Frontline Springboks could enjoy up to five weeks rest from Super Rugby this year, according to Patrick Lambie, the Sharks pivot who ended 2014 in possession of the Bok No 10 jersey.

Finally, the Springboks are top priority in a World Cup year.

Kiwi broadcaster Dennis Katsanos rediscovers his Greek heritage - and adds 4kg in weight.

Mark Lister writes: This year has started in an eventful fashion and a number of key developments will set the tone for 2015.

Hercule Poirot, aka Kevin Pilley, tips his homburg to Agatha Christie's mysterious bust using Franglais clues.

Entertainment is a funny business, especially when it's not that funny at all. Take, for instance, The Missing, a new British television drama series that launched on TV One on Sunday night in both terrific and dreadful style.

Bed and breakfast under those famously dreaming spires allows a glimpse into how the other half thinks, writes Steve Braunias.

Peter de Graaf follows in the steps of Everest's conqueror, visiting Sir Edmund Hillary's local pub in Wales.

Another tale of Russian spooks operating in the US has emerged, described by the former CIA analyst Mark Stout as a "classic case of espionage".

Those at Davos, seemingly representing the interests of the very wealthy, like to think they are working to make the world a better place - as long as they are not inconvenienced in doing so.

A wildlife cruise on the Isle of Mull is heaven for bird lovers, writes Richard Tulloch.

Alexis Tsipras was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Greece, after his radical left-wing movement forged an unwieldy alliance with a far-right party.

On a cruise stopover in Kotor, Carol Smith finds the view from the top is worth the climb. The medieval Balkan town and hilltop fortress is one port of call on a magical trip around the Mediterranean.

Greece's new far-left Syriza party promised to dump tough austerity measures - but will that mean the country will have to leave the Eurozone to do it?

Anti-austerity party on the brink of a landmark election victory in Greece as critics claim it could haul the country out of the Eurozone and leave it bankrupt.

A radical leftist party that wants to cancel Greece's European Union debts of more than 200 billion ($300 billion) went into today's election with a seven-point lead.

Financial markets will this week find whether the Swiss National Bank's fears were well-founded when the European Central Bank announces its plan to revive economic growth.

Combined wealth of world's richest 1 per cent will overtake that of remaining 99 per cent by 2016 unless action taken to curb "shocking extremes" of inequality.

The European Central Bank is set to unveil a programme of mass bond buying next week to save the eurozone from deflation.

Munich's Oktoberfest is the largest festival in Europe and one Josh Martin enjoyed a little too much.

If Ernests Gulbis appears to have a slightly stooped appearance at times today, there might be a good reason for it.

Hobbling at the back of the pack (with one broken shoe) Jini Reddy hikes the heights of Connemara - home to staggering landscapes and well-earned seafood suppers.

It would be understandable if Kiwi sailors Peter Burling and Blair Tuke had some difficulty in selecting the highlight of their podium-topping year in the 49er class.

The richest people on Earth got richer in 2014, adding US$92 billion ($118 billion) to their collective fortune in the face of falling energy prices and geopolitical turmoil incited by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Greece will face a snap general election next month after MPs failed to elect a president in the final round of voting yesterday, prompting alarm in Athens’ financial market and the eurozone over the country’s commitment to its bailout terms.

Airbus has rushed two specialists to Jakarta to assist in the investigation of the disappeared A320 airliner operated by AirAsia, the budget carrier that rose from almost nothing in 2001 to be its biggest customer.

Swedish Lapland is a wonderland in winter, when traditional activities belie its modern role as an up-and-coming hub of international communication.