers comfort, good grub, and top-quality screens. It's ideal if you want to enjoy the game with a pint and a plate of bangers and mash in air-conditioned comfort. Location: Radisson Blu, Dubai Media City Times: Noon – 3am Contact: (04 366 9111) Picture: Instagram > Sign up for FREE to get exclusive updates that you are interested in
Sydney Morning Herald
05-07-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Thugs who perform violence over distant atrocities have no place here
Imagine it's 1972. Thugs try to set alight the front door of Melbourne's old St Francis Catholic Church while 20 worshippers, including children, are inside. Up the street, more hoodlums storm a Celtic pub, screaming that the IRA are terrorists and should be eradicated. Or reverse it. Thugs try to set alight one of Melbourne's Protestant churches and a gang invades a British-style tavern in the CBD, terrorising patrons and chanting that British soldiers responsible for shooting civilians on Bloody Sunday in Derry should themselves be killed. The shock and righteous outrage of Melburnians would be without end. Happily, it never happened. Not in Melbourne. Loading Yet 1972 was the height of what were known as the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Innocents were dying in bombing campaigns and being massacred for protesting. There seemed no end to the fury and the suffering, fuelled by hatreds going back hundreds of years. Melbourne's population at the time was still substantially tilted towards the descendants of British Protestants and Irish Catholics, both old and new. Most of them, however, had left old grievances behind and were determined to live beyond the contemporary blood-letting, whatever their feelings about the Troubles.
Reuters
03-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Breakingviews - Ports expose Li family's global dealmaking dilemma
HONG KONG, July 3 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Li Ka-shing believed in the power of combined forces, so he named his business Cheung Kong Industries after China's Yangtze River, which aggregates numerous tributaries. The tycoon, now 96, built his plastics manufacturer into a global retail-to-telecoms conglomerate through a wave of acquisitions. Three-quarters of a century later, a battle over a waterway on the other side of the world reflects how a profound shift in geopolitics is forcing the empire of Hong Kong's richest man into a tricky retreat. Conditions for dealmaking are less favourable for Li's 60-year-old son Victor, who in 2018 took charge of CK Hutchison ( opens new tab, the holding company for the family's non-real estate interests. His attempt to sell the group's overseas ports business, including two facilities at either end of the Panama Canal, to BlackRock (BLK.N), opens new tab and the Aponte family's MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company for $23 billion exemplifies the problems he faces: the conglomerate may not be fit for the era of U.S.-China rivalry. The Hong Kong-listed company's operation of the Panama ports faced scrutiny after U.S. President Donald Trump claimed China was running the strategically important waterway. Two-thirds of all cargo passing through the Panama Canal originates from, or is destined for, the United States. Panamanian authorities launched an audit, setting the stage to potentially strip the company of the concession. When it was announced in March, the sale appeared an elegant way for Hutchison to extract itself from controversy. Yet China's state media, which has for years criticised the Li family for disposing of assets in mainland China and Hong Kong, accused the billionaire family of selling out Chinese overseas interests to the United States. With the deal caught between Beijing and Washington, and a July 27 deadline, opens new tab for exclusive negotiations between buyers and seller fast approaching, it is unclear if Hutchison can secure the approvals it needs to go ahead. Cosco Shipping is one of several Chinese state-backed companies in talks to invest in the multinational bid consortium, Bloomberg reported, opens new tab last month, citing sources. The Li clan, which owns 30% of Hutchison, have always bought and sold. The elder Li acquired a substantial stake in Hutchison Whampoa from HSBC in 1979, becoming the first Chinese national to take control of a British-style 'Hong' trading house. Major disposals include selling its Indian mobile business to Vodafone for $11 billion in 2007. Hutchison and its subsidiaries have been involved in M&A transactions worth $212 billion over the past decade, Dealogic data shows. This includes a $90 billion reorganisation in 2015 which separated its property assets into a new entity called CK Asset ( opens new tab. That rejig was supposed to unlock value. But Hutchison's market capitalisation has since more than halved to $24 billion. The proposed ports deal would be the company's largest sale this century. Instead of offloading just the Panama concessions, Hutchison opted to sell 43 ports in 23 countries. Ports brought in one-fifth of the company's operating profit in 2024, while the Chinese facilities it plans to retain generated just 9% of the unit's revenue in that year. If the deal goes ahead, Hutchison's core business would rest on three remaining units: telecoms, retail and infrastructure. Yet the ports saga has revealed an intractable problem. The rest of the world increasingly sees Hutchison not as a Hong Kong capitalist conglomerate but as a Chinese company. Beijing's negative reaction to the proposed sale confirms the situation is more nuanced, but also underscores the challenges the company faces. Attitudes to Chinese companies operating overseas have hardened following the Covid pandemic, U.S. concerns over the country's military expansion, and its technology and trade practices. Beijing's security crackdown on Hong Kong following anti-government protests in 2019 has also made other countries warier of companies based in the former British colony. This leaves Hutchison, which generates just 12% of its revenue from Hong Kong and mainland China, facing greater scrutiny as an owner, potential buyer, or seller of assets. The conundrum is evident in its depressed market capitalisation: the company is trading at just one-third of book value, LSEG data shows. Geopolitical uncertainty and aversion to Chinese equities are partly to blame, as is the so-called conglomerate discount which investors typically attach to companies with diverse businesses. Mergers and acquisitions are one way to eliminate that discount. But the ports situation leaves a big question mark over whether the Li family can deal their way out of the value trap. Though Hutchison shares jumped by a third on news of the deal, they have since retreated. Despite the setback, Hutchison is still interested in snapping up assets in Europe, where it generates more than half its revenue. In February, its CK Infrastructure unit submitted a preliminary, opens new tab 7 billion pound ($9.60 billion) bid for the UK's Thames Water, the Financial Times reported citing people familiar with the matter, though the offer did not succeed. Yet despite being one of the largest overseas investors in the United Kingdom, Hutchison is getting a mixed reaction there too: it acquired Phoenix Energy, a gas distribution network in Northern Ireland, for $1.1 billion in 2024, Dealogic data shows. In 2023, though, it accepted a minority position when merging its Three mobile telecom unit with rival Vodafone. The Lis are hardly alone in facing greater M&A scrutiny. Governments are embracing broader definitions for national security and factoring in economic considerations when reviewing transactions. They may block acquisitions or impose conditions on overseas takeovers, as the United States recently did with the acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japanese rival Nippon Steel (5401.T), opens new tab. Meanwhile, China is closely scrutinising transactions that could appear to endorse the trade policies of the Trump administration, three lawyers specialising in M&A and antitrust told Reuters Breakingviews. If Hutchison finds it harder to buy and sell assets, one alternative is to pursue stock market listings and spinoffs for its global telecom or retail assets. In August last year, CK Infrastructure ( opens new tab established a secondary stock market listing in London. But the unit's market value has since fallen to $17 billion. Maintaining multiple listings will raise costs and may not be sufficient to deflect geopolitical tensions. The group's global structure and Hong Kong stock market listing look increasingly awkward in an era when investors no longer prize geographic diversification. That could eventually lead to a fuller breakup. The outlook for Hutchison will be less bleak if markets like Europe, Australia and Asia opt to improve ties with Beijing, despite Washington's attempt to isolate the world's second largest economy. A green light for the ports sale, possibly as part of a U.S.-China trade deal, would also help lift the gloom. For now, however, the sale that was supposed to solve a problem has instead revealed a sea of risks facing the Li family's empire. Follow Una Galani on Linkedin, opens new tab and X, opens new tab.
Time of India
01-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Fish & chips, cultural misappropriation!
While everyone has been sucked into the yada yada over Prada fad-a, in restaurants and eateries across India's metropolitan cities, a crime less fowl, more fish is carried out every day. These establishments have been shamelessly perpetrating cultural misappropriation by passing off deep-fried crumb-covered fish with French fries on the side under the crunchy colonial hangover alias of 'fish & chips' - and, in some cases, even ' British-style fish & chips '. A trade war in the middle of finalising a Britain-India FTA may be in the Indians having a fair taste of Britain know what the Brit classic looks like - a wondrously desolate hunk of cod or haddock, battered in self-esteem, flour, baking soda and vinegar, resting beside girthy-worthy potato chips. It has little in common with 'fish fry' - deep-fried bhetki or rohu fillet covered in breadcrumbs. And, yet, in some ludicrous Anglo-Bongo accent, the menus perpetuate the lie: 'Authentic fish & chips'. This is not to say that fish fry isn't delightful. It's just a different kettle of fish. It's truly remarkable, though, how India, where darzis appropriate the latest Armani and startups 'borrow' biz models and pass them off as innovation, has been hopeless in fish & chipping. Justice must be served - crispy-crunchy on the outside, sinking soft in the inside. How hard can it be?
Edinburgh Live
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Edinburgh Live
Couple visit American chippy and are baffled to find Scottish delicacy on menu
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info While fish and chips is often seen as a quintessentially British dish, it turns out you can savour this classic in the heart of New York City. Nestled in Greenwich Village, A Salt and Battery serves up authentic British-style fish and chips, complete with all the trimmings you'd expect from your local chippy. From battered cod or haddock to chip butties and even battered sausage, this overseas chippy doesn't skimp on variety. Visitors can also indulge in traditional sides like mushy peas, gravy, tartar sauce, or beans. But the burning question remains: can it truly match up to the British original? This was precisely what one couple aimed to discover during their recent trip to New York. Ryan and Jade were eager to see if A Salt and Battery could live up to their expectations, so they popped in to order their usual and conduct a transatlantic taste test. To their astonishment, the menu boasted an array of choices, including a Scottish favourite that caught their eye. "I never knew there was a British chip shop in New York city," exclaimed Ryan in their video. Meanwhile, Jade placed an order for fish and chips, ensuring she enquired about the availability of a side of gravy. "It was exactly like a chip shop at home," Jade stated, as viewers got a glimpse inside the establishment before the video cut to her unveiling their meal. "There was a choice of fish, we went for cod, cos cod is the best. Everyone knows that." As she poured gravy over the battered fish, Jade commented on its runny consistency, suggesting it hadn't been prepared 'by a Northerner'. She also expressed surprise at finding it on the menu alongside mushy peas. She then showcased the main meal, featuring a bed of chippy chips topped with a large crispy battered fish fillet. "It looks like a normal fish and chips," Jade observed, revealing that the meal had set them back $18 (£13.27) before tucking in with a fork. "It's good. It tastes very fishy." The "pièce de résistance" however was tucked away in a small paper bag, to which Ryan said: "I haven't seen these anywhere outside of Scotland." ""Looks like an alien invasion," he quipped as he held up a battered Mars bar, which they purchased for $5 (£3.69). Although he didn't provide a review, his impressed expression as he took the first bite of the fried sweet treat spoke volumes. In the video's comment section, several viewers shared their thoughts on the chippy, with some Americans revealing other British foods they enjoy. "Wait til you find out we call it shepherds pie even though it's usually just cottage pie," one person noted, while another viewer shared : "The entire state of Wisconsin does fish and chips, but they call it fish fry. Culver's is a fast food chain from Wisconsin that features usually cod, and during Lent, they also have walleye." "Clearly, you never had Halibut," another viewer said. "A weekly visit for me. Shame it costs waaaaay more than in the UK. But 100% worth it!" exclaimed another viewer. However, a different person argued: "Fish and chips is disgusting. French fries and fish sticks. I ate that when I was poor."
