It's already snowing in the Alps — which makes a change from last year. So, if you fancy a foray into the white stuff, the team at Mad Dog Ski show you where to go without breaking the bank

  Nick Fletcher: There was little Christmas cheer around again yesterday, with transport groups, banks and builders all falling sharply

  Tempelhof airport in Berlin will close to passengers in 2008 after a court threw out an attempt to keep it open

  Aida Edemariam: Just because some bits of the largest country in Africa are scary doesn't mean that all of it is.

  Justin McCurry recommends 10 great places to stay that won't leave you out of pocket in Japan's most expensive city

  On Saturday, four surfers enjoyed the rides of their lives on waves the size of houses. Except they weren't in Hawaii, but Ireland, reports Lauren Davies

  Â· Plane maker says it will have to cut more jobs· European industry is under threat, says EADS

  If motorists' experiences of the vagaries of satellite navigation systems are any guide, history seekers could find themselves up to their necks in the Black Death when they really wanted Merlin and the flying sarsen stones of Stonehenge

  Europe to put forward eight-point plan at meeting on replacing Kyoto protocol

  If you can't afford to spend Christmas away, a good holiday read is the next best thing. Rory MacLean picks the best of this year's travel writing

  Photographer David Levene visits the futuristic new funicular railway station in Innsbruck designed by Zaha Hadid

  It's hot, it's hedonistic — and it's not quite what you think. David Vincent on the unveiling of Miami's annual art festival