Flat Earth: It's grill-egal

Nothing can spoil a balmy summer's night more than the smell of a barbecue wafting into your living room. Yes, you can shut your window, but that's not the point. There should be a law against this sort of thing.

Well, that's what they think in Bavaria. Its highest court has just decreed that barbecues are an affront to civilised society, and ordered one perpetrator to limit his activities to five times a year. He had been sued by a neighbour living on the second floor of their apartment block.

The lower court had declared the shared garden a sizzle-free zone. The high court has now assented to the five roastings, provided they take place at the back end of the garden.