Cider-making in all its guises is enjoying a comeback, writes Jim Eagles.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras won four more months to sell his policy program to creditors while keeping domestic voters on board.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

The 94-year-old Wellington veteran received the honour at French Ambassador Laurent Contini's home in Thorndon tonight.

Amid coal-dusted Stalinist buildings Jim Eagles finds a pole in the North Pole pointing to a pub ...

Frontline Springboks could enjoy up to five weeks rest from Super Rugby this year, according to Patrick Lambie, the Sharks pivot who ended 2014 in possession of the Bok No 10 jersey.

Finally, the Springboks are top priority in a World Cup year.

Kiwi broadcaster Dennis Katsanos rediscovers his Greek heritage - and adds 4kg in weight.

Mark Lister writes: This year has started in an eventful fashion and a number of key developments will set the tone for 2015.

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

Liz Light finds Hoorn is steeped in Netherlands history.

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

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

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.

Another tale of Russian spooks operating in the US has emerged, described by the former CIA analyst Mark Stout as a "classic case of espionage".

Alexis Tsipras was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Greece, after his radical left-wing movement forged an unwieldy alliance with a far-right party.

A wildlife cruise on the Isle of Mull is heaven for bird lovers, writes Richard Tulloch.

On a cruise stopover in Kotor, Carol Smith finds the view from the top is worth the climb. The medieval Balkan town and hilltop fortress is one port of call on a magical trip around the Mediterranean.

Greece's new far-left Syriza party promised to dump tough austerity measures - but will that mean the country will have to leave the Eurozone to do it?

Anti-austerity party on the brink of a landmark election victory in Greece as critics claim it could haul the country out of the Eurozone and leave it bankrupt.

A radical leftist party that wants to cancel Greece's European Union debts of more than 200 billion ($300 billion) went into today's election with a seven-point lead.