Everything is expensive in the Paris cafes! This is typical of so many big cities, especially those that are also tourist centres. Paris isn't as expensive as many places in Venice - there are cafes there where a coffee will cost you as much as a meal... (read more)

Worldwide, the top 3 sites are Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Facebook is far ahead with over 750 million visitors every month. Even if its shares didn't sell as well as expected, it is still hugely popular and still growing. Twitter is getting more... (read more)

You can start with this top 10 list. The major attraction here is Damien Hirst - you have until 9 September to see the famous shark in formaldehyde if you haven't already - but as... (read more)

We won't know until November. At the moment the polls tend to show Obama ahead, though it is quite close and there have been several shifts... (read more)

The most popular with English speakers in Europe is the Camping Cuidad Zarazoga. This is highly rated because it has all the facilities you could... (read more)

Wall coverings and decorations go very far back in history, but the earliest use of something like wallpaper is usually traced to the early 15th century. Before that, there was a long tradition... (read more)

Exact numbers are not available, but there has been a big trend for high profile people to leave Twitter in 2012. Some recent names include Lily Allen, Charlie Sheen and Alec Baldwin. Others have decided to stop tweeting themselves but to hand over control... (read more)

There have actually been two novels with the same title, but the one one which Cronenberg's film is based was published in 2003 and written by Don... (read more)

Cosmopolis stars Robert Pattinson as Eric Packer, a billionaire who belongs to 'the 1%' (the American super-rich who control a large share of the economy). Packer lives sealed off from the outside... (read more)

There are different laws in different European countries, so you would need to look at some individual countries rather than the whole continent. There are also differences between countries inside and outside the European Union, though countries within... (read more)

The author of 50 Shades of Grey is EL James, a married TV executive who has two children and lives in London. This was her first book, and it actually began as an attempt to write fan fiction... (read more)

It seems pretty sure that they are, although there have been a lot of rumours about exactly what they are going to do and when. Originally they were going to do a big 50th anniversary tour this year (2012) but have said that they are just not ready and... (read more)

Elton John and his partner David Furnish have a son named Zachary - his full name is Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John. He was born in December 2010 to a surrogate mother who was employed in California by Elton John and his partner David Furnish. One... (read more)

There are thousands of these. First, there are the French words that have been adopted straight into Engish with no change; these are often more modern words and include very everyday terms like garage, cliche, menu and many more. You can find a list... (read more)

The details from the coroner's report have still not been released. It's now three weeks since Sage Stallone was found dead on 13 July, so an announcement is expected soon. There were rumours that he had been found in a room where he seemed to have stayed... (read more)

The current thinking is that although this is not known to have happened yet, it is possible. Scientists have only recently identified the H3N8 virus in US harbour seals, and they are... (read more)

Mostly they don't, but in the US they do. A Republican politician has lately started a campaign to change this. The gold medal winners get $25,000 in the US, with smaller prizes for silver and... (read more)

The amount of prize money, if any, is decided by the Olympic Committee of the country that the medallist comes from. Italy pays the highest bonus for medal winning, offering over $180,000 (about £115,000) for a gold medal. Russia also offers big cash... (read more)

The first question is whether it was openly sold to you as PPI - some customers found they had paid for PPI without even knowing that they had it. If you knew at the time what it was, then it depends on how it was sold to you. For example, how much information... (read more)

George Lucas said in January 2012 that he would not be making any more blockbusters such as his Star Wars films. He said later in the year... (read more)