Four Fox Sake | 72cl | 16% ABV | Junmai Daiginjo | Japan

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Shadow Policing Minister Sarah Jones broadcast round: Sky News (8.05 a.m.) … Times Radio (8.35 a.m.) … LBC Radio (8.50 a.m.). Four Fox Saké has launched to the UK, with a mission to “revitalise” the ancient tradition of sake in London.

Four Fox’s bottle design pays further tribute to its origins; the metallic finish aims to mirror the superior metal of the ancient swordsmiths blessed by Inari. This tribute continues in the Katana samurai sword strikingly cut-out on each side.Local Government Minister Simon Clarke broadcast round: Sky News (7.05 a.m.) … Times Radio (7.20 a.m.) … BBC Breakfast (7.30 a.m.) … LBC Radio (7.50 a.m.) … Today program (8.20 a.m.) … TalkRADIO (8.30 a.m.). Westminster weather:⛅️⛅️⛅️ Warm day again with sun in spells and a breeze throughout. Temperatures to peak at around 23C in the early afternoon. Spain: “A scandal involving a king, his lover, tens of millions of euros and an infamous hunting trip has left the Spanish royal family imperiled and the king in question heading into exile.” Great intro from POLITICO’s Mario Saavedra in Spain — more from him on King Juan Carlos’ fall from grace and the ensuing political storm here.

Times Radio breakfast show: Trade adviser Shanker Singham (7.35 a.m.) … Former Prime Minister Tony Blair (8.05 a.m.) … Liverpool’s Director of Public Health Matthew Ashton (8.20 a.m.) … Former Crystal Palace F.C. owner Simon Jordan (9.35 a.m.). START YOUR DAY: With U.S. President Donald Trump trying to explain on TV how America is actually doing *better* at dealing with the coronavirus than countries such as South Korea, which has a population of 51 million people and yet has suffered only 301 deaths. DRIVING THE DAY The playful brand pays homage to the fox spirits of Inari Okami, the Japanese Goddess of rice, saké, and swordsmiths. According to myth, the fox spirits guard the Torii gates to a shrine, letting only the purest spirits through, transitioning from the human to the divine.Sake, though still a small category globally, has experienced constant year on year growth in the past decade in export markets, with volume doubling since 2006 and value more than doubling!” says Nimbility Founding Partner Ian Ford. “China is growing even faster than other areas, already taking over Hong Kong in terms of volume in 2020, and likely to exceed in value in 2021, positioning it as sake’s primary export market. The timing is therefore perfect to build a premium brand such as Four Fox Saké in China. Partnering with a leading company as serious and professional as EMW for the import and distribution of the brand is the first major step towards this goal and the Nimbility team is incredibly excited to be working with both Four Fox Saké and EMW to make this vision a reality.” Also on LBC breakfast show: Tony Blair’s former chief of staff Jonathan Powell (7.20 a.m.) … Former GCHQ Deputy Director for Intelligence Brian Lord and former Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington (both 8.05 a.m.). Hong Kong liquor label Four Fox Sake is modernising Japanese rice wine with a new approach and a sleek brand. Learn how they’re transforming the premium alcohol market from Australia to London. Using the chart provided, mod-sc each st. Remember to do each row of the graph twice, (to complete the graphic image on both sides of the bag). ICYMI: The U.K.’s High Commissioner to New Delhi Philip Barton has been unveiled as permanent secretary at the newly created Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. He replaces the departing Simon McDonald and will take up his new role on September 1. The BBC’s James Landale has a profile, describing him as “a classic Foreign Office lifer who has had postings all over the world.”

When you get to the end of the chart, sl st and fasten off. Finally, weave in your ends. Handles (make one) PLAYBOOK COULDN’T HAPPEN WITHOUT: My editor Zoya Sheftalovich, research assistant Andrew McDonald and producer Miriam Webber. Also on Julia Hartley-Brewer at breakfast (TalkRADIO): UK Hospitality CEO Kate Nicholls (7.50 a.m.) … Former Health Secretary Stephen Dorrell (8.05 a.m.) … ConservativeHome Assistant Editor Henry Hill (8.30 a.m.) … Pimlico Plumbers founder Charlie Mullins (9.05 a.m.) … Spectator columnist Toby Young (9.30 a.m.). Get real: As Playbook has noted before, the reality is that thousands of businesses and millions of white-collar workers are finding home-working is a win-win for them, saving time and money all round. The idea they will be guilt-tripped by politicians or newspapers into returning to potentially COVID-ridden offices for no better reason than to save the little sandwich shop on the corner is for the birds.

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Rnd 1: sc across in the second ch from the hook and then in each st across (60 sts), when you reach the end, you will rotate your work and sc across the other side of your initial ch., then sl st into top of first sc (120 sts) Also on the Today program: Jasmina Panovska-Griffiths, a senior research fellow and lecturer in mathematical modeling at University College London, and WHO special envoy on COVID-19 David Nabarro (8.10 a.m.). With sake exports growing to 18.7 billion yen in 2018, marking the eighth consecutive year of record-setting export volumes according to Japan’s National Tax Agency, overseas demand for sake is only expected to increase and Michael is optimistic. “I’d like to think we’re at the start of what’s going to be a quite a big wave,” he says, although he recognises that Four Fox is one of a few brands taking this westernised approach. “I’m hopeful we can be the first premium sake brand that everyone is aware of, and I think the real test of that is when someone walks into a bar in London or LA or Sydney and says, I want a bottle of Fox. That’ll be the day that I know we’ve made it: when you have that brand call, that brand recognition instantly.” Good news from the East: Japan’s Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi will fly into London tomorrow for trade talks with Fox’s successor at the department for international trade, Liz Truss. Motegi announced this morning that he will be in the U.K. from August 5-7 to hold talks on the early conclusion of a U.K.-Japan free-trade agreement, my POLITICO Morning Trade UK colleague Graham Lanktree reports this morning. The Sun revealed last week that a deal should be signed in a matter of weeks, largely replicating the EU-Japan trade agreement but with added wins for both sides. It will come into force when the Brexit transition period ends on December 31. Motegi’s visit tomorrow will be the first overseas trip made by any Japanese ministers since the coronavirus outbreak began, he said.