From life in a top-end New York kitchen to dinner parties at the height of the Raj, here are culinary tales to chew over...

According to a new study, of the 193 countries in the world, Britain has invaded all but 22. The figures come from a new book by Stuart Laycock called All the Countries We've Ever Invaded and counts everything from full-scale invasions – Afghanistan – to piratical expeditions backed by the government – Ecuador.

Every November, burger chain Byron supports Movember, the charity that encourages chaps to grow a moustache and raise money for men's health, specifically raising awareness of prostate cancer and testicular cancer. Byron does this in the way it knows best: with great slabs of beef. During the whole of this month, Byron has on its menu the Movember burger, a plump construction comprised of beef, Cheddar, salted cucumber and a whack of mustard dill dressing, all held within the generous embrace of an outsized sesame-seed bun.

While cutting his way through India, Alexander the Great paused to note that in India bananas were the fruit of the wise man. According to a new report commissioned by the UN Committee on World Food Security, Alexander was perceptive. For as the climate warms, rice and wheat will become scarce. In their stead, the scientists say, the smart money is on bananas.

From vast HD screens to free data storage, high-quality cameras to neat functions, these handsets have it all...

Yesterday, on the fourth floor of Selfridges in Oxford Street, central London, seven winners of the Slow Toys Awards were announced. If you haven't heard of the "real toy awards", founded last year by the toy distributor Thierry Bourett, they are an ascetic toy-based version of the slow food movement – a late 1980s attempt to counter fast food.

Bob Marley's image, like Kurt Cobain and Michael Jackson's, has been used and abused. Since his death in 1981 his visage, often smoking, often smiling, has become a symbol of pretty much anything anyone with a poster press and T-shirt printer fancied.

This week I've been eating... Swedish Lapland reindeer

Whether you’re mixing a martini or serving it with tonic, ice and a slice, you need the right bottle for the job...

From sorting expenses to arranging dates, these little helpers promise to speed things up at work and juggle your social life, too...