A day trip to Brighton on the hottest day of the year should be a treat. But as the train pulls into the station, the words of the woman who answered the phone at the local Conservative Party office pop back into my head. “Bring a mask with you,” she said chirpily. “It's stinky.”

Extra time decides the tie after nervy game

Investment and jobs are promised, but some fear the environmental price is too high

Remains of 8 malnourished stone curlews recently back from Africa and Spain found in Norfolk, Suffolk and Wiltshire

My Family star Kris Marshall is joining the cast of Caribbean crime drama Death In Paradise, taking over from Ben Miller.

People need homes, but so does the nightingale, whose numbers are in steep decline

Plus, why all engaged couples should be forced to watch the Huhne/Pryce trial

With a thoughtful sentiment behind every trinket, Dodo's jewellery is for the romantic at heart

It sounds like a surreal urban myth: birds in cities may be deliberately incorporating cigarette ends into their nests to ward off insect parasites. But scientists in Mexico offer compelling evidence that it is true.

GCHQ turn to Bletchley Park veterans for help with D-Day cipher

Suspended Tory MP Nadine Dorries got her teeth into life in the jungle by chomping on a camel's toe and an ostrich's anus in her latest stomach-churning challenge on I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here.

I didn't do too much research before setting off for lunch at Green Man and French Horn. All I knew – all I needed to know – before piling in to this Covent Garden newcomer at the earliest opportunity was that a) it's the latest opening from those clever young chaps behind Terroirs, and b) they are very good at creating fine places to eat.

Lead poisoning is still a major cause of death among swans, ducks and other waterfowl despite legislation aimed at restricting the use of toxic lead pellets by shotgun owners, a study has found.