The French Quarter of the city was moulded by its history of piracy, slavery, royalty – and ghosts

Where are you now and what can you see?

From a £400 Alice Temperley Filofax to a gold-nibbed Montblanc pen, Britain's stationery fetish is refusing to be erased by technology

Blimey, that was quick. Barely an hour after the announcement, Sir Fred Goodwin's Wikipedia entry was headed "Fred Goodwin". It looked so bare. Without that all-important Sir, Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh were just historical geezers not heroes. The contraction "Fred" in "Sir Fred" sounded cool; Fred Goodwin just sounds like a bloke down the bookie's.

The convicted fraudster who gave the Liberal Democrats their biggest ever donation has been arrested in the Caribbean after more than three years on the run.

Justin Pipe had to re-learn his technique after a road accident but is now in the form of his life ahead of World Championships, writes Nick Szczepanik

The official Christmas cracker manufacturer for the Queen reported a robust half-year performance yesterday after selling 2 billion feet worth of gift wrap.

Second Best Moments in Chinese History by Frank Kuppner

Brighthouse, the private equity-backed retailer, has delivered a sharp uplift in half-year profits, reinforcing the continuing demand for its rent-to-own products among cash-strapped consumers in austerity Britain.

The City watchdog has fined Credit Suisse £5.9m after uncovering failings related to sales of a complex investment product.

Helen Simpson's latest collection of short stories - she brings one out every five years - opens on familiar ground. "Up at the Villa" is a blistering account of the trials of early parenthood revealed under too bright a Southern sun. The classic Simpson cast includes a baby, "a furious geranium in its parasol-shaded buggy", its mother, a "large, pale woman sagging about it in her bikini" and the father, "making a great noise with his two-day-old copy of The Times". Watching them are a group of young people who've broken into the garden for a swim, but instead find themselves witness to an ugly marital spat.