ECB reluctance to adopt full-scale quantitative-easing policies is prompting German comparisons with Japan's stagnation over the past 15 years.

Personal stories distinguish this war museum, which has reopened on London's South Bank following an $80 million refurbishment. Its showpiece, the display in the new World War I Galleries, was completed just in time for the centenary of the century-defining conflict.

For further information see iwm.org.uk.

The Herald's Geoff Cumming and Greg Bowker visit London's Imperial War Museum to mark the centenary of World War One's outbreak.

An Italian villa is the perfect setting for an exotic honeymoon, writes Alexia Santamaria.

Slovenia is achingly beautiful, but stay on the path, warns Jenna Hand.

The city's knuckly notoriety no longer applies. Tourists come now for a laugh. And, as Ewan McDonald found on his pilgrimage - of arts, culture and fitba' - there's plenty.

Summer is festival time in Edinburgh, and thousands of visitors descend on the Scottish capital to see some of the best new talent in arts and entertainment.

Ten reasons to visit Glasgow, the number one UK destination "on the rise" by TripAdvisor, and the third best destination in the UK, in the 2013 Travellers' Choice Destinations.

Years of history lie under the hallowed ground of one of the world's most famous cricket venues. But the best bit is the tea and scones ritual, writes Kevin Pilley.

Leave modesty at the door to get the best treatment at a Turkish bathhouse, writes Megan Singleton.

Travel agents have fielded calls from worried passengers due to fly to Europe as airlines around the world avoid Ukrainian airspace.

Britain's 70 billion-pound pub industry has fallen on hard times. But the industry is fighting back, thanks in part to investors like Noah Bulkin.

Gold futures posted the biggest gain in four weeks after Ukraine said rebels shot down a Malaysian jet carrying 295 people near its border with Russia. Palladium extended a rally to a 13-year high.

The Kremlin said Mr Putin had informed President Obama of the disaster after learning of it just before a scheduled phone call between the two.

The German economy is set to benefit as the country's football victory draws shoppers to the "Made in Germany" brand, says a research firm.

Travel back in time from the war cemeteries of Gallipoli to the ancient wonders of Istanbul.

It was the Everest of its time, and some 25,000 people try to scale it every year. But the issue of climbing Europe's tallest mountain has come to an ugly head.

Even bloodthirsty Count Dracula likes a sundowner now and then, learns Kevin Pilley.

The good folk of Tuscany are offering lessons in manners to wealthy Russian tourists.

Over a dozen NZ women have told Maggie Barry they were also indecently assaulted by Rolf Harris - and one is considering an official complaint to police after years of silence.

In football, architecture and cheap food, Dean Parker finds a few ghosts of the old East Berlin - before the wall came down.

The BBC explains why it won't investigate Rolf Harris's career at the corporation.

To fund big deals, buyers are using stock to fuel the best quarter for global takeovers since 2007.

A waiter, whose adoptive parents are peasants, claims to be the son of former Spanish king Juan Carlos and has launched a paternity suit.

The online abuse aimed at the Harry Potter author JK Rowling after she donated £1 million to the Better Together campaign may have actually been the work of British spies, a senior Scottish politician has claimed.

From igloos to heli lodges in the Canadian wilderness, Jennifer Ennion looks at three of the Northern Hemisphere's top snow hotels.

One of Greenpeace's most senior executives commutes 400km each way to work by plane, the environmental group has admitted.

Heads of the European Union gather in Brussels this week for a meeting that may point to Britain's prospects of staying in the EU or heading for the exit.