World in pictures
Japanese railway company offers abject apology after train leaves station 20 seconds early
The No. 5255 Tsukuba Express train left a station at 9.44:20am instead of 9.44:40am.
- by Motoko Rich and Makiko Inoue
North Korea opens door to Russian tourists, promises a place 'Safer than London!'
Organised tours "show the travellers the multi-faceted life of this most closed of countries".
- by Dmitry Solovyov
London's Big Ben to go silent for four years
So it has come to pass that the keeper of the Great Clock announced on Monday that London's "Big Ben" hour bell will be silenced for four long years.
- by William Booth and Karla Adam
Jane Austen takes pride of place on Britain's new plastic £10 note
The Bank of England has unveiled its first plastic £10 note, featuring British novelist Jane Austen.
- by David Milliken
'Gaudi hates you': Barcelona natives turn on tourists
The butcher's shop at the Mercat de La Boqueria has been in Francisca Gabaldas family for four generations.
- by ​Hannah Strange
Electronic devices flight ban extends as United Kingdom joins United States
The new restrictions were prompted by reports that militant groups want to smuggle explosive devices in electronic gadgets, officials told reporters.
- by David Shepardson
US to ban some airline passengers from carrying electronics after 'terror threat'
US authorities are planning to ban passengers travelling on certain US-bound foreign airline flights from carrying on larger electronic devices in response to an unspecified terrorism threat, according to a government official.
Saudi king Salman to take 459 tonnes of luggage on trip to Indonesia
A company was employing a total of 572 workers to deal with the Saudi monarch's luggage.
- by Adam Taylor
Hawaii's Kilauea volcano forms smiley face
It takes more muscles to frown than to smile, but it took a volcanic eruption to see nature's grin.
- by Ryan W. Miller
Terrorism: the 'new normal' for today's traveller
The latest horrific events in France have rendered the question "to go or not to go" and even more pertinent one for travellers.
- by Anthony Dennis