What should have been a time of celebration for gay people in France turned into a nightmare when, a few weeks before France was due to become the latest European country to allow same-sex marriage, a young couple was assaulted in Paris on 7...

Chicago gangster Al Capone proved so notoriously difficult to prosecute for crimes such as smuggling and prostitution that the US government resorted to convicting him for tax evasion. Today, as authorities struggle to crack down on tax evaders, it might have been a very different story.

It is a problem...

It is the home of Scarface, Al Capone and the Godfather. But not only has the US housed some of the most famous criminals - fictitious or otherwise - it has also pioneered some of the most efficient crime-busting methods. As the EU is...

There are some milestones nobody wants to take credit for, so don't expect any parades or glowing press releases when youth unemployment in the UK reaches one million.

The rise in unemployment is one of the worst effects of the current economic crisis. Some...

"It's my prerogative," Bobby Brown sang on his 1988 breakthrough single. Perhaps that's what the American R&B singer had in mind when he skipped three months of child support payments in 2004. He was sentenced to 90 days In prison, which was suspended once...

Ships can prove dangerous, not only when navigating icebergs Titanic-style, but even after they have gone on to meet their manufacturer. If done wrongly, dismantling a ship can put workers at risk and lead to hazardous materials being released into the environment. The

After endless hours of discussions, litres of coffee and a copious amount of frustration, an agreement on the rescue of Cyprus's banks has finally been hammered out.

The original proposal - which included a plan to make small depositors pay towards...

It all looked so promising... After member states failed to reach an agreement on the long-term EU budget at the November summit, they managed to cobble together a deal in February. For the first time ever the budget would be reduced compared to the...

There is a limit to how tall people can get. At 8 ft 11 in Robert Wadlow is the tallest person in recorded history. One day there might be someone who is an inch taller, but we will never find someone twice as tall,...

What has allowed hundreds of thousands of Brits to spend their days in the sun in Spain and France has also led to many hopefuls trying their luck in this sceptred isle. Migration has always been something of a double-edged sword. While...

The EU and the US have for a long time been behaving like reluctant lovers: flirting, and bickering, but never willing to go the distance. Despite many shared interests, a full-blown free-trade agreement has always proved one step too far.

The European Parliament...

Over the last few weeks many people have been dismayed to discover that in addition to being much-beloved companions and trusted helpers, horses have also become a key ingredient of value meals. Horse meat posing as beef has turned up not only in Ireland and the UK, but also in...

Globalisation offers many illustrations of the butterfly effect, the theory that in a linked up system even a small change can have unexpected large effects elsewhere. The usual example given is that of a tornado caused by a butterfly flapping its wings on the...

Forty-five minutes. That's the longest anyone has ever been able to bear absolute silence. Orfield Laboratories in South Minneapolis boasts the world's quietest room that absorbs 99.99% of sounds. But people find the lack of ambient sounds so disturbing they quickly clamour to get out. Some even suffer from claustrophobia,...

It used to be that the local priest was the best-informed man in town, but his monopoly over confessions has been broken by websites such as Facebook. A single visit suffices to find out anything from name, age, education, employment history and political views to video preferences. But what was...

Goethe institutes in Greece and Spain have been reporting record numbers of applicants for German courses since the start of the crisis as economic circumstances encourage more and more people to try their luck in another member state. That is why the European Parliament's consideration of a proposed...

If you depend on someone for their assessments, it helps if they are reliable.

On 15 October 1987 weatherman Michael Fish famously told people not to worry, just hours before the worst storm to strike south east England since 1703.

Twenty years later...

Toss out your junk food, dust off your running shoes and get ready to become faster, fitter and slimmer. January is traditionally the time when people hit the reset button and set out what they want to achieve this year.

The European Parliament...

It takes something special to make students take notice of an accounting dispute at the European institutions, but that's exactly what happened after it became clear there was not enough money in the EU's 2012 budget to fund the popular Erasmus programme. If the shortfall was not covered, it would...

Scottish engineer James Watt did many wonderful things, but coming up with the first steam engine was not one of them. The earliest-known version was described as early as the first century AD by Hero of Alexandria. However, it wasn't until the industrial revolution...