Graff Diamonds, the high-end jeweller, is forging ahead with an initial public offering to raise up to $1bn (£630m), setting a price range for its Hong Kong flotation despite a sell-off in equity markets.

He was one of only two survivors of the 40 sent to clear the Normandy beaches of mines on D-Day

They may be at each other's throats, but could Hammerson and Westfield end up together? The two developers are battling it out to see who gets to redevelop the Whitgift shopping centre in Croydon. However, some believe the Aussie giant Westfield may want to put their differences aside and make an approach for its Footsie-listed rival.

China's Guan Tian-lang made history when he teed off at the China Open yesterday morning, becoming the youngest ever player on the European Tour at the tender age of just 13 years and 173 days.

Just past the halfway mark in Timothy Mo's seventh novel, his heroine – a strapping Bangkok ladyboy who has joined a company of bloodthirsty Islamist warriors – wanders through a serene orchard on an island close to Singapore. Snooky's jihadi platoon (sanook = fun in Thai) has halted for a brief rest en route to help the insurgent Moros of the Philippines as fellow holy warriors. She (and for all the unwanted testosterone that jungle warfare brings, Snooky's chosen pronoun never wavers) samples the fruit of the ebony tree. It is not dark and dense like the wood, but pale, delicate and enigmatic: "tart and sweet in the same mouthful, soft but crunchy... If marzipan dormice grew on trees... they would taste like this". If this moment smacks of Eden, and forbidden fruit, it also helps initiate Snooky into the mysteries of the jihadi pursuit, where darkness yields to light, stark contradictions resolve themselves, and chaste perfection grows from the crooked timber of humanity.

It's a cross between a reality TV show and performance art, an insightful comment on the Orwellian levels of surveillance under which he lives. The Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei has set up four live webcams in his Beijing home in a deliberate nod to the 24-hour monitoring he has been under since he was detained over a year ago.

Members of the Tongan royal family in traditional dress watch as pallbearers carry the casket of King George Tupou V from an aircraft at Fua'amotu airport yesterday.

Global demand for traditional British tea, biscuits and sausages has seen food and non-alcoholic drink exports rise last year to top £12bn for the first time.

Jonathan Davies (he of the 'cheeky little face') tells Rob Brydon about how it all began, his move to league and his new role on the box. Rob Brydon interviews Jonathan Davies

Ted Baker defied the gloom in fashion markets with a 12% rise in profits today, adding that its "exciting" overseas expansion plans should further boost prospects.

At four-down at half-time and faced with an uphill battle to get even, the blue side took the only approach they could see fit. Kick the blazes out of their opponents in black and white and hope to nick a few goals from a team clearly outclassing them.

The creator of Red Bull, who became one of the world's richest men thanks to the success of the fizzy, caffeine-laden drink, died yesterday in Bangkok of natural causes. Chaleo Yoovidhya was 89.

Stephen Marks, the chief executive of French Connection, has begun a review of its UK retail operations after the "most difficult" winter season in 40 years saw it post annual profits down by nearly a third.

Arsenal today announced they would play in Hong Kong for the first time in 17 years as part of the club's pre-season Asia tour.