The Banqueting House is one of the first restaurant chains to offer a shark fin-free menu.

BBC: Hong Kong shark fin trade declines

There was no financial backer for the regional one-day tournament - and the first-class competition is similarly sponsor-free.

BBC: Windies cricket falls on hard times

Journalist Toby Young, who is setting up one of the first free schools, said he would want his governors to take advantage of the proposal to allow schools to set aside places for pupils on free school meals, if it is implemented.

BBC: Academies could give priority on places to poorest

This is one of the advantages of being the first to offer built-in hands-free calling on a navigation device.

ENGADGET: The Engadget Interview: Jocelyn Vigreux, President of TomTom USA

The museum's collection vividly charts Dubai's rapid progress from a tiny pre-oil fishing and pearling village - and one of the world's first free-trade ports - through to the Arabian metropolis it is today.

BBC: The Dubai Museum: Charting the rise of the emirate

And thank you for my first honorary associate degree. (Laughter.) One of the perks of this job is that degrees come free these days. (Laughter.) Not that it impresses anybody at home.

WHITEHOUSE: President Obama Delivers Commencement Address at Miami Dade College | The White House