With the eurozone crisis showing no signs of waning, people around the globe are looking to less traditional models, a new poll shows

Beach shots depict her as a curvaceous beauty queen. But 23-year-old Jenna Talackova was born male and that has led organisers to disqualify her as a finalist in the 61st Miss Universe Canada pageant.

Now... Canadian Ski

A week-long ski break in Whistler is £969pp, with Air Canada flights from Heathrow to Vancouver via Montreal on 7 March, transfers and a fully catered stay at the Chalet Whistler Mountain House. Skiamericaonline.co.uk

Bargain of the week: The Oyster is your world

20-year study reveals significant social benefits follow a 10 per cent rise in the price of alcohol

Canada's police force has been rocked by a spate of allegations of sexual harassment against male officers

More than 1,000 Occupy Wall Street protesters have blocked cargo trucks at some of the West Coast's busiest ports, forcing terminals in Oakland, California, Portland, Oregon, and Washington state to halt operations.

Millions of people who rely on water from the glaciers of a mountain range in Peru are experiencing what scientists have called "peak water" - the point at which the runoff from the glaciers becomes progressively weaker even though the ice continues to melt.

1. This prize draw is open to residents of the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Republic of Ireland aged 18 years or over, except employees of The Independent, Ski Independence and Tourism British Columbia, their families, agents or anyone else professionally associated with the draw.

Shale gas is energy's "game-changer".

At nearly one million square kilometers of pristine wilderness and with a burgeoning population of grizzly bears and cougars, the forests and mountains of British Columbia are not a good place to get lost.