Always keep the key handy: Fire Fighters have linked rise in call-outs to people trapped in handcuffs to Fifty Shades of Grey phenomenon

Fire fighters have linked increasing call-outs to people trapped in handcuffs to the popularity of books such as EL James' "mummy porn" trilogy Fifty Shades of Grey.

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The new Monopoly cat on the Millennium Bridge in London

'Monopoly cat' collects £200 and hits London streets as latest addition to classic board game

To celebrate the launch of the Monopoly Cat token, a larger than life Monopoly Cat has arrived in London

The 10 Best nursery furniture

Your baby may not be an heir to the throne, but every little one deserves the good start in life that these nursery items provide

Disney’s Lone Ranger sparks anger as birth defect is used to make villain Butch Cavendish ‘look more evil’

Charities and community groups call for boycott as promotional material compares facial scars to not having a soul

The Business Matrix: Saturday 13 July 2013

£1bn plan for car propulsion centre

The toys are back in town – Tokyo plays host to fair

Where else would you find the world’s weirdest, wildest toy show but in Japan?

Gaspare Spatuzza, one of Cosa Nostra’s most notorious killers

Mafia planned to use drones to assassinate its enemies in 1990s, says informant

A top mafia informer has told an Italian court that Cosa Nostra planned to use drone-type flying bombs to assassinate its enemies, two decades before the United States began firing them at the Taliban.

August will see the launch of Ikea’s 2014 catalogue which, for the first time, includes a set of dinky versions of some of its most famous pieces

No more flat pack? Ikea furniture now comes ready-built, but there's a catch: it's for dolls' houses, not grown-ups

Bagging yourself a sofa, table, storage unit, rug, chair and cushion for £12 might sound like a steal even by Ikea’s standards, but there is a catch: you’d have to share measurements with the Lilliputians if you wanted to kick back and relax on this particular living room furniture.

The Business Matrix: Saturday 8 June 2013

Olympics wipe out Hornby’s profit

Girl recruited to work as child prostitute while under care of social services, court told

A teenage girl was one of a group to be recruited to work as child prostitutes by an alleged gang operating in east London while under the care of social services, a court has heard.

Lego strikes gold with collectible minifigure

He's become the hottest ticket in town: a real-life equivalent of the golden tickets in Roald Dahl's children's classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Today's Google Doodle celebrates train model maker Frank Hornby

Frank Hornby: Google Doodle tracks down story of toy maker behind train sets and Meccano to celebrate 150th birthday

The search engine Google is celebrating the 150th birthday of visionary toy maker Frank Hornby, whose model railways, Meccano sets and Dinky toys are still being played with by children today.

Richard Patterson, Christina with green necklace, 2000
Oil on canvas, 36 3/4 x 36 3/4 in. / 93.2 x 93.2 cm

Art review: Richard Patterson, Timothy Taylor Gallery, London

This survey of YBA Richard Patterson’s career so far is bold, sensuous, and feels fresh rather than old hat recycled from the Freeze/Sensation years.

Daniel Kitson

Comedy review: Daniel Kitson: After The Beginning, Before The End Theatre Royal Brighton Festival

Daniel Kitson’s new show is a reflection on reality, memory and our sense of self. Hardly wall-to-wall giggles, you might think, but this publicity-shy, TV-shunning, Perrier Award-winning comic’s talent lies in burrowing into the human psyche and dispensing profound nuggets through tales in which, more often than not, he is the hapless protagonist. After The Beginning, Before The End is like a TED talk with added LOLs.

Tesco has defended its decision to label a children’s chemistry set a boys’ toy

Tesco keeps chemistry set as a boys' toy despite protests

Tesco has defended its decision to label a children’s chemistry set a boys’ toy, despite criticism from gender equality campaigners.

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Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

The great war photographer was not one person but two. Their pictures of Spain's civil war, lost for decades, tell a heroic tale
The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

Someone, somewhere has to write speeches for world leaders to deliver in the event of disaster. They offer a chilling hint at what could have been
Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Think comedy’s a man's world? You must be stuck in the 1980s, says Holly Williams
Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

The Dr Feelgood guitarist talks frankly about his terminal illness
Lure of the jingle: Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life

Lure of the jingle

Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life
Who stole the people's own culture?

DJ Taylor: Who stole the people's own culture?

True popular art drives up from the streets, but the commercial world wastes no time in cashing in
Guest List: The IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Guest List: IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Before you stuff your luggage with this year's Man Booker longlist titles, the case for some varied poolside reading alternatives
What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

Rupert Cornwell: What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

The CIA whistleblower struck a blow for us all, but his 1970s predecessor showed how to win
'A man walks into a bar': Comedian Seann Walsh on the dangers of mixing alcohol and stand-up

Comedian Seann Walsh on alcohol and stand-up

Comedy and booze go together, says Walsh. The trouble is stopping at just the one. So when do the hangovers stop being funny?
From Edinburgh to Hollywood (via the Home Counties): 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Edinburgh to Hollywood: 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Hugh Montgomery profiles the faces to watch, from the sitcom star to the surrealist
'Hello. I have cancer': When comedian Tig Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on

Comedian Tig Notaro: 'Hello. I have cancer'

When Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on
They think it's all ova: Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Our chef made his name cooking eggs, but he’s never stopped looking for new ways to serve them
The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

With its own Tiger Woods - South Korea's Inbee Park - the women's game has a growing audience
10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

Here are the potential stars of the World Championships which begin on Saturday
The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

Briefings are off the record leading to transfer speculation which is merely a means to an end