Markets take fright at Hollande’s election lead as Dutch government steps down over budget impasse. UK Treasury seeks £16bncuts because of uncertainty

Leonardo Cimino epitomised the sort of character actor it is impossible to imagine as having been young.

Cruise ship passengers and crew have said prayers at the spot in the North Atlantic where the Titanic sank 100 years ago with the loss of more than 1,500 lives.

Organic farms, swimming pools, even a vintage plane – New York's skyline has hidden delights, as aerial photographer Alex MacLean discovered.

Herman Wouk is so old he remembers Simon and Schuster (the people)... which is a good thing because the great American novelist has sold his new book to the publishers at the age of 96.

A British woman accused of masterminding a multi-million dollar New York prostitution ring has lost a fresh bid to be released from jail on reduced bail.

Mex luxe goes north to West 27th Street

A British-born woman has been accused of running a multi-million pound prostitution ring in New York.

The character singer Charles Anthony, who set the record for most appearances at the Metropolitan Opera – 2,928 – during a career that spanned from 1954 to 2010, died on 15 February at the age of 82.

Will you be frying tonight? Britney, Kim Kardashian and her coven and K$sha (her keyboard clumsiness, not mine) will be. I'm not talking about the oil-based cooking technique. Instead, I refer to the "vocal fry", a non-fattening and newly identified way of speaking that is, apparently, big with young women in the US.

Shalom Auslander's God is blood-brother to Randy Newman's: "I burn down your cities – how blind you must be/ I take from you your children and you say how blessed are we/ You all must be crazy to put your faith in me/ That's why I love mankind". In Auslander's first book, Beware of God, God is a serial killer; in his second, Foreskin's Lament, it's God's representatives on earth - the orthodox Jews – who do His dirty work for Him. And now – in his third book (and first novel), it's the history God has imposed upon His Chosen People that does the damage.

Canada has cleared the way for a member of the Flying Wallenda family of daredevils to attempt a tightrope walk over Niagara Falls during the summer.

The RSC is considering taking its hit musical Matilda to Broadway.

News from across the Atlantic will have put a smile on Sir Martin Sorrell's face last night. As his WPP empire closed at its highest since last March, one of its major rivals posted forecast-beating figures on Wall Street while predicting a jump in advertising spending over 2012.