Hostility to the European Union is mainly an English thing, writes Gwynne Dyer, but that matters a lot in the United Kingdom, where 55 million of the kingdom's 65 million people live in England.

Shakira has surprised many by giving her baby the same name as her partner Gerard Pique's top football rivals.

Check in at London's Dorset Square Hotel, a couple of minutes' walk from Marylebone station and five minutes from Baker Street Tube.

The Boca Juniors home ground, La Bombonera, is designed to intimidate, finds Patrick McKendry.

Finland's capital is aglow with colourful lights and lasers piercing the black winter skies and lighting up downtown buildings providing a much-needed burst of illumination during the darkest days of the year.

Justine Tyerman keeps a promise made nearly three decades ago to make a pilgrimage to Rome, The Eternal City.

For anyone considering a trip to a European city, Lisbon perhaps isn't a destination that springs immediately to mind. The Portuguese capital's singular charms, however, are drawing an increasing number of visitors.

Julia Shallcrass visits Amsterdam, which colours its history with fun and interactive museums.

Considering a shopping excursion to Paris? It's a good idea to plan ahead.

According to NASA, the Northern Lights are currently at their most powerful in 50 years, with activity peaking until March 2013.

The Spencer Family have lived in the same house for 500 years; I've been living in mine for 15, yet they don't seem to have accumulated nearly so much clutter, writes Jill Worrall.

Italy's most prominent anti-Mafia campaigner has appeared in court to sue the Mobsters who ordered his death.