Italian prosecutor seeks maximum term if Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito are convicted of killing British student An Italian prosecutor has asked for life imprisonment for Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, the pair accused of murdering Meredith Kercher, a British student. Knox, an American, is ...

Desired by many and beloved by elegant celebrities, the Hermès scarf is an iconic piece of fashion history. But how the deuce are you meant to tie it? Many designers strive to close the gap between fashion and art, but few succeed. With the creation of its famous scarf in 1937, the House of Hermès invented ...

'I felt that the only thing I was on earth to do was to write' A couple of months ago Mavis Gallant had a dream. A messenger came to the door carrying a cardboard box with a lid on it. On top was written "Mavis Gallant" in big letters – and underneath it "Bad Prose". "I was devastated. Devastated for ...

Bluegrass, fado, opera and jazz fuse together at Georgia's glorious medley of a festival. Kate Connolly falls in love with the music, history and mint juleps The man who drives me from the airport to my hotel sings for much of the way; the receptionist croons Someone to Watch Over Me as I check in, ...

Think a paradise break in the Indian Ocean will cost a small fortune? Not on Zanzibar where a clutch of new boutique hotels offers cool style and seriously good value Fragile thing holiday serenity. Zanzibar has the full deck of tropical idyll cards – squeaky white powder beach, azure ocean, mellow ...

With five biological daughters, Anita Tedaldi was keen to adopt a little boy. But little did she ever imagine that it might not work out The first time I considered giving up my baby, Dan, I was lying alone in bed. It was midnight, my children were asleep and my husband, a serviceman, was deployed away ...

Europe and Russia are embroiled in an escalating contest over Ukraine ‑ its direction, its stability, and its alliances. Diplomats, analysts, and EU officials are warning that the situation could worsen sharply within weeks, in an early test of Catherine Ashton's crisis management skills. The new EU ...

Xbox 360/PS3/Wii/DS, £29.99 - £39.99, cert: 7+, Warner Bros Someone at Lego really deserves a bonus. They're not the most obvious toy company to embrace the world of video gaming but not only have they done it, they've done it well and continue to put their own highly endearing spin on family gaming. ...

Author expects criticism of The Pregnant Widow, but insists it's "actually a very feminist book" that shows how his sister fell victim to the sexual revolution Martin Amis's new novel The Pregnant Widow will explore his belief that the apparent freedom of the sexual revolution actually placed huge pressure ...

Coens' comedy is slick and gloriously misanthropic, but Xan Brooks finds it hard to love Xan Brooks