The world’s most famous stamp, the elusive “Post Office Mauritius”, was sold yesterday for a record breaking £1,053,090 ($1,600,000) at Spink in London.

This is a record price for a stamp sold in the United Kingdom! Nearly half a dozen bidders in the room participated as the price of the lot shot skyward.

The stamp was one of the highlights of the Chartwell collection formed by businessman and philanthropist Sir Cyril Humphrey Cripps.

In honor of the upcoming nuptials of Prince Albert of Monaco and Charlene Wittstock, two iconic French pastry houses have created special, limited-edition desserts.

Ladurée launched a special box-set of eight macarons, light, airy almond meringue cookies that come in guava and raspberry-aniseed flavors.

The guava macaron is perfumed with pink guava from South Africa, while the raspberry cookie has a hint of aniseed.

Malaysia Airlines has become the first major airline to ban babies from the first-class cabins on its aircraft, and will extend the ban on the A380 super jumbo.

The airline’s CEO Tengku Azmil said the airline’s forthcoming A380 would not have bassinets, the in-flight cribs required for babies to fly in, installed.

Parents who wish to fly with Malaysia Airlines’ current fleet are restricted to the business and economy cabins, which do have bassinets available.

The Mandarin Oriental opened its doors in Paris on Tuesday, becoming the third top-end Asian hotel brand in less than a year to put out its shingle and woo rich visitors to the French capital.

Newly built behind a 1930s facade, the eight-story property on fashionable Rue Saint Honore boasts 99 rooms and 39 suites going for an average of 950 euros a night.

“We absolutely wanted to be in the best arrondissement, the best location for leisure travellers,” said Christoph Mares, director of operations for Europe.

Tesla Motors announced that it is going to stop production of its Roadster electric vehicle (EV) by the end of this year.

The high-speed model, which is built in the UK for Tesla by Lotus, will end production after the 2,500th vehicle is put together, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk told the San Francisco Chronicle that there aren’t many vehicles left.

There are only a “handful” of models left in the US, Musk is reported as saying, with just a month or two to go until the vehicle is totally sold out.

Sofitel has opened the first European outpost of its ultra-luxury Legend brand in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

The French-owned luxury label inaugurated the Sofitel Legend The Grand Amsterdam last week, marking the end of a two-year refurbishment.

Sofitel has transformed the property into a hotel to compete with the Dutch city’s original grande dame, The Amstel, run by InterContinental.