The humble banana is the most popular selling item in Pret-a-manger's coffee shops

Pret A Manger’s CEO Clive Schlee was almost wriggling with glee today as he announced a 17 per cent rise in revenue for the food chain.

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David Aaronovitch column

When Andrew Rickards of Gloucester pleaded guilty to serial shoplifting earlier this week, his solicitor - a Mr Jon Holmes - told the world that his client was "neither needy nor greedy. He is an old fashioned kleptomaniac." Mr Rickards subsequently asked for 2,308 other offences to be taken into consideration.

NOT FOR A WEAK STOMACH...

Boots "Shapers" tuna and cucumber

Fishing Lines: Three strikes and wipeout

Trying to catch salmon is generally quoted as the quickest way to spend money in fishing. A disgruntled salmon angler, only half in jest, likened it to building a rod with pounds 20 notes, then setting fire to it. But big-game angling is an equally good way to fritter away an inheritance.

Three-day journey to your dinner table

Supermarkets apart, sushi is very expensive, and the reason those raw slivers cost so much is that they have to come a long way very, very quickly.

Tuna ship mutiny leaves 11 dead

Japanese coastguards are investigating an apparent mutiny on a tuna ship which left 11 people dead.

Stricken Japanese tuna ship restarted

Engineers from sister ships in the Japanese Atlantic tuna fleet, aided by Irish naval officers, yesterday succeeded in restarting the engines of the stricken vessel Taisei Maru, on which five crew members died in a gas leak on Friday.

Irish mouse roars in battle of bluefin tuna

Ireland's tiny navy takes on armada of huge Japanese trawlers using factory methods to plunder Atlantic waters of favourite fish

Irish hold Japanese trawler in tuna war

A Japanese trawler detained in Irish waters was last night escorted by a fisheries-protection vessel to Castletown Bere, County Cork, where its captain faces charges of illegal fishing. The Minato Maru, one of a 40- strong Japanese fleet massed off County Galway, is the first non-EU-registered vessel to be held in Irish waters in two years.

Style triumphs over sustenance; THE COLLECTION

264 Brompton Road, London SW3 2AS. Tel: 0171 225 1212. Open Monday to Saturday from noon to 3pm and from 7pm to 11pm. Average price per person, pounds 35. Major credit cards accepted

extremely flash in the pan

Sundried tomatoes? Where have you been? Pacific fusion is flavour of the month. Hester Lacey reports on the tyranny of kitchen cred

Upper crusts

Food for fashion victims

brainfood: Mine's a steak, no glop

The Italians have got it dead right. You order a lamb chop, you get a lamb chop. You want something with it, you get a contorno, that is, an accompaniment which, like a well-behaved child, is meant to be discreet

caring but not sharing

Human rights or dolphins' rights? You can't espouse all of the causes all of the time, says Aminatta Forna; TESTIMONY

Yoahan Plaza: Best things to buy there

Best things to buy there:
Career Services

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National archives: Edward VIII’s phone calls - and how MI5 bugged them

Edward VIII’s phone calls - and how MI5 bugged them

Newly unearthed papers reveal a shocking extra dimension to the constitutional crisis over monarch’s abdication
Sent down at the Old Bailey: A tour of the world's most famous court

Sent down at the Old Bailey

A tour of the world's most famous court
Hollywood's random acts of red-carpet kindness

Hollywood's random acts of red-carpet kindness

The Hangover actor Zach Galifianakis’s date for his movie premieres isn’t arm candy  – it’s his 87-year-old friend who he saved from homelessness
British football scores an own goal

British football scores an own goal

Many managers barely survive a year in post. Martin Baker talks to experts who make a case for clubs using forensic business skills to find the best staff
James Lawton: Sergio Garcia cracks as major fault line opens up again

James Lawton

Sergio Garcia cracks as major fault line opens up again
Dylan Hartley: Northampton have spent the season proving all our critics wrong

Dylan Hartley talks tough

Northampton have spent the season proving all our critics wrong
Watch out Watford: Here comes the secretive Bilderberg Group

Watch out Watford: Here comes the secretive Bilderberg Group

A meeting of global power brokers in a Hertfordshire hotel is exciting conspiracy theorists, but what are they really about?
'The ultimate all-in-one home entertainment system': Microsoft finally unveils its Xbox ONE console

'The ultimate all-in-one home entertainment system'

Microsoft finally unveils its Xbox ONE console
Plenty of Fish dating site founder pulls 'Intimate Encounters' option to ward off sleazy men

Plenty of sleaze

Dating website pulls intimate 'hook-up' section to curb harassment
Inferno author Dan Brown 'honoured' to be invited to join the Freemasons

The Freemasons’ Code

Dan Brown reveals the message that told him door to the lodge is open
Not secure any more: G4S boss heads for exit at last

Not secure any more: G4S boss heads for exit at last

Nick Buckles survived the Olympics débâcle and a £5bn bid fiasco but a profit warning finally triggered his downfall
How to say ‘I’m a sellout’: Tumblr’s David Karp’s message of reassurance to his staff sounded very familiar

How to say ‘I’m a sellout’

Tumblr’s David Karp’s message of reassurance to his staff sounded very familiar
Why clubs are keen to take a stand

Why clubs are keen to take a stand

There's a real desire around the grounds for safe standing. But will the authorities listen?
In the end the fans decided Tony Pulis had made a pig's ear of the job at Stoke City

In the end the fans decided Tony Pulis had made a pig's ear of the job at Stoke City

Disillusion with a siege mentality and negative playing style made change inevitable
James Lawton: The James Hunt I knew is the subject of a new F1 movie

James Lawton: The James Hunt I knew is the subject of a new F1 movie

British driver was fascinating man whose epic duel with Niki Lauda in 1976 was typical of an era of glamour and glory – but also the ever-present threat of death