The owner of Yo! Sushi is battling rival private equity firms to acquire Byron, the upmarket burger chain, for £100m.

It was all quiet on the Grand Canal today after Venice ordered its first ban on the motorboats that threaten the crumbling city's future.

The current ski season is in full swing, and still looking good for snow cover almost everywhere, but already news for 2013-14 is starting to appear.

The city's most desirable address has a new tenant - and not everyone's happy about it

Priests were once movie symbols of decency and heroism. Scandals in the Catholic Church have ended that, says Geoffrey Macnab

Notable guests, romantic retreats and ultra-chic hideaways

Just three challengers will line up in San Francisco this year bidding to topple the local holders of the America’s Cup.

What better reason do you need to take your loved one to the romantic city of Venice than to revel in the spruced-up interiors of the Gritti Palace (00 39 041 2961 2222; star woodhotels.com), due to reopen in February after a major refurbishment?

From peppermint facials to artificial ice caves, Juliet Kinsman hits the on-trend spas

Cecilia Bartoli investigates the life and music of Steffani with Diego Fasolis and I Barocchisti.

Kito de Pavant became the second to retire from the Vendée Globe singlehanded non-stop round the world race in the opening 48 hours after colliding with a fishing trawler 45 miles off the coast of Portugal. It was the second time he has been forced to withdraw from a race notorious for the rate of attrition.

Heavy rains and seas whipped up by strong winds have flooded Venice and brought the lagoon city's high tide mark to its sixth-highest level since records began being kept 150 years ago.

This famed resort isn’t just about extreme skiing, says Matt Carroll

The performance-history of Donizetti’s tragedia lirica ‘Belisario’ speaks volumes about changing tastes.