Chas Newkey-Burden

3 weeks ago | telegraph.co.uk | Chas Newkey-Burden

This is a very pricey fire pit and I was curious to see if it had the x-factor to justify the cost. The makers have hand-crafted beautiful countryside scenes into into a 6mm-walled steel ball, forming silhouettes of foxes, stags and trees that seem to move against the flames. The way the smoke swirled around the art evoked a late summer/early autumn woodland evening, making an enchanting focal point for the garden. In short, it is both of use and an ornament.

3 weeks ago | theweek.com | Chas Newkey-Burden

Politicians in Scotland and Westminster are digesting the outcome of the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election for the Holyrood Parliament – Scottish Labour narrowly defeating the SNP, with Reform UK coming a close third. The "keenly awaited" result comes with less than a year to go until the Scottish Parliament election, said the BBC, but its significance stretches far beyond the border. The "basics" is that this is a "good result" for Scottish Labour, said the BBC.

3 weeks ago | theweek.com | Chas Newkey-Burden

Vietnam has scrapped its 37-year-old policy of limiting families to two children, as the country faces up to its ageing population and economic worries. The southeast Asian nation was "one of the last holdouts among countries with population-control policies", said the The Washington Post, but now it's joining the global trend for population policies aimed at boosting births.

3 weeks ago | theweek.com | Chas Newkey-Burden

A fresh search linked to the 2007 disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann has entered its third day, as police "race against time" to find forensic evidence pointing to their "prime suspect", convicted German paedophile Christian Brückner. German investigators have been given until Friday to complete their search but, faced with an 8.1 square mile site, covered with "dense shrubs, empty barns, disused wells and dirt tracks", they "have got their work cut out", said Sky News.

3 weeks ago | theweek.com | Chas Newkey-Burden

There's a surprising link between infants taken to hospital in Brazil seeking medical help and a baby taken into parliament by a Brazilian politician: they're not real. Known as "reborn dolls", these "hyper-realistic" baby figures have taken off in the South American country, reported AP, but not everyone thinks this trend is healthy. If you "blink", you could "mistake" them for the real thing, said the South China Morning Post.