The thing about whales is not that they are beautiful goliaths of the sea - although they are - but that they and their cetacean cousins may be as intelligent as humans.

There have been a few suggestions made in the past 48 hours about what may or may not have been said to provoke a grown man into attacking a 12-year-old boy.

Whether you're a Christian or not, the national celebration of Christmas has a certain gravity to it that demands attention and invokes reflection, writes Bruce Bisset.

Last Thursday I was lucky enough to stumble across Hastings' night market in full roar.