Latest from Europe

Black Death: Don't blame the rats

Researchers say gerbils, not rats, should be blamed for wiping out millions during the Black Plague.

France: Rolling with the rich

Fancy treating your love to a five-star stay but not sure how to play the part of the fabulously wealthy? Anthony Peregrine explains how to act like you belong.

Sweden: the mistake Yellen wants to avoid

No central banker today will raise interest rates without looking carefully at Sweden's example.

Bar/fly: The Witchery, Scotland

Och, witch room? Clash of the tartans and a wee dram later, Kevin Pilley is still deciding.

Isis' mass migration threat

Isis has threatened to flood Europe with half a million migrants from Libya in a 'psychological' attack against the West.

Turkey: Drift down the strait and narrow

Turkey's largest city is a place of grandeur and contradiction, writes Nicola Lamb.

Italy is Europe's ticking time bomb

Italy has only grown 4 per cent - in total - since the euro was created 16 years ago.

Carmel Fisher: A new Greek euro-crisis ... but it will all work out

It seems history is repeating itself as Greece again finds itself in the headlines, asking Germany to re-think the terms of the bailout package or risk Greece leaving the European union.

Bar/fly: Agatha Christie Festival, Torquay

Hercule Poirot, aka Kevin Pilley, tips his homburg to Agatha Christie's mysterious bust using Franglais clues.

Colin Hogg: BBC drama The Missing is terrible in the very best way

Entertainment is a funny business, especially when it's not that funny at all. Take, for instance, The Missing, a new British television drama series that launched on TV One on Sunday night in both terrific and dreadful style.

England: Budget accommodation at august institutions

Bed and breakfast under those famously dreaming spires allows a glimpse into how the other half thinks, writes Steve Braunias.

Grow your own bones

The Netherlands: Time and tide

Liz Light finds Hoorn is steeped in Netherlands history.

Low fares to help fill seats

Air fares as low as $1,365 return to Europe are on sale as airlines try to top up planes for the coming year.

Visiting Sir Ed's Welsh watering hole

Peter de Graaf follows in the steps of Everest's conqueror, visiting Sir Edmund Hillary's local pub in Wales.

Dita De Boni: Key rocks on with trickle-down groupies

Those at Davos, seemingly representing the interests of the very wealthy, like to think they are working to make the world a better place - as long as they are not inconvenienced in doing so.