A new set of UK stamps commemorating the Stuart monarchs is being issued today.
The age was a turbulent time and included civil war, the Gunpowder Plot, the Great Plague and the Fire of London.
The Stuarts had already ruled Scotland for over two centuries before inheriting the English throne in 1603 when Elizabeth I of England, the last of the Tudors, died childless. Their line began in 1603 when King James VI of Scotland became ruler of England following the union of the crowns, and ended when Queen Anne died in 1714.
Philip Parker from Royal Mail said: "For many the Stuart age is remembered as probably the most calamitous that we have known, but it was also the most significant in our history in terms of the formation of our modern ideas of politics and liberty."
No Islamic veils in Barcelona
Barcelona is to become the first major Spanish city to ban the use of face-covering Islamic veils in municipal buildings.
City mayor Jordi Hereu announced the measure yesterday but insisted it was not specifically aimed at any religion. He says it is aimed at all dress that impedes identification, and thus includes motorcycle helmets and ski masks.
Lleida, also in the Spanish region of Catalonia, last month became the first Spanish city to regulate use of body-covering burkas or face-covering niqab garments. Authorities in several European countries have been debating regulating the use of burkas in recent months.
Barcelona town hall said the measure was largely symbolic given that it is unusual to see women wearing burkas or niqabs in the city, which has a population of 1.5 million.
Namesake
A 45-year-old man who shares his name with England's goalkeeper said he wants to change it after the World Cup howler that cost the team victory. Robert Green, of Walkington, East Yorkshire, said he was excited when his namesake had been chosen to start for England in their first South Africa World Cup match.
But when England goalkeeper Rob Green let in a long range shot that handed the USA an unlikely draw, Mr Green soon became the butt of his friend's jokes.
Playwright robbed
Playwright Alan Bennett has had a wallet containing about £1,500 stolen by pickpockets pretending to clean his overcoat.
The 76-year-old writer was targeted by two women and a man on a trip to the bank and shops near his home in Camden, London.
The suspects spattered the back of his raincoat with ice cream before pretending to clean him up as they took his wallet from a pocket.
The distinctive "distraction" scam is a favourite with thieves in London's West End and police have repeatedly warned tourists and shoppers to be on their guard.
Children smuggled into Europe
The UN has said that more than 5,900 Afghan children were smuggled into Europe last year.
Antonio Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said in a report that more and more children are escaping from Afghanistan due to worsening living conditions in their homeland.
The agency said children are being pushed by their parents to leave with smugglers in order to earn money in Europe before sending it back to their families in Afghanistan.
Not sheepish at all
A man who set fire to a university student dressed as a sheep in an "unbelievably stupid" drunken act had his jail sentence reduced.
Jason Whatley, 39, from Hampshire, was jailed for five years last month after admitting setting fire to 19-year-old Stuart Mitchell in Leeds. He used a cigarette lighter to ignite his cotton wool and Lycra fancy dress costume in the Headingley Taps pub, Headingley, in October last year.
But his sentence was reduced to four years at Leeds Crown Court after a judge heard legal arguments from barristers. Mr Mitchell was left with burns to 12 per cent of his body, needed a number of skin graft operations and had to relinquish his place at university for the year. Whatley admitted arson and to being reckless as to whether life was endangered.
Keep the change
A Vietnamese company says an honest taxi cab driver was at the wheel when a forgetful passenger left behind a bag with $26,500 in cash on the back seat.
Cuu Long Petro Gas Service Transportation official Nguyen Thi Thuy Lien said when the passenger realised the bag was missing he called the Ho Chi Minh cab company for help.
The taxi driver, Doan Thanh Xuan, heard the call go out over the radio and returned the bag unopened. He was given a reward of $100 from the company and grateful passenger.