A face full of snails might not be your average person's idea of an expensive salon treatment, but that's just what Japan's high society have been shelling out for lately - at a cost of £65 for a five minute session.

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Eye contact: Predators in the Pyrenees?
Circus animal ban should be watered down to exclude raccoons and others

Snakes, zebras, camels, raccoons and reindeers should be excluded from circus animal ban, say MPs

Government proposals to ban all wild animals from travelling circuses should be watered down to allow zebras, camels, reindeer and snakes to stay on the road, MPs have recommended.

Boa Constrictor snake called Petzy on the loose in Merseyside after escaping from home

Although Petzy is non-venomous police are warning members of the public not to approach her as she "may become aggressive if it feels threatened"

The third instalment of London’s dedicated menswear event began yesterday with shows from Lou Dalton

Lighting up the runway: London menswear shows reviewed

The simmering tensions between the Savile Row establishment and the capital's youthful upstarts has suddenly come to the boil

Portrait of a murderer: Mark Bridger in his Facebook profile picture

April Jones murder trial: Mark Bridger, the trusted neighbour who was an alcoholic with an obsession with child pornography

The five-year-old's killer went to great lengths to cover his tracks

Helen Flanagan poses to promote the new PETA campaign, in Covent Garden

Ex-Coronation Street actress Helen Flanagan fleshes out exotic skins protest for Peta

Former Coronation Street star Helen Flanagan did her bit to protest against the skin trade by showing off some flesh of her own.

50 pythons stolen from pet shop

Police and RSPCA officers are hunting for 50 snakes stolen from a pet shop in Nottingham.

Video: Tourists in Florida Everglades watch as tour guide wrestles with ten-foot long python

A group of tourists on a boat ride through the Florida Everglades were left shocked after their tour guide leapt into the water to wrestle a ten-foot long python.

The News Matrix: Monday 1 April 2013

Attacks on migrants raises far-right fears

The News Matrix: Saturday 23 March 2013

Moscow gives new leader VIP welcome

The News Matrix: Friday 22 March 2013

Holy Switcheroo! Batman takes control

Film review: The Paperboy is a trashy tale, but kinky Kidman still delivers

I don't think I actually saw anyone eat gumbo during The Paperboy, but just about every other aspect of the Southern-fried gothic melodrama is represented.

Ansel Adams' son on why the British landscape wasn't 'dramatic enough' for his father

Michael Adams discusses why his father would have embraced digital photography but snubbed the aggressive stunts of environmental activists

Cross wind: A cardinal arriving for the pre-conclave yesterday, before Tuesday’s vote on the new pope, at the Sistine Chapel

Cardinals try to find consensus on new pope

Benedict XVI's insignia are destroyed as the Sistine Chapel is modified for the conclave

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Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

The great war photographer was not one person but two. Their pictures of Spain's civil war, lost for decades, tell a heroic tale
The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

Someone, somewhere has to write speeches for world leaders to deliver in the event of disaster. They offer a chilling hint at what could have been
Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Think comedy’s a man's world? You must be stuck in the 1980s, says Holly Williams
Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

The Dr Feelgood guitarist talks frankly about his terminal illness
Lure of the jingle: Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life

Lure of the jingle

Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life
Who stole the people's own culture?

DJ Taylor: Who stole the people's own culture?

True popular art drives up from the streets, but the commercial world wastes no time in cashing in
Guest List: The IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Guest List: IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Before you stuff your luggage with this year's Man Booker longlist titles, the case for some varied poolside reading alternatives
What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

Rupert Cornwell: What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

The CIA whistleblower struck a blow for us all, but his 1970s predecessor showed how to win
'A man walks into a bar': Comedian Seann Walsh on the dangers of mixing alcohol and stand-up

Comedian Seann Walsh on alcohol and stand-up

Comedy and booze go together, says Walsh. The trouble is stopping at just the one. So when do the hangovers stop being funny?
From Edinburgh to Hollywood (via the Home Counties): 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Edinburgh to Hollywood: 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Hugh Montgomery profiles the faces to watch, from the sitcom star to the surrealist
'Hello. I have cancer': When comedian Tig Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on

Comedian Tig Notaro: 'Hello. I have cancer'

When Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on
They think it's all ova: Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Our chef made his name cooking eggs, but he’s never stopped looking for new ways to serve them
The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

With its own Tiger Woods - South Korea's Inbee Park - the women's game has a growing audience
10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

Here are the potential stars of the World Championships which begin on Saturday
The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

Briefings are off the record leading to transfer speculation which is merely a means to an end