For those who make the journey to wet, wind-swept Wester Ross the rewards lie in a feast for the eye matched only by the promise of the menus. By Andrew Marr

There's 11 of them, and they're all mountains over 3,000ft. As St Patrick's Day approaches, Jeremy Seal discovers the joys of bagging Ireland's 'Munros'

The English Tourist Board yesterday announced the adoption of a single five-star ratings system for hotels in a move aimed at ending years of confusion over the quality of rooms and services. The system, using the internationally recognised five stars, will cover all hotels with a similar scheme for bed-and-breakfasts, guesthouses, farmhouses and inns. It takes into account the quality of accommodation, yet emphasises the facilities provided, offering a single integrated star rating, and is due to be launched in 2000,

Readers who follow the travel directions from Rarotonga to Aitutaki by setting sail in a fragile canoe "across a wondrous lagoon" will almost certainly not arrive ("Castaway Islands", Review, 12 January). As Rarotonga is a volcanic, rather than a coral island, it has no lagoon, only a coral reef. And as Aitutaki lies hundreds of kilometres away, the normal mode of transfer is in a great white bird, not a canoe. Once they arrive, intrepid readers may be disappointed to discover that they share this "uninhabited island" with hundreds of permanent residents, plus of course, the tourists who inhabit the luxury hotel, the many guest houses, and Rikki's Crusher Bar.

A British-born woman and her four-year-old daughter have been stabbed to death in South Africa.

Proposals to scrap restrictions on rural advertising hoardings will change the face of the countryside.

The managing director of Pelican Group talks to Tom Stevenson

LAW REPORT

From my eyrie in the press gallery I looked down upon a scene of devastation and civil strife. Scottish Labour MPs gurgled obscenities about referenda and consultation. Grey-haired Welshmen wept for the future of their Assembly. Here and there rebellious spirits huddled together to mutter about fascism in one party, echoing Ken Livingstone's comparison between Benito Mussolini and Antonio Blair.

Pondicherry in south India was French territory for 300 years. You can still eat steak frites there.

Economists at SBC Warburg have clearly had a bit of time on their hands recently. They have turned their thoughts to the impending European football championships, weaving in a dash of political and economic comment on all the participating nations. It is all neatly packaged in the bank's newly published Euro'96 Special.

Tasmania massacre: Witnesses describe rampage that left 34 dead, and describe mentally-ill suspect's love of firearms

Tasmania massacre: Psychological problems of arrested man revealed as eye-witnesses describe rampage that left 34 dead

THERE'S a blonde woman in the Blackpool Sea Life Centre wearing a Kiss-Me-Quick Hat. She's with a bronzed gent dressed all in white - that's bronzed as opposed to wind-whipped - and together they're adding a lubricious undertow to the teenage guide's glib patter. She holds out her hand and rubs the exposed snout of an affectionate ray while her companion sniggers in her ear. These two are a slightly younger version of the couples we see boosting up and down the sea-front in whacking great cars. At pavement level the old folks parade around, lagged like ambulant boilers. Why do so many of them end up in squally Blackpool? Perhaps they are forced by their offspring, who hope thereby to clip a few years off their span: "You're retiring to Blackpool, Mam and Dad!" "Oh, but we like it here in Jersey ..."