The challenge: to visit all 50 US states in 30 days. The purpose: to take a picture of a representative from each state in front of a backdrop both continuous and ever-changing. But can our two reporters make it back in time for Independence Day?

With seriously high stakes, it's an extreme arena

1. Paris.

Atmosphere rising at fastest rate since records began

The 35-year-old man was conscious and wearing a life jacket when he fell into 6ft (2 metre) seas in the early hours of this morning

Also known as C/2011 L4, the comet won't be seen again from earth for another 110,000 years

A powerful 8.0-magnitude earthquake set off a tsunami that killed at least five people in a remote part of the Solomon Islands and triggered evacuations across the South Pacific.

Wire

One of the brightest young talents in American sport, Manti Te'o broke fans' hearts with the sad tale of his girlfriend's death. There's one problem: she never really existed

Daniel Inouye was a highly decorated Second World War veteran who used his status as one of the longest-serving and most powerful Democrat Senators to funnel billions of dollars to his native Hawaii. He came to national attention when he helped orchestrate inquiries into the Watergate scandal and the Iran-Contra affair.

With Washington struggling to come to an agreement on the "fiscal cliff", President Barack Obama arrived in Hawaii at the weekend for a Christmas break with his family.

For a 21st-century pop megastar, Bruno Mars doesn’t half sound old-fashioned.

As reinventions go, this is unexpected: Roxy Music's futurist pop re-recorded as Dixieland jazz instrumentals by Bryan Ferry himself.

Twenty years after the election that was heralded as the "year of the woman" comes another one that could be called that.