Each year, the Henley Passport Index measures the number of countries travellers can visit visa-free. The UK usually ranks reasonably highly: in 2024, with 192 countries visitable visa-free, it came third, level with Denmark and Belgium. France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore and Spain are all, collectively, the most powerful, with their passport-holders able to visit...
Tag: Standard
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London’s 10 best walks – including four Royal Parks
There are many unsung heroes of London – one of the best of them is the Thames Path, a National Trail since 1996, which follows 184 miles of the 215-mile-long river. Without it, London would be a different place. It’s a resource for runners and cyclists, idlers and flâneurs, artists and mudlarks,and above all for...
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Julie Harrington’s BHA departure leaves racing looking to replace three figureheads
British racing is reeling from the departure of another high-profile administrator with Julie Harrington stepping down as chief executive of the British Horseracing Authority at the end of the year after four years in arguably the most important job in the sport. Racing is already looking for a new BHA chairman to start next May...
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What dismal Oxford Street can learn from the rest of Europe
People say it was the pandemic that did it, but it’s just as easy to blame Topshop. Back in the 1990s and 2000s, the brand’s flagship store stood just outside the entrance to Oxford Circus tube station and was the epitome of Cool Britannia. At one point, Kate Moss posed stock-still in the window –...
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The Sussex town fighting to reopen its French-owned beach
“For some of us it has made it feel safer,” says local resident Abi Blanshard. “Some of the dark bits, the underpasses, you can be a bit reluctant to walk through. It just feels a little bit nicer, a bit cleaner, safer. My partner works down at the food bank and the people he’s spoken...
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The five best Thames walks
Best for… A bit of a climb Start/end point: Dorchester Distance: 4km / 2½ miles to 14.5km / 9 miles Map Wittenham Clumps, Oxfordshire’s “twin peaks”, rise 120m (394ft) and 110m (361ft), providing a fine vantage over a lovely stretch of river. Start in winsome Dorchester – aka the Roman town of Doric – where...
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India and the world may finally have reached ‘peak Modi’
The shock result of India’s general election has dented the brand of prime minister Narendra Modi whose party fell well-short of its target for seats in the Indian parliament. A coalition will give India’s populist prime minister the number of seats to form another government. But the damage has been done. Given that his Bharatiya...
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Gibraltar will retaliate if Spain imposes full border checks
“People in Gibraltar need to understand that the alternative to a treaty is potentially the full application of the Schengen border code with all of the massive difficulties that that would entail, and for us to do it reciprocally,” Mr Picardo said. “In other words, if the Schengen border code is applied to Gibraltar and...
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10 British woodland wonders to discover this summer
All is not quite as it seems in this ancient semi-natural woodland lining the southern bank of the Ure. Gnarled sessile oaks speak of great age, now interspersed with wych elm, sycamore, rowan, ash and silver birch. But those moss-greened ruins peering out from the greenery aren’t actually the remains of Roman temples or medieval...
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Fife’s forgotten corner – a land of big skies, empty beaches and tight-knit communities
“The return of the railway to Levenmouth – the home of Robinson Crusoe – after half a century opens up this forgotten corner of Fife again,” smiles Andy Duff. Leven used to be one of Scotland’s most popular resorts. Now the railway is breathing new life into this land of big skies, sweeping waters and...
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Boris Johnson: Trump’s conviction was ‘liberal hit job’
It came as Trump claimed to have raised $39 million, largely from small-dollar donors, since his conviction. He argued that the vast sum had been matched by a bump in the polls, which previously had him level pegging with Mr Biden, and was proof Americans saw that his guilty verdict went “far beyond me”. “This...
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Six cancer treatment breakthroughs pushing us closer to a cure
The new cancer jabs are one of many recent exciting steps forward in medical science. Kevin Harrington, a professor of biological cancer therapies at The Institute of Cancer Research and an honorary consultant oncologist at the Royal Marsden (RMH) and St George’s Hospital in London, is optimistic that advances in treatment will improve outcomes. “In...