Professor Stephen Hawking CH CBE FRS FRSA has sadly passed away at the age of 76. He died peacefully at his home in Cambridge in the early hours of this morning. Hawking was born on 8th January 1942 in Oxford, England, the eldest of four children, Mary, Philippa and Edward, of Dr Frank Hawking and Eileen Isobel Hawking née Walker. His parents' home was in north London, but because of the bombing of London during the Second World War, his...

Those three little words, perhaps the most important you’ll ever hear: Cheese and wine? Asked as a question, obviously, to which you can answer: yes, please. So, how to make this special culinary affair really worth it? Being a Cheese Whiz Choose your cheese first. You will want to sample it, so choose a local delicatessen who will let you nibble. Cheeses fall into three main categories: those that anyone can enjoy, those for the connoisseur and ‘wildcard’. If you do not want...

Brits believe they deserve more than £5k on top of their current salary, according to research. A study of 2,000 fulltime UK employees revealed the average worker believes they deserve £5,321 on top of their existing salary. The majority put this down to working extremely hard and deserving recognition for it. Others justified a pay rise because they work weekends, have a lot of qualifications or get a lot of praise from colleagues. Three in ten simply put it down...

With 27.2 million people expected to cruise this year, a million and a half up on last year, 80% of travel agencies expecting to increase sales and a total of 27 new ships scheduled to host their maiden voyage, it’s beyond contention that the cruising industry is going from strength to strength. With the cruising industry estimated to make a massive $126 billion in 2018, with an average of half a million passengers onboard a total of 449 ships throughout...

A commuter has sued a rail firm after regular delays left him repeatedly late for work. Ecologist Seph Pochin, 45, took legal action against Greater Anglia after being held up 183 times in a year. He has made the 32-mile journey around 550 times in the last year - travelling 32 miles from his home in Halesworth, Suffolk, to his office in Ipswich five days a week. But Greater Anglia has failed to pay the £350 awarded to the passenger...

A Russian exile who was an ally of fierce Putin critic Boris Berezovsky has been found dead in his London home, according to friends. Nikolai Glushkov was discovered by his family and friends late last night, aged 68. The cause of death is not yet clear. Glushkov's close friend Berezovsky was found dead at his ex-wife's home in March 2013 in an apparent suicide, although the coroner recorded an open verdict. Speaking to the Guardian at the time Glushkov said he was extremely...

A senior councillor punched his neighbour after someone wrote "Die" on his front door, a court heard. Tony Cox, 38, arrived home to find the letters 'I' and 'E' had been scrawled after his flat number, D. He assumed next-door resident Jamie Waterfield was responsible and laid into him as he opened his door to say goodbye to his girlfriend. Mr Waterfield suffered a split lip and reddening to his left cheek as a result of the outburst on May...

Handwriting experts are analysing the writing, usually in cute animal cards, in the hope of tracking down the creep

It's a literal 'crucifixion in space' inside the Sir Christopher Wren church