Breakfast Briefing - Your Morning News Fix

  Quote of the Week

"Time is a precious thing. Never waste it."

Wlily Wonka aka Gene Wilder Tweet of the WeekMatryoshka problems:   What caused Russian Olympic Team's departure from Rio? Poor weather conditions? Technical glitch? No! A huge Matryoshka doll stuck in the airport doors apparently delayed the Russian Olympic team’s departure from Rio. The statue from the Russian fan house has even been dubbed the Matryoshka from hell.  Story of the WeekApple ordered to pay up to €13bn after EU rules Ireland broke state aid lawsThe result was that Apple avoided tax on almost all profits from sales of its products across the EU’s single market by booking the profits in Ireland rather than the country in which the product was sold. The Guardian reports that figure of €13bn is the equivalent of the annual budget for the Irish health service. Read moreTweet #AppleTax  News of the Week Theresa May announces £40m fund to boost post-Brexit UK tourism The first grants from the £40m Discover England fund have been awarded to projects and organisations in different geographic areas intended to attract tourism outside of London.The prime minister also announced several new schemes to attract visitors to Britain, including relaxing licensing laws to allow B&Bs to offer a welcome drink to guests and to pick visitors up from train stations. Read more   Global Hospitality News

Starwood have unveiled the results of its top secret “Project: Jetson” experiment, the first-ever voice activated hotel room, giving guests entirely new ways to interact using “Hey Siri.” Some of the features include control temperature, adjust lighting and set the mood music features Read moreNEXT Hotel launches chauffeured Tesla limousine service with zero emissions In a a first for an Australian hotel, NEXT Hotel Brisbane has launched NEXT Journey, a chauffeured Tesla limousine service with zero emissions for the journey and zero compromises for guests. Read more

Meliá Hotels has announced that all its hotels in Italy are now powered by renewable energy. The announcement comes as the result of an agreement with the company A2A, the second largest Italian producer of renewable energy and a national leader in services focused on the generation of environmentally-friendly energy. Find out moreHow hospitality is recognising our love of dogs. Recent figures showed over £5bn were spent on pets only in 2015. From grooming and accessories to vet visits, dog-friendly businesses are growing steadily.  Read more 

Corners of the world

A group of musicians from the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra flew to Spain in June 2016 for a concert tour. One of the flight groups was stranded at New York’s JFK airport after their flight was cancelled at midnight. In response, they all took out their instruments - See the video

Snacks giant Mondelez International is abandoning its takeover bid for American confectioner Hershey after its $23bn (£18bn) offer was rejected. The deal would have created the world's biggest maker of confectionery, but Hershey turned down the cash and stock offer in June.

Berlin Vies To Become The Silicon Valley Of Europe. Berlin already has more venture capital than London, Paris, or Stockholm, with €2.4 billion collected by Berlin startups last year, according to Ernst and Young. Read more