French fancy: Pézanes, Languedoc, France

Women's clothing firm Viyella has attracted "significant" interest from potential buyers, administrators said today.

Christopher Biggins, actor

The Richard Curtis wedding – village church, silly hats, Hugh Grant pulling faces – is going out of fashion. One in six couples now prefer to get married abroad. They want something secular, hot and relaxed. Suspension of their everyday lives, freedom from their in-laws, wedding shots framed in Caribbean sunshine.

Bulk of tailoring on Richard James garments was carried out by cheap labour in Africa, reports Martin Hickman

'I take shorts and thongs - the ones that go between your toes!'

Clézio's Nobel fits a pattern of awards to Anglophone border-crossers

Three years ago disaffected youths set suburban estates ablaze across France. Now, the movie industry is filming in Paris' poorest banlieues to try and kick-start regeneration. But what happens when they leave, asks John Lichfield

Rebecca Corbally skips the spa to try some more adventurous options in Mauritius

'Kate Moss's party on the Great Wall of China was outstanding'

Passengers stranded for two nights on a cruise liner in Madeira said today they were being "held to ransom".

Adored by honeymooners, Mauritius has also won a place in the hearts of the literati. Charlotte Cripps discovers why

It's been a tough year for many species. But others have thrived in 2007. Peter Marren reports

Orange pledged to give its high-spending mobile phone customers free broadband access yesterday, while its smaller rival Plusnet cut prices to under £10 a month as competition in the UK's broadband market intensified.