Lianna Brinded

The number one risk of greatest concern for executives in 2018? Workers being displaced by robots.

In an Instagram and viral video-era, purveyors of food must go bigger, bolder, or downright bizarre in order to get noticed. Long gone is the time of quiet eateries being noticed for their sumptuous or signature dishes and atmosphere. It’s now all about whether some culinary mash-up looks good with a Mayfair filter or is unusual enough to collect likes and comments on Facebook or Instagram.

Luxury properties in London have always been a big hit with Middle Eastern investors. But there’s been a recent surge in wealthy Gulf investors snapping up luxury property across three of the most sought-after addresses in London, according to bespoke property services agent Rokstone.

Germany is creating a new position, as part of new legislation, to combat discrimination against the Jewish community.

The Bunny Ranch is probably the most famous legal brothel in the world, largely thanks to being featured on HBO’s Cathouse show and its owner Dennis Hof giving the Nevada-based business huge exposure through social media, books, as well as podcasts, and live streaming events. He has even done a speech at Oxford University about prostitution.

Last year, nearly two million Britons signed a petition requesting that newly elected US president Donald Trump be blocked from making an official state visit to the UK. It looks like it could take far less to prevent him from stepping on British shores.

Right now, someone you know is trying to lose weight. It’s more likely to be a woman, as studies have shown. It may even be you—bounding into the new year eager to make a huge change in your life.

The first US government to be led by a full-time businessman with no political background is being run like a terrible business overruled by internal politics. This is one of the paradoxical narratives that has dominated Donald Trump’s America.

Black Mirror no longer has the shock factor.

The UK’s Department for International Trade is reportedly exploring the idea of joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), to mitigate the impact of losing trade deals once it leaves the EU. This could reinvigorate the TPP, which has been in limbo for the last few months.

Britain is obsessed with social class. Whether it’s the jobs we have, the words we use, the education we receive, political beliefs, or even the TV shows we watch, being preoccupied with class is as British as drinking tea and eating fish and chips.

Bitcoin exchange Exmo says that it has made contact with Pavel Lerner, a senior leader at the company who was kidnapped on Dec. 26 as he left work in Kiev, Ukraine.

The National Archives in Kew, London, just released a huge range of documents from the office of Margaret Thatcher, who was the UK’s prime minister between 1979 and 1990.

Update at 7am ET: A longer statement from an Exmo spokesperson.

My father died when I was 21, and I was devastated to realize what he’d miss seeing. He’d never see the bulbs he planted that year bloom into flowers. He’d never see me flourish in my career. He’d never walk me down the aisle at my wedding.

Oklahoma holds one of the busiest death chambers in the US, but for the third year in a row, it has not carried out an execution.

Another senior church leader in Britain has joined a chorus of voices speaking out against the “uncritical support” evangelical Americans have for Donald Trump. To them, the US president’s policies simply don’t tally up with the religion’s teachings.

The greater adoption of robots in the workplace is heralded as a way to usher greater business efficiency, productivity, and better paid jobs, which in turn will boost the economy. However, the more jobs are automated, the more the gender wage gap will be exacerbated, warns a think tank.

I’ve never really put much stock into getting much sleep or even cared about how the quality of the little amount that I actually do get. I’ve been smug about my ability to get by in life on around four hours of sleep a night and every time I read about the “sleepless elite” (paywall), which are some of the world’s most successful people doing and achieving a lot on barely clocking any hours in bed, I’ve felt vindicated.

Russia’s Christmas present to Britain? Sending a warship incredibly close to UK territorial waters. On Dec. 23, the Royal Navy frigate HMS St Albans was called upon to “keep watch” on and escort a new Russian warship “through the North Sea and areas of UK interest,” the Royal Navy confirmed.

The UK government is going to speed up the way it vets and hires new recruits at its spy agency Government Communications Headquarters, which is responsible for electronic surveillance, after it fell short of hiring targets at the end of the last fiscal year (pdf). The spy agency has said that it’s losing potential top recruits to huge tech companies because of bumper salaries. GCHQ’s lengthy vetting process, which is backlogged, also doesn’t help.

After momentous, close-run elections in Germany, France, and the UK this year, Europe will face another nail-biting vote early next year in Italy, the region’s fourth-largest economy. Italy will hold a general election on March 4, according to reports in the country’s largest newspapers. The parliament’s current five-year term runs out in May.

Britain faces huge economic headwinds when it comes to Brexit as it spends just over 15 months trying to negotiate a deal on exiting the European Union. Trade and immigration have large focal points for talks, but one of the biggest and most complex problems the UK will have to solve with the EU is what happens about security and defense.

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker confirmed this morning (Dec. 8) that the EU and Britain can move on with the second phase of Brexit talks, with sufficient progress having been made in negotiations.