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• Why I sent Oxford a rejection letter | Elly Nowell

  Education: Oxbridge and elitism | guardian.co.uk

  Elly Nowell

  19 Jan 2012 | 9:00 am

  Withdrawing my application to the university makes perfect sense – it's a symbol of unfairness in our education systemA little over a month ago, I sent Oxford a rejection email that parodied the thousands that they send each year. Much to my surprise, it has become a bit of an internet hit, and has provoked reactions of both horror and amusement.In it, I wrote: "I have now considered your establishment as a place to read Law (Jurisprudence). I very much regret to inform you that I will be withdrawing my application. I realise you may be disappointed by this decision, but you were in…

• Can Apple become the world's first trillion-dollar company? |

  Technology: Apple | guardian.co.uk

  Dan Gillmor

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:58 pm

  Apple's spectacular growth, fueled by demand for the iPhone, will soon see its market capitalisation reach $500bn and beyondAlmost certainly, Apple will soon hit $500bn in market capitalization – half a trillion dollars. So, based on its current growth, it's fair to wonder if it will become the world's first trillion-dollar company. (I'm far from the first to do so, by the way; see this piece, for example.)The first question to ask is, who cares? After all, $1,000,000,000,000 is just a number, albeit a very, very, very big number. Yet, if achieved, it would represent more than just a…

• Can Apple become the world's first trillion-dollar company? |

  Technology: Microsoft | guardian.co.uk

  Dan Gillmor

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:58 pm

  Apple's spectacular growth, fueled by demand for the iPhone, will soon see its market capitalisation reach $500bn and beyondAlmost certainly, Apple will soon hit $500bn in market capitalization – half a trillion dollars. So, based on its current growth, it's fair to wonder if it will become the world's first trillion-dollar company. (I'm far from the first to do so, by the way; see this piece, for example.)The first question to ask is, who cares? After all, $1,000,000,000,000 is just a number, albeit a very, very, very big number. Yet, if achieved, it would represent more than just a…

• It's time for science to move on from materialism | Mark Vernon

  Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

  Mark Vernon

  28 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  The rigid 19th-century orthodoxy should be challenged to allow broader interpretations, as Rupert Sheldrake arguesWerner Heisenberg, one of the founding fathers of quantum physics, once observed that history could be divided into periods according to what people of the time made of matter. In his book Physics and Philosophy, published in the early 60s, he argued that at the beginning of the 20th century we entered a new period. It was then that quantum physics threw off the materialism that dominated the natural sciences of the 19th century.Of materialism, he wrote:"[This] frame was so narrow…

• My favourite music venue - in pictures

  Culture | guardian.co.uk

  28 Jan 2012 | 6:05 pm

  Just like fans, musicians have their special places. Here, Johnny Marr, Hayden Thorpe, Roots Manuva and Anna Calvi celebrate the venues they love

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  Technology: Apple | guardian.co.uk

• Can Apple become the world's first trillion-dollar company? |

  Dan Gillmor

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:58 pm

  Apple's spectacular growth, fueled by demand for the iPhone, will soon see its market capitalisation reach $500bn and beyondAlmost certainly, Apple will soon hit $500bn in market capitalization – half a trillion dollars. So, based on its current growth, it's fair to wonder if it will become the world's first trillion-dollar company. (I'm far from the first to do so, by the way; see this piece, for example.)The first question to ask is, who cares? After all, $1,000,000,000,000 is just a number, albeit a very, very, very big number. Yet, if achieved, it would represent more than just a…

• Android takes chunk of tablet market, but Apple's iPad still dominates

  Charles Arthur

  26 Jan 2012 | 9:52 am

  While Apple still rules the global tablet market, with its iPad owning 58% in the fourth quarter of 2011, Android still managed to take 39%Android tablets took 39% of the world tablet market in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to new research from Strategy Analytics – though as many as half of those were not running Google-approved versions of the operating system, it said.Apple dominated the rest of the market on its own, taking 58% of the market during the period as it sold 15m iPads, more than double the number of the same period in 2011.That was down from a 68% share a year ago –…

• Wanted: a personal information organiser

  Jack Schofield

  26 Jan 2012 | 9:27 am

  Danny Golding wants to sort out a chaotic collection of personal data spread across several incompatible devices, including a paper address book. It should be simple, but it's notMy life is in chaos. I have personal contact details, diary entries, and reminders spread across a Windows XP laptop, Mac desktop, iPad, and Nokia mobile phone (not to mention an old style paper diary and a separate paper address book). I need to rationalise all this information and, ideally, find a way of keeping my various devices in sync, but am debating how best to do this.As I use a number of Apple devices, one…

• Chávez's daughter posts picture of herself posing with dollars

  Rory Carroll

  26 Jan 2012 | 5:50 am

  Image of Rosinés Chávez, 14, peeking behind a wad of US dollars on Instagram has angered many VenezuelansFirst she uploaded a picture of her posing with Justin Bieber, now there's one of her flaunting a fistful of dollars: Hugo Chávez's teenage daughter is not helping the family's revolutionary image.Rosinés Chávez, 14, triggered controversy in Venezuela this week after posting a picture of herself peeking behind a wad of US dollars on Instagram, a free photo-sharing app available on IPhones and other Apple products.The image provoked indignation because her father's "21st century…

• Google approved new Motorola lawsuit against Apple iPhone and iCloud

  Charles Arthur

  26 Jan 2012 | 2:40 am

  New front in legal battles would require written permission from search giant, as patent battles continue to ramp up over AndroidGoogle specifically gave permission for Motorola Mobility (MMI) to file a new lawsuit against Apple over its iPhone 4S and iCloud products, according to an analysis of the takeover agreement in which the search giant aims to buy the struggling mobile maker.The move marks a heightening of tensions between Google and Apple, where the Cupertino company is fighting a war by proxy against the use in the Android mobile operating system of a number of user interface…

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  Technology: Microsoft | guardian.co.uk

• Can Apple become the world's first trillion-dollar company? |

  Dan Gillmor

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:58 pm

  Apple's spectacular growth, fueled by demand for the iPhone, will soon see its market capitalisation reach $500bn and beyondAlmost certainly, Apple will soon hit $500bn in market capitalization – half a trillion dollars. So, based on its current growth, it's fair to wonder if it will become the world's first trillion-dollar company. (I'm far from the first to do so, by the way; see this piece, for example.)The first question to ask is, who cares? After all, $1,000,000,000,000 is just a number, albeit a very, very, very big number. Yet, if achieved, it would represent more than just a…

• Games review roundup: Dance Central 2, Cooking Mamas and more

  Mary Hamilton

  27 Jan 2012 | 7:44 am

  Here's our weekly roundup of some of the games that may have slipped under your radar – such as Dance Central 2, a pair of Cooking Mamas and Hollywood Crimes 3DDance Central 2 ... Xbox Kinect; £39.99; cert 12+; MicrosoftDance Central 2 is a genuinely fun game once you manage to shed your inhibitions enough to properly get into the groove. There's an impressive array of songs to dance along to – including songs from the first game if you decide to port them over – and flash cards help you imitate the moves on screen and work out what's coming next. It's easy and fun to get into the…

• Why Microsoft needs to get Michael Bublé working on Windows 8

  Matthew Baxter-Reynolds

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:44 am

  WinRT, the new programming framework for Windows 8, is a bet-the-farm strategy for Microsoft as it sees tablets chewing up its field. So why are people on Twitter talking about a singer more than this key technology?2012 will be the year that Windows 8 finally hits the market. This version unshackles Microsoft from CISC-based computing, giving OEMs the chance to create Windows-based tablets that are on a par with the iPad in terms of battery life, performance, and usability.CISC, or complex-instruction set computing, is a way of designing processors that's very power hungry. RISC, or…

• Google and Bing accused of directing users to illegal copies of music

  Josh Halliday

  26 Jan 2012 | 9:55 am

  Major rights holders claim search engines make it 'difficult' for people to find legal music and films onlineThe major rights holders' document obtained under the Freedom of Information ActGoogle and other search engines "overwhelmingly" direct music fans to illegal copies of copyrighted tracks online, a coalition of entertainment industry groups has told the government.In a confidential document obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, lobbying groups for the major rights holders claimed Google and Microsoft's Bing are making it "much more difficult" for people to find legal music and…

• Wanted: a personal information organiser

  Jack Schofield

  26 Jan 2012 | 9:27 am

  Danny Golding wants to sort out a chaotic collection of personal data spread across several incompatible devices, including a paper address book. It should be simple, but it's notMy life is in chaos. I have personal contact details, diary entries, and reminders spread across a Windows XP laptop, Mac desktop, iPad, and Nokia mobile phone (not to mention an old style paper diary and a separate paper address book). I need to rationalise all this information and, ideally, find a way of keeping my various devices in sync, but am debating how best to do this.As I use a number of Apple devices, one…

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  Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

• It's time for science to move on from materialism | Mark Vernon

  Mark Vernon

  28 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  The rigid 19th-century orthodoxy should be challenged to allow broader interpretations, as Rupert Sheldrake arguesWerner Heisenberg, one of the founding fathers of quantum physics, once observed that history could be divided into periods according to what people of the time made of matter. In his book Physics and Philosophy, published in the early 60s, he argued that at the beginning of the 20th century we entered a new period. It was then that quantum physics threw off the materialism that dominated the natural sciences of the 19th century.Of materialism, he wrote:"[This] frame was so narrow…

• Even among the Skins generation, some know how to just be themselves | Trim Lamba

  Trim Lamba

  28 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am

  Depictions of today's youth show them as uncomplicated fashion victims – but not all young people want to be hipstersPeople of a certain age, or rather those who spend leisurely time with the Daily Mail and taped recordings of Antiques Roadshow, tend to spend a fair amount of time worrying about the "youth of today". They picture hoodlums dressed in Lonsdale tracksuits kicking cans of Pepsi Max down dingy alleyways, ready to loot and antagonise innocent civilians. Rest assured, adults: the vast proportion of youth, excluding the rodents who rioted, actually have the menace of a Mr Kipling…

• Martin Rowson on David Cameron and RBS chief's bonus – cartoon

  Martin Rowson

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:51 pm

  Row erupts after prime minister claims that MPs had no choice but to agree to Stephen Hester's bonus are challenged by LabourMartin Rowson

• Unthinkable? A federal upper house of parliament | Editorial

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:20 pm

  If Scots vote for independence, England's political will would shape that of the UK even more decisivelyAlex Salmond's plans for a Scottish independence referendum in 2014 are concentrating minds on the future shape of the United Kingdom. If Scots vote yes, the country they leave will consist of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. England, currently with 84% of the UK population, would then have 92%, Wales 5% and Northern Ireland 3%. England's share of the seats in the Westminster parliament would rise in proportion; its dominance, already great, would become even greater, so that the…

• The conversation: Are the Olympics too commercial?

  Oliver Laughland

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:03 pm

  The Olympics are a purely commercial enterprise and as such have been utterly devalued. True or false? Sports writer Mihir Bose and medal-winner Fatima Whitbread discussIt's six months until the Olympics, but should we be celebrating? With a series of negative news stories this week, sports journalist Mihir Bose, who has just written a book on the demise of the sporting spirit, tries out his theory on Olympic legend Fatima Whitbread. Oliver Laughland listens in.Mihir Bose: My journey on this subject began when I was in Calcutta. I saw premiership football being shown endlessly on TV, and…

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  Culture | guardian.co.uk

• My favourite music venue - in pictures

  28 Jan 2012 | 6:05 pm

  Just like fans, musicians have their special places. Here, Johnny Marr, Hayden Thorpe, Roots Manuva and Anna Calvi celebrate the venues they love

• The Pop Up Book of Poo by Gaby Goldsack - review

  28 Jan 2012 | 3:00 am

  'We recommend this book to 6-8 year old boys who love gross things!'The Pop Up Book Of Poo was a fun read for my little brother Robert, who is six. He loved me reading it to him and we found it really interesting. Did you know that a goose does a poo every 12 minutes? We definitely didn't!Robert says, "This book was great and I learnt a lot. There should be more pages though. My favourite bits are animals eating poo, making homes in poo and a section called Powerful Poo. The pop up bits looked very good. I don't have a worst bit as I liked it all. If I have to learn about poo at school then I…

• The Real Hustle – review

  Sam Wollaston

  28 Jan 2012 | 1:00 am

  Not even an ex-member of Boyzone makes Sam Wollaston fall for a ridiculous conman showAh, excellent, The Real Hustle (BBC3), surely one of the most ridiculous programmes ever. We seem to be in Paisley, Scotland, and the Real Hustlers are joined by Shane Lynch, dressed as a tramp (not much disguise needed) as their celebrity helper. The mark is a lad coming out of a bureau de change. With nearly £500! Maybe that's normal in Paisley. Actually, it turns out he's got over a grand on him, in cash.Anyway, he's got a lot more money than sense, because he allows himself to be led off to a special…

• Why we can't get enough of childbirth on TV

  Zoe Williams

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:07 pm

  TV used to shy away from depicting birth. But now Call the Midwife and One Born Every Minute are attracting record ratings. So what's changed? And why now?Call the Midwife has been an extraordinary success for the BBC. With more than eight million viewers, it is the highest-rated original BBC drama series since records began. If you imagine the schedule as a Hollywood blockbuster, this is like Nicolas Cage (Sherlock) and John Travolta (Doctor Who) fighting to the death, only to find Cameron Diaz effortlessly swooshing past them to save the earth. One Born Every Minute,…

• Why I love The Good Wife | Deborah Orr

  Deborah Orr

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:07 pm

  The lead character is an empty vessel, and the whole programme is an upper-middle-class fairytale, but I still love US drama The Good WifeI'm torn. Part of me is mystified that the Good Wife isn't more widely feted. But part of me is rather gratified that not everyone is as easily pleased as I am. Most worryingly, I love Alicia, the eponymous Good Wife, even though she's such a hopelessly empty vessel. Played by the former ER actress Julianna Margulies (pictured), Alicia is an impossibly perfect, youthful, intelligent and competent middle-aged mother. She had to…

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  Latest financial, market & economic news and analysis | guardian.co.uk

• What else could you buy with a bank chief's bonus? What is Stephen Hester worth - visualised

  Simon Rogers, Kari-Ruth Pedersen

  28 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am

  Nearly £1m in bonuses for the Royal Bank of Scotland's chief executive, Stephen Hester sounds like a lot of money, but what else could you get for it? This visualisation, by Guardian designer Kari-Ruth Pedersen, puts it all in perspectiveSimon RogersKari-Ruth Pedersen

• Martin Rowson on David Cameron and RBS chief's bonus – cartoon

  Martin Rowson

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:51 pm

  Row erupts after prime minister claims that MPs had no choice but to agree to Stephen Hester's bonus are challenged by LabourMartin Rowson

• Buying now cheaper than renting, Halifax says

  Patrick Collinson

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:07 pm

  Halifax report comes amid claims that first-time buyers are beginning to return to the property marketBuying a house is now much cheaper than renting, mortgage lender Halifax has claimed, in a remarkable turnaround from three years ago when the soaring property market priced out all but the wealthiest buyers. Halifax calculates that the monthly cost of buying the average three-bed home in the UK is now £600, 16% cheaper than the £716 it would cost to rent the same type of property. That contrasts with the peak of the property market in 2008, when a mortgage on the typical home cost around…

• Interview: architects Richard Rogers, Graham Stirk and Ivan Harbour

  Charlotte Higgins

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:06 pm

  Celebrated architect Richard Rogers and his partners discuss £140m penthouses, John Prescott's ministerial 'flair' and Prince Charles's strange ideas about architectureRichard Rogers, at 78, is not about to slow down. "I am enjoying myself, so why would I retire?" says the architect of the Pompidou Centre and the Lloyd's of London building. "I'd like to think I'll be learning a new language or something when I die."But even a master builder can't go on for ever, which is why Richard Rogers Partnership discreetly changed its name, some five years ago, to Rogers Stirk Harbour and…

• George Osborne wants business to make the case for scrapping top tax rate

  Larry Elliott

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:38 pm

  Make the argument for how detrimental the 50% tax rate is for jobs and investment, chancellor tells British executives in DavosGeorge Osborne urged business to make the case for the scrapping of the 50% income tax rate as he gave his clearest signal yet of his desire to reduce taxes on the wealthy.The Conservative chancellor told a lunch of British executives in Davos: "I have always said this is a temporary tax. The long-term damage of this tax is potentially quite considerable, and that's why it is temporary."Osborne said that his predecessor, Alistair Darling, had made it clear that the…

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  Personal finance and money news, analysis and comment | guardian.co.uk

• Buying now cheaper than renting, Halifax says

  Patrick Collinson

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:07 pm

  Halifax report comes amid claims that first-time buyers are beginning to return to the property marketBuying a house is now much cheaper than renting, mortgage lender Halifax has claimed, in a remarkable turnaround from three years ago when the soaring property market priced out all but the wealthiest buyers. Halifax calculates that the monthly cost of buying the average three-bed home in the UK is now £600, 16% cheaper than the £716 it would cost to rent the same type of property. That contrasts with the peak of the property market in 2008, when a mortgage on the typical home cost around…

• George Osborne wants business to make the case for scrapping top tax rate

  Larry Elliott

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:38 pm

  Make the argument for how detrimental the 50% tax rate is for jobs and investment, chancellor tells British executives in DavosGeorge Osborne urged business to make the case for the scrapping of the 50% income tax rate as he gave his clearest signal yet of his desire to reduce taxes on the wealthy.The Conservative chancellor told a lunch of British executives in Davos: "I have always said this is a temporary tax. The long-term damage of this tax is potentially quite considerable, and that's why it is temporary."Osborne said that his predecessor, Alistair Darling, had made it clear that the…

• Gym contracts and heartwarming Guardian readers

  Patrick Collinson

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:02 pm

  The distressing story of a pregnant woman chased for payment has put gym contracts in the spotlight – and filled our postbag with offers of helpHow I love Guardian Money readers. Last week our consumer champions Lisa Bachelor and Miles Brignall highlighted the distressing story of a woman chased by LA Fitness for £780 to get out of her gym contract, despite being weeks away from childbirth, her husband being unemployed, and losing her home. Soon after publication the calls and emails started pouring in; many of you wanted to pay the bill, or at least some of it. LA Fitness may have been…

• Should I spend my money while I'm young enough to enjoy it?

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:02 pm

  I'm 50 and would love to travel, but will I regret this when I'm old and having to live frugally?Every week a Guardian Money reader submits a question, and it's up to you to help him or her out – a selection of the best answers will appear in next Saturday's paper.This week's questionI'm 50 and rather than pushing large sums into my pension plan I'm tempted to enjoy the money now. I love to walk and travel. Do I spend it now while healthy, living more frugally later? Or the other way round? Do you really need that much money when older? What's your experience?Retirement planningSavingsOlder…

• Is PayPal secure for sellers?

  Miles Brignall

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:02 pm

  Ebay sellers are finding out the hard way that PayPal offers them little protection when the buyer wants to collect an item in personMillions of people who sell items on eBay each year risk becoming the victims of fraud because they wrongly assume PayPal will protect them in payment disputes.In recent weeks Guardian Money has been contacted by several sellers of expensive items – mostly laptops – who have become victims of a fast-growing fraud.In each case the buyer has paid through PayPal but insisted on picking up the item in person.But later it transpires that the payment was made…

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  Life and style | guardian.co.uk

• Free audiobook download: Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

  29 Jan 2012 | 6:05 pm

  The first in our series of inspiring self-help audiobooks is Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir, Eat, Pray, Love. Look out tomorrow for Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.Mobile users – please visit the desktop site.

• Beauty tips: nude tones - video

  Sali Hughes

  28 Jan 2012 | 4:59 pm

  In the lull between Christmas and spring, nude tones can help your skin look clean and fresh. Sali Hughes explains allSali Hughes

• Hollywood women unite to break through the celluloid ceiling

  Paul Harris

  28 Jan 2012 | 6:02 am

  With female scriptwriters behind some of the biggest movies, from Juno to Kung Fu Panda II, it seems the sexism barrier has been lifted. But has it?Next week the Athena Film Festival will open at Barnard College in New York. The showcase, which begins on 9 February and is in its second year, is aimed at celebrating women film-makers and rewarding their art and successes. It will consist of screenings, awards and the usual parties, but with a feminist slant. Among those getting accolades will be a group of women in Hollywood known as "the Fempire".The Fempire consist of screenwriters Diablo…

• Even among the Skins generation, some know how to just be themselves | Trim Lamba

  Trim Lamba

  28 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am

  Depictions of today's youth show them as uncomplicated fashion victims – but not all young people want to be hipstersPeople of a certain age, or rather those who spend leisurely time with the Daily Mail and taped recordings of Antiques Roadshow, tend to spend a fair amount of time worrying about the "youth of today". They picture hoodlums dressed in Lonsdale tracksuits kicking cans of Pepsi Max down dingy alleyways, ready to loot and antagonise innocent civilians. Rest assured, adults: the vast proportion of youth, excluding the rodents who rioted, actually have the menace of a Mr Kipling…

• The long walk to Europe - audio slideshow

  28 Jan 2012 | 4:46 am

  Afghanistan is the most dangerous country in the world in which to be a child. Caroline Brothers spoke to children who have left the country and travelled thousands of miles, alone, in search of safe haven. Here, she tells their stories. Photography and production by Ed Alcock/Agence M.Y.O.P. Original soundtrack by Edward Hyde.• Read the full story in the Observer Magazine tomorrow

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  Environment news, comment and analysis from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk

• A curious chimp, a parading frog and a pardoned beaver

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:08 pm

• Amazon forest mapped in new detail

  Dan Collyns

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:17 am

  Scientists record Amazon's structure and biodiversity by bouncing laser beams off forest 400,000 times per secondFive thousand metres above the most biodiverse corner of the Amazon, tropical ecologist Greg Asner and his team see a kaleidoscope of colours among a mass of green.Huddled in a twin-engine Dornier 228 aeroplane called the Carnegie Airborne Observatory, the scientists are capturing multicoloured images of the Peruvian rainforest canopy that verge on the psychedelic.Inside the plane, a machine known as a Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) bounces a laser beam off the forest canopy…

• Dearth threatens global renewables industry

  John Vidal

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:55 am

  China's near-exclusive access to terbium and yttrium sent prices soaring in 2011, potentially hobbling clean energy industryShortages of a handful of rare minerals could slow the future growth of the burgeoning renewable energy industries, and affect countries' chances of limiting greenhouse gas emissions, business leaders were told at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week.Last year, prices of many scarce minerals exploded, rising as much as 10 times over 2010 levels before dropping back, said PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).Terbium, yttrium, dysprosium, europium and neodymium are widely…

• Cyclists and HGV drivers swap places

  Laura Laker

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:11 am

  A safety initiative by the Met is encouraging cyclists and HGV drivers and cyclists to swap placesFor most cyclists, HGVs are the thing most feared on urban roads. Despite only comprising 5% of traffic, they are involved in about 50% of cyclist deaths each year, and many more serious injuries.When I sat in the driver's seat of an HGV this week, I realised that fear can be a good thing.The Metropolitan police's Traffic Cycle Team are currently running safety events called Exchanging Places, which give cyclists the chance to see exactly what a lorry driver can – and can't – see.Sergeant…

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• Australian Open 2012 diary: online spite for Andy Murray despite heroics | Kevin Mitchell

  Kevin Mitchell

  28 Jan 2012 | 7:08 am

  Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but those who say Andy Murray choked against Novak Djokovic are being harshEven allowing for the idiocy that occasionally infects the blogosphere, the spite showered on Andy Murray for losing a five-set semi-final at a grand slam to the best player in the world was as uninformed as it was predictable as it was pathetic.Whose opinion carries more weight: Novak Djokovic, who actually played in the match and said after four hours and 50 minutes of mutual hell on court with Murray: "Andy deserved the credit to come back after 2-5 down [in the fifth…

• Talking Horses

  Chris Cook, Will Hayler, Tony Paley

  28 Jan 2012 | 6:48 am

  The latest news from Cheltenham and best bets in our daily horse racing blog1.25pm Swan kicked out after winning Triumph Hurdle trialTony Paley: A controversial start to the day's racing at Cheltenham as Grumeti is awarded the Triumph Hurdle trial race after finishing a short-head second to Pearl Swan. The winner leaned into his rival inside the final 100 yards as they fought out a ding-dong battle in the closing stages and the stewards took the view that the interference was enough to cause a difference to the result. Ruby Walsh, who was aboard the winner, was given a three-day ban.With the…

• Super Bowl: Top 10 banned TV ads | Michael Solomon

  Michael Solomon

  28 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  Super Bowl ad breaks are the pinnacle of advertising - but these commercials never made the showJust because a 30-second commercial during the Super Bowl costs $3.5 million this year, doesn't mean NBC will take a company's money. After all, despite all evidence to the contrary with Whitney, the network does have standards. Over the years, plenty of commercials have been banned from the big broadcast for being offensive. Some, such as the spots PETA produces, are meant to be rejected so they can generate free publicity by going viral online. (Even major Super Bowl sponsors such as…

• What else could you buy with a bank chief's bonus? What is Stephen Hester worth - visualised

  Simon Rogers, Kari-Ruth Pedersen

  28 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am

  Nearly £1m in bonuses for the Royal Bank of Scotland's chief executive, Stephen Hester sounds like a lot of money, but what else could you get for it? This visualisation, by Guardian designer Kari-Ruth Pedersen, puts it all in perspectiveSimon RogersKari-Ruth Pedersen

• Today is unofficial National Kazoo Day [video] | @GrrlScientist

  GrrlScientist

  28 Jan 2012 | 3:00 am

  This Caturday morning video smile features Handel's Messiah played by a kazoo choirEveryone loves kazoos and today is the day when you can proudly celebrate the joy this musical instrument brings to millions of people around the world. The kazoo is one of the few instruments that was invented in the United States and it's one of the easiest to play since the only requirement is the ability to hum (humming in tune is desirable, but optional, of course). Why did I say this is an unofficial day of observance? Because a "national day" in the United States requires an act of congress, which hasn't…

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  Most viewed | guardian.co.uk

• Gay actors say coming out affects roles they get

  Alex Needham

  26 Jan 2012 | 10:53 am

  Equity survey finds only 57% of gay actors feel they can be open about their sexuality to their agentsA survey has revealed that gay actors still feel that coming out affects the roles they get to play. Though recent years have seen successful, out actors from Russell Tovey to Ian McKellen playing heterosexual parts like Steve in Him & Her and King Lear respectively, only 57% of the gay actors who responded to the survey, by the actors union Equity, felt they could be open about their sexuality to agents.One gay actor, quoted in theatre trade paper the Stage, said: "A previous agent of mine…

• I had an orgasm in an MRI scanner | Kayt Sukel

  Kayt Sukel

  16 Nov 2011 | 1:00 am

  Kayt Sukel went to extraordinary lengths to help researchers learn more about the neuroscience of the female orgasmThe first question, invariably, is, "Excuse me? You had a what where?" It's not a surprise, really. People may not be shocked if you tell them you managed a wank on, say, the train or even in a public restroom. But when you announce that you took part in an orgasm study and managed to reach climax in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner as it recorded the blood flow in your brain? Well, that's not something one hears every day.It's not the most romantic spot one…

• Downton Abbey: which character are you?

  Viv Groskop

  13 Sep 2011 | 6:37 am

  Viv Groskop:The second series of Downton Abbey begins on Sunday – find out if you would be upstairs or downstairs in ITV's period drama with our quizViv Groskop

• Back-heel penalty kick by UAE's Awana Diab - video

  19 Jul 2011 | 3:57 am

  Awana Diab scored the final goal for the United Arab Emirates in their 6-2 win over Lebanon by back-heeling the ball into the back of the net from the penalty spot

• University guide 2012: University league table

  16 May 2011 | 6:05 pm

  All UK universities ranked by the Guardian according to teaching excellence

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  Education: Access to university | guardian.co.uk

• Prepare to be scrutinised at university open days

  Lucy Tobin

  23 Jan 2012 | 11:45 am

  If you go to a university open day, be on your guard: the admissions tutors may be weighing you up alreadyThe approach of open day used to mean it was time for Britain's campuses to be scrubbed until they shone, then plastered with information about course subjects and extracurricular activities. Nowadays, it's just as likely to be potential students who dress up and gen up for open day. With demand for places on many courses remaining high despite newly increased tuition fees, admissions tutors now see the open day as an early chance to hunt for undergraduates who stand out from the…

• Why I sent Oxford a rejection letter | Elly Nowell

  Elly Nowell

  19 Jan 2012 | 9:00 am

  Withdrawing my application to the university makes perfect sense – it's a symbol of unfairness in our education systemA little over a month ago, I sent Oxford a rejection email that parodied the thousands that they send each year. Much to my surprise, it has become a bit of an internet hit, and has provoked reactions of both horror and amusement.In it, I wrote: "I have now considered your establishment as a place to read Law (Jurisprudence). I very much regret to inform you that I will be withdrawing my application. I realise you may be disappointed by this decision, but you were in…

• Higher education needs real reform, not a return to the past

  Peter Scott

  2 Jan 2012 | 1:45 pm

  The government's higher education reforms are anything but; they are rooted in a profoundly reactionary view of university, says Peter ScottAlmost drowned out by the raging Europhobia came the news just before Christmas that the UK has slipped below Brazil in terms of total gross national product. Predictions are that the UK will also fall below India and Russia by the end of the decade.Meanwhile, student applications to English universities are plunging. In the autumn, most institutions submitted what must seem in retrospect optimistic forecasts of future student numbers to the Higher…

• Why do Oxbridge graduates dominate theatre's top roles?

  Jonathan Holloway

  7 Nov 2011 | 8:58 am

  Of the nine previous artistic directors at the National and the RSC, six attended either Oxford or Cambridge – neither of which offers drama as a degreeWhy does a cult of amateurism seem to dominate the top ranks of British theatre?Discussions about who should succeed Michael Boyd as artistic director of the RSC once again prompts one to consider the reality of what it means to be a successful theatre director in the UK.Assuming most people think that leading the RSC or the National are the twin career pinnacles for a UK director, what does it say that of the nine artistic directors of the…

• August babies are less likely to go on to top universities, says study

  Jessica Shepherd

  31 Oct 2011 | 7:01 pm

  Researchers say August babies underperform compared with older children in their school year throughout their working lives• Get the data Children born in August, the youngest in each school year, are less likely to go on to study at top universities than their older classmates, a thinktank study has found.Researchers at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) examined whether there was a link between the month in which a child is born and what they tend to do when they leave school.They studied three data sets, which represent the records of 48,500 children and teenagers in England. They…

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  Education: A-levels | guardian.co.uk

• Secondary schools league tables: the data for each school and local authority

  Simon Rogers, Jessica Shepherd

  26 Jan 2012 | 3:32 am

  The secondary school league tables give complete results for A-levels and GCSEs at each secondary school in England. See how yours did and get the data for yourself• Interactive map• Get the data• Get last year's dataThe secondary school league tables are out today and we have extracted the key data for you to download and compare for yourself.We write today that More than 100 of England's secondary schools face being closed and re-opened as academies for failing government targetsSo, what does the data include? The tables cover more than 3,300 secondary schools and give a comprehensive…

• Secondary school league tables 2011: find your school with our map

  Simon Rogers

  26 Jan 2012 | 3:31 am

  Interactive map: The secondary school league tables are out for GCSEs and A-levels - Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5. See how each school doesSimon Rogers

• Computing A-level analysis raises fears for comprehensive school ICT teaching

  Jessica Shepherd

  11 Jan 2012 | 9:41 am

  Disproportionate number of private or grammar school pupils sit most testing computer exam, figures showPupils from private and grammar schools disproportionately sit what is perceived to be the hardest computing A-level, fuelling fears that thousands of would-be computer scientists at comprehensive schools are not being given the chance to develop their skills.Last summer, a quarter of entries from schools for the AQA exam board's computing A-level came from pupils at fee-paying or academically selective state secondaries, despite these pupils representing just 12% of England's school…

• Exams are failing our students. There is an alternative | John Dunford

  John Dunford

  3 Jan 2012 | 1:30 pm

  A network of chartered assessors would give validity and public credibility to the system of assessment by teachersMichael Gove has carried out a major review of the national curriculum and has asked Ofqual to look into various aspects of assessment and examinations, including the errors that occurred in the summer of 2011 and the conduct of examination board training of teachers, following allegations that exam security was being breached. He has made announcements about examinations, such as the abolition of modular examinations and controlled assessment (a version of coursework). However,…

• Survey of English teachers reveals fears over marking

  Warwick Mansell

  2 Jan 2012 | 1:00 pm

  A new survey of English teachers reveals intense worries about the consistency of exam marking at A-levelExam boards in England, Wales and Northern Ireland may feel under siege. In recent weeks, the scandal of examiners allegedly giving too much help to teachers about future papers during training sessions – a subject covered by Education Guardian in 2009 – has been hitting the headlines. And a string of errors in last summer's exam papers led to an investigation by the watchdog Ofqual, which has concluded that while generally the boards met regulatory requirements, there were quality…

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  Media: Advertising | guardian.co.uk

• Super Bowl: Top 10 banned TV ads | Michael Solomon

  Michael Solomon

  28 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  Super Bowl ad breaks are the pinnacle of advertising - but these commercials never made the showJust because a 30-second commercial during the Super Bowl costs $3.5 million this year, doesn't mean NBC will take a company's money. After all, despite all evidence to the contrary with Whitney, the network does have standards. Over the years, plenty of commercials have been banned from the big broadcast for being offensive. Some, such as the spots PETA produces, are meant to be rejected so they can generate free publicity by going viral online. (Even major Super Bowl sponsors such as…

• The Hard Sell: Radio 1

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:06 pm

  'Fern Britton would have been a more credible option. As would Dot Cotton. Or a fern and some cotton'Imagine you're a Radio 1 executive: try-hard haircut, Daily Mail-enraging expense account, the full clip. You need some "talent" to be the face of the station's New Music policy. Which of your roster of hip youngsters do you pick? Mistajam? Kutski? Kissy Sellout even? Nope, you plump for Fearne Cotton, presenter of Pet Swap and Love Island. Fern Britton would have been a more credible option. As would Dot Cotton. Or a fern and some cotton.The resultant promo, screening incessantly on BBC3,…

• Romney Super Pac's damning ad: 'Gingrich is no Ronald Reagan' | Paul Harris

  Paul Harris

  26 Jan 2012 | 2:49 pm

  This negative Super Pac ad is proving a blunt but brutal weapon in Romney's battle against Gingrich for the Florida primaryWhoIt's Mitt Romney, the man the Republican party loves to not love, despite the fact that he is and always has been the favourite to win their nomination. But a basic Republican distaste for super-rich Mormon Mitt has seen a seemingly endless cycle of opponents rise and fall. His greatest and last foe is former House speaker Newt Gingrich who is currently on his third cycle as the Republican's anti-Romney candidate. Romney and Gingrich are now engaged in a battle royal…

• Channel 4 to boost programming budget by £50m in 2012

  Mark Sweney

  25 Jan 2012 | 6:06 am

  Broadcaster ups UK-originated content spend as it struggles to maintain commercial impacts in 16- to 34-year-old demographicChannel 4 is to boost its UK-originated programming budget by about £50m in 2012, as the broadcaster struggles to address a fall of almost 10% in the amount of viewing by 16- to 34- year-olds it can offer to advertisers on its flagship network.David Abraham, the chief executive of Channel 4, is set to announce at the Oxford Media Convention on Wednesday that the broadcaster intends to boost its programming budget to £450m in 2012.Channel 4 is estimated to have spent…

• Twitter users not lovin' McDonald's | Media Monkey

  Monkey

  25 Jan 2012 | 5:19 am

  They must have seen it coming. The social media wonks at McDonald's were yesterday forced to abandon an attempt to spread "good news stories" about the fast-food giant on Twitter. Disgruntled diners quickly turned the tables and began flooding the official #McDStories hashtag with claims of fingernails in burgers and other nasties, the Independent reports. The company even became embroiled in a lengthy Twitter debate with the opportunistic campaigners at Peta. All on the day that deputy PM Nick Clegg visited McDonald's HQ in East Finchley, north London, to praise the firm for creating jobs…

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  World news: Afghanistan | guardian.co.uk

• The long walk to Europe - audio slideshow

  28 Jan 2012 | 4:46 am

  Afghanistan is the most dangerous country in the world in which to be a child. Caroline Brothers spoke to children who have left the country and travelled thousands of miles, alone, in search of safe haven. Here, she tells their stories. Photography and production by Ed Alcock/Agence M.Y.O.P. Original soundtrack by Edward Hyde.• Read the full story in the Observer Magazine tomorrow

• Sarkozy and Karzai agree to press Nato for earlier Afghanistan handover

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:11 pm

  French and Afghan presidents call for withdrawal of all Nato troops in 2013 - a year earlier than US goalThe French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, said on Friday that France and Afghanistan have agreed to ask Nato to bring forward the handover of all combat operations to Afghan forces to 2013.Sarkozy also announced an accelerated exit for France, the fourth-largest contributor of troops in Afghanistan – marking a break from previous plans to adhere to the US goal of withdrawing combat forces by the end of 2014. The proposal comes a week after four unarmed French troops were killed by an Afghan…

• Nicolas Sarkozy vows French troops will leave Afghanistan by end of 2013 - video

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:19 pm

  The French president met his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai to sign an agreement for troops to leave Afghanistan

• British soldier shot dead by insurgents in Afghanistan

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:47 pm

  Ministry of Defence says 1st Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment soldier was shot during a foot patrol in Helmand provinceBritain's military says a UK soldier has been shot dead by insurgents in southern Afghanistan.The Ministry of Defence says the soldier from 1st Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment was shot on Friday during a foot patrol in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province.Officials have not yet released the identity of the soldier but said his family has been notified.Britain has about 9,500 troops in Afghanistan, most based in the southern province.The death brings to 397 the…

• Pentagon to shrink US ground troops by 100,000 as part of $487bn cuts

  26 Jan 2012 | 2:02 pm

  Defence secretary Leon Panetta unveils plans as part of strategy to shift military focus from wars in Iraq and AfghanistanPentagon leaders outlined a plan Thursday for absorbing $487bn in defence cuts over the coming decade by shrinking US ground forces, slowing the purchase of a next-generation stealth fighter jet and retiring older planes and ships.In a bid to pre-empt election-year Republican criticism, defence secretary Leon Panetta said the plan shifts the Pentagon's focus from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to future challenges in Asia, the Middle East and in cyberspace.More special…

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  World news : Africa roundup | guardian.co.uk

• Lonely, brutal death of boy who dreamed of playing for Chelsea

  David Smith

  28 Jan 2012 | 5:54 am

  Footballer Jeffrey Ntuka died in a South African township – a tragic end to a story of lost hope and youthTwo dozen young men danced around the stage, arms aloft and fists clenched, their feet high-stepping and stamping in unison. When they began to sing and clap together, the colourfully dressed congregation whooped, whistled and ululated. This was a dance to honour the dead – the loss of a local hero.Framed photographs in front of the stage at the crammed community hall in Kroonstad, South Africa, told the story. They showed Jeffrey Ntuka in his footballing prime, a player who…

• Protests sweep through Senegal after Wade poll ruling

  28 Jan 2012 | 12:22 am

  Violence breaks out in Senegal following a ruling that President Abdoulaye Wade can run for a third term in officeStreet protests have spread through towns across Senegal after the country's top court ruled that President Abdoulaye Wade had the right to run for a third term in elections next month. There were reports of buildings being set alight or ransacked, as well as youths setting fire to tyres and overturning cars. One police officer died from head injuries in clashes in the capital, Dakar, after the ruling by the west African country's constitutional council late on Friday night.

• Twitter boycott? No, let's trust it | Mohamed El Dahshan

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:28 pm

  Censorship fears are misplaced, tweets from the Middle East will still buzz around the worldWhen Twitter announced it was giving itself the ability to censor particular tweets or users in certain countries, the immediate reaction among users of the network in the Middle East – as elsewhere – was: #sh*t.Without overplaying its importance, Twitter has proved to be an invaluable tool for activists, enabling them to find up-to-date, accurate information and news, to publicise and to communicate among themselves, particularly in times of crisis. The hashtag #egypt was the most widely used on…

• Letters: Join our global charter to stop world hunger now

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:00 pm

  This week, with the world's business, political and economic leaders meeting in Davos, we should not be seeing tens of thousands of people dying of starvation and 13 million at risk of losing everything they have in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia, because of a hunger crisis that was predicted and preventable (What we want to discuss at Davos, 25 January). The world is failing people in east Africa and this must change now. While solutions are never easy, it is within our power to stop natural disasters turning into human tragedies of such horror. The crisis in east Africa is a terrible reminder:…

• Twitter users threaten boycott over censorship accusation

  Julian Borger, Charles Arthur

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:55 pm

  Tweets don't always flow freely – voice of Arab spring accused of imposing gagging system in some countries"The Tweets must flow", Twitter declared a year ago, and quickly became an instrument of fast-moving revolution across the Arab world, coordinating mass protests in Egypt and sidestepping the state censorship in Syria. But, the microblogging site conceded that the tweets would not flow evenly in every country.The company was accused of censorship by many users and threatened with a one-day boycott on Saturday after announcing that it could remove tweets in certain countries which have…

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  Business: Airline industry | guardian.co.uk

• Stelios blasts easyJet's bonus 'gravy train'

  Gwyn Topham, Dan Milmo, Ian Griffiths

  26 Jan 2012 | 1:11 pm

  Founder claims 'phoney' calculations boost figures but unperturbed City boosts share price by 10%Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has accused easyJet of crafting bonuses with "phoney calculations", as he warned in an extraordinary tirade that the "gravy train has gone wild" at the airline he founded 17 years ago.Stelios, easyJet's largest shareholder, targeted executive pay on the same day that the carrier revealed a bonus of £840,000 for Carolyn McCall, its chief executive. She earned a total of £1.5m in 2011 in her first full year in the job, according to the airline's annual general…

• Airbus Military: a very European success story

  25 Jan 2012 | 7:17 am

  EADS' Airbus business would not exist without European unity, and now it is competing for hegemony in the global marketThe Airbus Military complex in Seville, part of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), is a small city of some 2,000 workers where it is quite normal to hear three or four languages being spoken. Among the giant planes being worked on is the A400M, the signature aircraft of the consortium's military division.Even at a time of economic crisis, the division has a €503m (£418m) order book and profits at the close of 2011, before tax and costs, of over…

• A380 superjumbos to undergo checks after regulator finds cracks in wings

  Dan Milmo

  20 Jan 2012 | 12:15 pm

  European safety regulator says cracks in British-made wings could 'affect structural integrity of planes' if not fixedA380 superjumbos are to undergo safety checks after new cracks were found inside the aeroplane's British-made wings.European safety regulators ordered the checks for a flaw that first emerged in the wake of an A380 engine blowout in 2010, when a Qantas-owned jet suffered a serious engine failure over Indonesia. Subsequent inspections of the Airbus aircraft revealed hairline cracks in a rib-foot – part of the metal frame of a wing.Further cracks were then found on other…

• 'Boris Island' airport plan grounded over Johnson's briefing to Telegraph

  Gwyn Topham, Nicholas Watt

  18 Jan 2012 | 2:10 pm

  No 10 tells London mayor he has killed off estuary airport plan by handing gift to Lib Dem opponents of schemeDowning Street told Boris Johnson on Wednesday that he had killed off any moves towards an airport in the Thames estuary ahead of the next general election after an announcement by the London mayor was seized on by the Liberal Democrats.David Cameron and George Osborne, who have become alarmed by growing business anxiety about their opposition to expanding Heathrow, had indicated they were warming to the idead of a new airport which would assume Heathrow's role as a hub.But Johnson…

• The Thames estuary airport proposal shows the true Tory agenda

  Juliette Jowit

  18 Jan 2012 | 8:06 am

  The Conservatives said they opposed airport construction and expansion. Their decision to consider a major new hub airport in the estuary puts the lie to thatNews that the coalition government is to consult on proposals for a major new hub airport on the bird-rich mudflats of the Thames estuary is the end of one story and the confirmation of another. The first is a fairytale that green groups have tried to believe for years: that the Conservative party opposed expanding or building major airports because it shared their opposition to the noise, pollution and concrete. The second is the…

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  World news: al-Qaida | guardian.co.uk

• Boko Haram: a local phenomenon, not a global threat

  Jason Burke

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:45 pm

  Nigerian Sunni Muslim militant group emerged from background of sectarian tensions and deprivationIn the fast-changing world of violent Sunni Muslim activism, it is reassuring to find that some things remain the same. Every militant group that has emerged in recent decades has shared key elements, and the Nigerian Boko Haram group is no exception. First, in Nigeria – as in Afghanistan, Algeria, Pakistan and the Philippines – there is a long history of religious violence going back to colonial times and beyond. Then there is a more recent aggravation of sectarian tensions against the tense…

• Yemeni president leaves for treatment in US, paving way for transfer of power

  22 Jan 2012 | 2:27 pm

  Outgoing leader apologises for 'any shortcoming' in farewell speech after parliament grants him immunity from prosecutionThe outgoing Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, apologised for "any shortcoming" in his 33-year rule as he left for the US on Sunday, paving the way for a transfer of power after a year of unrest."God willing, I will leave for [medical] treatment in the United States and I will return to Sanaa as head of the General People's Congress party," he told senior party and government officials in a televised speech.Saleh tried to strike a conciliatory note in the farewell…

• British 'al-Qaida member' killed in US drone attack in Somalia

  Ian Cobain

  22 Jan 2012 | 11:26 am

  Bilal el-Berjawi, from London, reportedly died in missile strike outside Mogadishu while allegedly fighting alongside Islamist insurgentsAn alleged al-Qaida member from London is reported to have been killed in a missile attack from a US drone while fighting alongside Islamist insurgents in Somalia.Bilal el-Berjawi is said to have died when three missiles fired from the unmanned aircraft hit his car on the outskirts of Mogadishu.The 27-year-old's wife is understood to have given birth to a child in a London hospital a few hours before the missile strike, prompting suspicions among relatives…

• Niger's migrant workers lose lifeline as unrest turns Nigeria into no-go zone

  Mark Tran

  20 Jan 2012 | 9:10 am

  Dwindling remittances have added to the problems of extreme poverty, climate change and fast population growth in NigerAt this time of year, many of the men from this village in the sand dunes would normally be carrying out menial work in neighbouring Nigeria to send money back to their families.This year is different; 17 men have returned home early because jobs are increasingly hard to come by as business confidence has been shaken by attacks from Boko Haram, the Islamist insurgents.Idi Harouna, 31, a father of three, came back 10 days ago. As a baggage porter at a train station in Bachi…

• Al-Qaida magazine found in Guantánamo

  19 Jan 2012 | 2:43 am

  Inspire magazine is getting into detention camp, says US military prosecutor at pretrial hearing for suspected USS Cole terroristA copy of a magazine linked to al-Qaida was delivered to the Guantánamo Bay detention camp, a US military prosecutor has revealed. Navy commander Andrea Lockhart, prosecuting suspected al-Qaida bomber Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, said at a pre-trial hearing on Wednesday that "there was material getting in like Inspire magazine that should not have been getting in". Inspire magazine bills itself as the publication of Yemeni-based group al-Qaida in the Arabian peninsula…

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  World news : Americas roundup | guardian.co.uk

• Hispanic delegates baffled by Newt Gingrich plan to liberate Cuba

  Chris McGreal

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:28 pm

  Former speaker unleashes plan to equip Cubans with cellphone cameras to spy on instances of authoritarian repressionNewt Gingrich has promised to liberate Cuba one camera at a time.The Republican candidate sought to win over Latino voters in Miami on Friday with a scheme to flood the communist-ruled island with cellphone cameras so the population can film the authorities at work in order to discourage repression. The proposal was met with bafflement from some of the delegates Gingrich was addressing at the Hispanic Leadership Network.After condemning Barack Obama for his support of the Arab…

• Jean Wyllys, Brazil's first openly gay MP, takes fight to the religious right

  Tom Phillips

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:27 am

  Stance against homophobia has made former Big Brother contestanta hate figure for religious zealots, but he has vowed to keep battlingIn the sitting room of his eighth-floor Copacabana apartment, Jean Wyllys has hung a multicoloured portrait of one of his closest allies: the dragon-slaying Saint George. In Wyllys' native Brazil, George represents Ogun, the Yoruba god of war, politics and fire.And Wyllys – Brazil's first openly gay MP and a man locked in conflict with the country's powerful religious right – needs all the support he can get."It is a difficult battle to fight. Sometimes I…

• Ecuador police recruits abused – video

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:51 am

  Controversial images showing mistreatment of police recruits have been leaked to the press in Ecuador

• Efraín Ríos Montt: Guatemala human rights groups welcome genocide trial

  Rory Carroll

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:21 am

  Judge rules that Guatemala's former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt must face charges of genocide and crimes against humanityHuman rights groups celebrated on Friday after a court in Guatemala ruled that the former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt, who presided over one of Latin America's bloodiest civil wars, will face trial on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.Members of the Ixil tribe, which suffered horrific atrocities at the hands of the army, said they had waited decades for this moment but expressed disappointment that the retired general was placed under house arrest rather…

• Guatemalans march against domestic violence – in pictures

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:13 am

  Around 12,000 people climbed an inactive volcano near the capital, Guatemala City, this week to protest against domestic violence in the country

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  World news: Anglicanism | guardian.co.uk

• Archbishop of York: don't legalise gay marriage

  Conal Urquhart

  28 Jan 2012 | 5:47 am

  Dr John Sentamu says government should not alter centuries-old social structures, but rights campaigner accuses him of being 'religious authoritarian'The government should not overturn centuries of tradition by legalising gay marriage, the archbishop of York has said.Dr John Sentamu, the second most senior bishop in the Church of England, said the church did not object to the introduction of civil partnerships in 2004, but that marriage should only be between men and women."If you genuinely would like the registration of civil partnerships to happen in a more general way, most people will say…

• Letters: Debt to the bishops

  26 Jan 2012 | 3:00 pm

  Simon Jenkins (Comment, 25 January) repeats the fallacy that a vicar's stipend of around £22,000 takes him below the proposed benefit cap. The clergy also receive free housing, have their council tax paid and get many other benefits, taking the total to around £37,000 pa. And vicars with children get child benefit. Jenkins claims to remember no bishop warning that the "borrowing and spending spree could not continue". He must have missed Bishop Peter Selby's seminal book, Grace and Mortgage, published in 1997 and reissued in 2007 because it had so accurately predicted the current crisis.

• Vicar jailed for carrying out sham marriages

  26 Jan 2012 | 8:57 am

  Rev Canon Dr John Magumba presided over so many weddings he was put in charge of working party on marriages for foreignersA Church of England vicar has been jailed for two and a half years after carrying out dozens of sham marriages allowing illegal immigrants to live in the UK.The Rev Canon Dr John Magumba was presiding over so many weddings involving foreign nationals his diocese put him in charge of a working party on how to handle marriages for foreigners – and how to spot sham weddings.Magumba, a father of six originally from Uganda, "asked no questions" when marrying a stream of…

• Tim Livesey: Ed Miliband's new chief of staff plunges into the thick of it

  Stephen Bates

  25 Jan 2012 | 1:23 pm

  Are internecine Anglican church politics and Catholic turmoil over child abuse adequate preparation for the Labour snakepit?Given Ed Miliband's start to the year, you might think he is in need of prayer – but that's not necessarily why his new chief of staff, Tim Livesey, will be on retreat at a Catholic monastery in Sussex this week, before starting work in the Labour leader's office on Monday. The party, whose leadership Alastair Campbell once claimed "does not do God", is about to be joined by someone who most definitely does.Livesey, 52, joins Miliband's team from Lambeth Palace, where…

• The Church of England's fudge on female bishops is breathtaking | Andrew Brown

  Andrew Brown

  24 Jan 2012 | 5:58 am

  In attempting to mollify opponents of female bishops, the House of Bishops has simply nourished the resistanceThe Church of England's House of Bishops – for which, read the archbishops of Canterbury and York – has explained how they hope to mollify the opponents of female clergy. The proposals are breathtaking.The archbishops envisage that the Church of England, once it has female bishops, will continue ordaining men who do not accept these women, finding them jobs they will deign to accept, and promoting some of them to be bishops who will work to ensure the continued supply of male…

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  World news: Animals | guardian.co.uk

• In pictures : Week in wildlife

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:08 pm

  A curious chimp, a parading frog and a pardoned beaver – it's the best of this week's images from the natural world

• Poaching for meat poses new extinction risk to Thai elephants

  26 Jan 2012 | 9:00 am

  Thailand's revered national symbol is being poached not just for its tusks, but now for its meatTwo wild elephants were found slaughtered last month in a national park in western Thailand, alerting authorities to the new practice of consuming elephant meat."The poachers took away the elephants' sex organs and trunks … for human consumption," Damrong Phidet, director-general of Thailand's wildlife agency, told the Associated Press. Some meat was to be consumed without cooking, like "elephant sashimi," he said.Consuming elephant meat is not common in Thailand, but some Asian cultures believe…

• Uggie the dog to hang up his collar and retire after the Oscars

  Ben Child

  26 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am

  Hollywood's favourite canine actor, and star of The Artist, set to retire from movies after a triumphant end to his careerHe has been the canine star of awards season and looks likely to triumph at next month's inaugural Golden Collar awards, a ceremony for Hollywood hounds. But Uggie the dog's brief stint in the spotlight is coming to an end after it was revealed the chirpy Jack Russell and star of Oscars frontrunner The Artist is to retire from the movies later this year.Uggie will take a well-deserved rest after a whirlwind publicity tour to promote Michel Hazanavicius's silent, black and…

• Pass notes No 3,114: British dogs

  25 Jan 2012 | 1:59 pm

  The number of native dogs being bred in Britain has fallen, due to our growing preference for exotic houndsAge: As old as the wolves – or in dog years, seven times that.Appearance: Missing.Yikes – I knew times were hard but I didn't realise people had been reduced to – you know – that yet. What are you talking about?Taking dogs off the street and eating them for dinner. That's what you mean by "missing", yes? No, you sociopath. I mean the sharp decline in the number of native hounds being bred due to a growing preference for exotic breeds.Oh. Sorry, my…

• Who do we fear more – the dogs or their owners? | Zoe Williams

  Zoe Williams

  25 Jan 2012 | 1:38 pm

  Scaremongering about pets being used as weapons is displaced prejudice against (usually) young men with staffs and bull terriersOn Saturday a six-year-old girl in a park in Chingford, north-east London, was attacked by a dog and lost part of her ear. The animal's owner took off, but gave himself up the next day and was charged yesterday.On Tuesday the BBC screened Death Row Dogs, which was not related to this case – rather, it purported to be an exposé of the injuries caused by dogs, which are "at a record high and rising". The press release continues: "Sadly fatalities are not uncommon",…

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  Science: Archaeology | guardian.co.uk

• Temple of Mithras comes home

  Maev Kennedy

  19 Jan 2012 | 7:27 am

  Construction work forces return of remains of Roman temple to the god Mithras to original London home after 58 yearsOne Saturday afternoon in September 1954, a handsome, faintly smiling god looked up from the London mud. His name was Mithras, and the rediscovered Roman temple to his cult became a sensation in a gloomy postwar capital pitted with bombsites and still recovering from rationing.The temple was also about to become Britain's most mobile Roman site. Fifty-seven years ago it was in the way of an office block development and was dismantled and moved to the street level roof of a car…

• Unique Roman cavalry helmet pieced together 10 years after discovery

  Maev Kennedy

  10 Jan 2012 | 9:19 am

  Exceptionally early example of Roman helmet to go on display after years of work piecing together thousands of fragmentsA silver-gilt Roman cavalry helmet of international importance has been pieced together at the British Museum, from thousands of fragments of corroded metal lifted in a block of mud from a Leicestershire hillside more than 10 years ago.The work has occupied a team of conservators for years. The arguments about the mystery of such a high status object – possibly buried in the year of the Roman invasion of Britain, together with a mass of Roman and British coins and guarded…

• China's tomb raiders laying waste to thousands of years of history

  Tania Branigan

  1 Jan 2012 | 9:05 am

  Bulldozers and dynamite used to strip priceless artefacts from remote sites, with booty sold on to wealthy collectorsChina's extraordinary historical treasures are under threat from increasingly aggressive and sophisticated tomb raiders, who destroy precious archaeological evidence as they swipe irreplaceable relics.The thieves use dynamite and even bulldozers to break into the deepest chambers – and night vision goggles and oxygen canisters to search them. The artefacts they take are often sold on within days to international dealers.Police have already stepped up their campaign against…

• Durham prisoner of war camp to be saved

  Maev Kennedy

  29 Dec 2011 | 2:23 pm

  English Heritage to invest £500,000 into the set of farm buildings decorated with nostalgic scenes by homesick GermansA £500,000-rescue has been launched to save the battered remains of a canteen and theatre covered with nostalgic scenes by homesick German prisoners.They form part of Harperley prisoner of war camp in Durham, the only camp to have scheduled monument status which puts it on a par with Stonehenge.English Heritage is investing £500,000 on emergency repairs without requiring any matching funding from the private owners, a rare move for the cash-strapped organisation, reflecting…

• Napoleon Bonaparte and Egypt's lost scrolls

  Jonathan Jones

  22 Dec 2011 | 9:06 am

  The recent destruction of an historic document in Cairo offers a stark warning that Egypt's art and history is under threatNapoleon Bonaparte was an extraordinary and contradictory man: a warlord who saw himself as a champion of civilisation. One of his most ambitious attempts to prove himself a cultural as well as military titan was to commission a team of scholars to produce the legendary Description de l'Egypte. This was the first thorough attempt to study the antiquities and geography of this ancient civilisation, a vast artistic and scientific work that was published in 10 huge folio…

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  Art and design: Architecture | guardian.co.uk

• Interview: architects Richard Rogers, Graham Stirk and Ivan Harbour

  Charlotte Higgins

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:06 pm

  Celebrated architect Richard Rogers and his partners discuss £140m penthouses, John Prescott's ministerial 'flair' and Prince Charles's strange ideas about architectureRichard Rogers, at 78, is not about to slow down. "I am enjoying myself, so why would I retire?" says the architect of the Pompidou Centre and the Lloyd's of London building. "I'd like to think I'll be learning a new language or something when I die."But even a master builder can't go on for ever, which is why Richard Rogers Partnership discreetly changed its name, some five years ago, to Rogers Stirk Harbour and…

• Constructive criticism: the week in architecture

  Jonathan Glancey

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:53 am

  Postmodernism looks dead and soon-to-be demolished in the shape of Marco Polo House, but lives on in the Hotel Le Berger; and a children's story conjures up the real magic of architecture"Modern Architecture died in St Louis, Missouri on July 15, 1972 at 3.32pm (or thereabouts) when the infamous Pruitt Igoe scheme, or rather several of its slab blocks, were given the final coup de grace by dynamite." Whether this is true or not is debatable, yet the claim made by Charles Jencks at the start of his influential 1977 book The New Paradigm in Architecture: The Language of Postmodernism set the…

• Alain de Botton reveals plans for 'temple to atheism' in heart of London

  Robert Booth

  26 Jan 2012 | 3:08 pm

  Writer wants to build tower to celebrate life on earth as an antidote to Richard Dawkins' 'destructive' approach to atheismPlans to build a £1m "temple for atheists" among the international banks and medieval church spires of the City of London have sparked a clash between two of Britain's most prominent non-believers.The philosopher and writer Alain de Botton is proposing to build a 46-metre (151ft) tower to celebrate a "new atheism" as an antidote to what he describes as Professor Richard Dawkins's "aggressive" and "destructive" approach to non-belief.Rather than attack religion, De Botton…

• Adrian Cave obituary

  26 Jan 2012 | 6:26 am

  The architectural career of my friend Adrian Cave, who has died of cancer aged 76, exemplifies the way disability issues have moved to the foreground of our culture. At an age when others consider retiring, Adrian embraced the concept of inclusive design and pioneered the transformation of disabled access to public buildings, so that it became integral to the creative vision rather than an add-on.Adrian was the UK's first registered access consultant. In the past 10 years, he worked with architects including Norman Foster and Herzog & de Meuron and advised at the formative stages of…

• Alain de Botton's 'temples for atheists' have a foundational flaw

  Steve Rose

  26 Jan 2012 | 5:08 am

  Aren't believers just as likely to appreciate a shrine to perspective? And doesn't the Large Hadron Collider qualify as a rationalist temple? De Botton's doctrine feels a trifle holyPerhaps emboldened by the success of the atheist bus, or his own Living Architecture initiative (in which top architects design desirable holiday homes), or the fact that he's got a new book to promote, Alain de Botton is now proposing a series of temples for atheists to be built around the UK."Why should religious people have the most beautiful buildings in the land?" he asks. "It's time atheists had their own…

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  World news: Argentina | guardian.co.uk

• Argentinian president returns to work amid Falklands row - video

  26 Jan 2012 | 6:52 am

  In her first public appearance since undergoing surgery for what was thought to be a cancerous tumour, Argentina's president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, comments on the Falkland Islands issue. Fernández does not want to directly address David Cameron's statements about Argentina's claims over the Falklands, but says Britain should comply with the United Nations resolution on decolonisation

• Latin America confronts state atrocities of bloody past

  Rory Carroll

  25 Jan 2012 | 9:32 am

  Ex-Guatemalan dictator Ríos Montt faces genocide charges as presidents in El Salvador and Colombia apologise for massacresLatin America is confronting past civil wars and dictatorships this week with a series of prosecutions and apologies that are shining a light on decades-old atrocities.Governments and courts in Guatemala, Argentina, Colombia and El Salvador moved to acknowledge and possibly punish state-sanctioned violence during cold war-era campaigns against leftwing insurgents.Human rights campaigners welcomed the initiatives but warned that the violence of the drug war in central…

• Hugh Carless obituary

  Alexander Maitland

  22 Jan 2012 | 7:30 am

  Distinguished diplomat who was immortalised in Eric Newby's A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush, the 1958 account of their two-man expeditionHugh Carless, who has died aged 86, had a long and distinguished career in the diplomatic service. A gifted linguist and a voracious reader, admired for his integrity and intellect, he was charmingly modest, yet fascinating to talk to. Decisive, patient and loyal, he was an ideal man in a crisis. All these attributes were immortalised in A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush, the writer Eric Newby's 1958 account of their two-man expedition to an inhospitable area of…

• Falklands colonialism is coming from David Cameron, not Argentina | Flavia Dzodan

  Flavia Dzodan

  19 Jan 2012 | 9:40 am

  Cameron cannot respect the right to self-determination of the Falklanders while denying it to South American statesI laughed heartily as I read the news last night. British prime minister David Cameron accused my birth country, Argentina, of "colonialism" over the Falkland Islands. I originally read about his jibe on an Argentinian news site, and immediately searched for a report in English – I thought this had to be a hilarious "lost in translation" mistake. It wasn't. Indeed, Cameron warned the British parliament: "What the Argentinians have been saying recently, I would argue, is far…

• Falklands sabre-rattling: Cameron should stick to bullying Miliband | Michael White

  Michael White

  19 Jan 2012 | 7:10 am

  This is not 1982, and it is foolish of David Cameron to start making wild statements about the Falklands as if it wereAs soon as I heard David Cameron suggest at Wednesday's PMQs that Argentina's latest squeeze on the Falkland Islands was "far more like colonialism" than Britain's stance on the subject I knew there would be trouble. Sure enough, 8,000 miles across the global village in Buenos Aires, the home secretary denounced the remark as "totally offensive".We can expect more of this on both sides as the 30th anniversary of the Argentinian junta's invasion approaches. Sabre-rattling may…

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  Art and design: Art | guardian.co.uk

• This week's new exhibitions

  Robert Clark, Skye Sherwin

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:06 pm

  Santiago Sierra, LondonIt's often said that Santiago Sierra's art is shocking, not because he's had junkies tattooed in exchange for a hit, or paid people living on the breadline to hide inside sculptures around which his collectors sip drinks. Rather, what makes this Spanish artist's stuff provocative is that his audience, instead of being scandalised, digest it all so easily. Fact is, we're all so numbed to human rights horrors that Sierra's "real" metaphors seem like small change. Now he's exploring what happens when you say no, or at least what happened when he took a giant sculpture of…

• Exhibitionist: The week's art shows in pictures

  Skye Sherwin, Robert Clark

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:05 pm

  From Matthew Darbyshire in Glasgow to David Shrigley in London, here's what's happening in art around the countrySkye SherwinRobert Clark

• David Shrigley: one of the cleverest, funniest conceptual artists

  Nicholas Lezard

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:54 pm

  Cartoon or work of art? From his stuffed animals to slogan teatowels, Shrigley's work is simple but profoundIt's the image everyone knows best – so well known that we're not even going to use it as an illustration here: a Jack Russell, stuffed, standing up, holding in its paws a sign saying "I'm dead". There is also a version in which the stuffed animal is a cat.Several things strike one when looking at this. The first reaction – I've tried this out on a few people who have somehow managed not to see the image yet – is laughter: a short, shocked laugh that suddenly evaporates, like a…

• National Gallery assistants escalate their dispute over staffing cuts

  Lizzy Davies

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:02 am

  Policy of 'doubling up' leads to second strike and further discontent from staff who say security is at riskIn room 34 of the National Gallery, under the forbidding eye of Reynolds's Lord Heathfield, visitors are informed that among the mists and swirls of a Turner lurks the tiniest wisp of a hare.For them, it is a point of intrigue; for the assistant on duty, says Neville Maguire, it is a potential hazard. "It's a tiny sliver of paint and people are always getting up close to it – pointing and actually touching it."He and his colleagues all have their stories to tell: of the woman who fell…

• Ori Gersht, David Shrigley and JMW Turner – the week in art

  Jonathan Jones

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:49 am

  Gersht's powerful new show uses film and photography to bear witness to the second world war, while a great British wit hits the Hayward – all in your weekly missive from the art frontlineExhibition of the week: Ori Gersht – This Storm Is What We Call Progress The face of 85-year-old Yehudit Arnon glows in darkness, marked by time and suffering but also by achievement and triumph. As a child she was ordered to dance for guards at Auschwitz. She refused. Her punishment was to stand outside in the snow – she does not know for how long. She told herself that if she survived she would…

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  Art and design news, reviews, comment and features | guardian.co.uk

• Interview: architects Richard Rogers, Graham Stirk and Ivan Harbour

  Charlotte Higgins

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:06 pm

  Celebrated architect Richard Rogers and his partners discuss £140m penthouses, John Prescott's ministerial 'flair' and Prince Charles's strange ideas about architectureRichard Rogers, at 78, is not about to slow down. "I am enjoying myself, so why would I retire?" says the architect of the Pompidou Centre and the Lloyd's of London building. "I'd like to think I'll be learning a new language or something when I die."But even a master builder can't go on for ever, which is why Richard Rogers Partnership discreetly changed its name, some five years ago, to Rogers Stirk Harbour and…

• This week's new exhibitions

  Robert Clark, Skye Sherwin

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:06 pm

  Santiago Sierra, LondonIt's often said that Santiago Sierra's art is shocking, not because he's had junkies tattooed in exchange for a hit, or paid people living on the breadline to hide inside sculptures around which his collectors sip drinks. Rather, what makes this Spanish artist's stuff provocative is that his audience, instead of being scandalised, digest it all so easily. Fact is, we're all so numbed to human rights horrors that Sierra's "real" metaphors seem like small change. Now he's exploring what happens when you say no, or at least what happened when he took a giant sculpture of…

• Skye Sherwin: A Good Look

  Skye Sherwin

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:05 pm

  The Guide's art critic, Skye Sherwin, casts her eye over a month of pop culture imagesIKEA catalogueCarl Kleiner's new book of Ikea photography does for kitchenware what Renaissance painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo did for vegetables in his weird portraits of men with bulging onion cheeks and tufty carrot beards.Shame movie posterThis dishevelled sheet – colour-coded like everything else in artist Steve McQueen's sex addict film Shame, to the antihero's eyes – gives away as much as it hides. Memories of writhing bodies are written in its creases. It surely references the late nihilist painter…

• Family life

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:05 pm

  Readers' favourite photographs, songs and recipesSnapshot: Dad on a rare holiday in the 1930sWhat a great time these young men are having. A group of lads sharing a rare holiday in the 30s, determined to have a ball. The rolled shirtsleeves and vests suggest hot weather. My father, Ben, is the one astride his motorcycle on the far left of the photograph, which I think may have been taken on the Isle of Man. I know Dad went there in his youth to watch the TT racing.Ben was born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, in 1906, and worked for the co-operative movement until the 1930s when,…

• Exhibitionist: The week's art shows in pictures

  Skye Sherwin, Robert Clark

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:05 pm

  From Matthew Darbyshire in Glasgow to David Shrigley in London, here's what's happening in art around the countrySkye SherwinRobert Clark

• 

  Business: Asda | guardian.co.uk

• Asda reveals plans to create 5,000 new jobs

  23 Jan 2012 | 12:19 am

  Retailer will open 25 stores, refurbish 43 existing outlets and invest in three new depots in 2012Asda, the UK's second-biggest supermarket, has announced plans to create around 5,000 jobs in a £500m expansion drive this year.The retailer's plans, welcomed by the prime minister, David Cameron, will see it open 25 stores, refurbish 43 existing outlets and invest in three new depots in 2012.Asda said it would create up to 5,000 jobs on top of the 30,000 staff it took on last year when it opened about a dozen stores and absorbed 147 Netto sites and their staff after acquiring the discount…

• Who pays the Tesco CEO's wages of £6.9m a year? We do | Zoe Williams

  Zoe Williams

  18 Jan 2012 | 1:30 pm

  When low supermarket wages are supplemented by state benefits, it allows obscene profits to be made at taxpayers' expenseThe first time I heard the phrase "state-subsidised corporate super-profits" was last June, at a conference of the pressure group Compass, in a discussion about meeting child poverty targets by 2020 (the title was intended as a bleak joke, I think). Someone in the audience said that the very existence of "in-work benefits" was evidence of the government subsidising the bloated profits of huge corporations.This was underlined by the arcane terminology – a…

• Tesco attempts to win back customers

  Mark King

  18 Jan 2012 | 9:46 am

  The supermarket's £5 off offer seeks to reverse the failed Price Drop campaign, which saw rival supermarkets triumph over the Christmas periodTesco is heavily promoting an offer to lure shoppers back to its stores after admitting its last campaign to win customers had fallen flat.The supermarket giant has taken out full-page adverts in newspapers to promote its latest deal – the promise of £5 off your next shop if you spend £40 in a store or online.With the tag line "It's just our way of saying 'Thanks'", the £5 voucher will be given to shoppers who spend £40 up to and including 22…

• Tesco shake-up after £5bn battering

  Zoe Wood

  12 Jan 2012 | 3:02 pm

  Supermarket giant vows to transform stores after dismal Christmas sales dent company's stock market valueTesco is to launch a complete overhaul of its supermarkets, including radical curbs on the opening of giant out-of-town superstores, after suffering its worst Christmas in decades.Nearly £5bn was wiped off the company's stock market value on Thursday after the supermarket juggernaut hit the wall during the peak selling season. The firm has broken 30 years of unchecked financial success with the shock warning that UK profits could fall in the coming year.The humbling of the supermarket…

• Retail sales in December up 4% as bargain hunters piled into shops

  Larry Elliott, Zoe Wood

  9 Jan 2012 | 6:05 pm

  British Retail Consortium said December was the best trading month of the year with a dazzling pre-Christmas week of tradingA rush to the shops to snap up bargains in the last days before Christmas provided shops and stores with one of their best trading months of 2011 in December, the British Retail Consortium said on Tuesday.Despite the collapse of lingerie chain La Senza and a low-key performance by supermarket group Morrisons, the BRC said deep discounting meant sales in December were 4.1% higher than in the same month of 2010.Stephen Robertson, the lobby group's director general, said:…

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  World news : Asia Pacific roundup | guardian.co.uk

• Rare minerals dearth threatens global renewables industry

  John Vidal

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:55 am

  China's near-exclusive access to terbium and yttrium sent prices soaring in 2011, potentially hobbling clean energy industryShortages of a handful of rare minerals could slow the future growth of the burgeoning renewable energy industries, and affect countries' chances of limiting greenhouse gas emissions, business leaders were told at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week.Last year, prices of many scarce minerals exploded, rising as much as 10 times over 2010 levels before dropping back, said PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).Terbium, yttrium, dysprosium, europium and neodymium are widely…

• Indonesian protests force government to revoke gold mining permits

  Kate Hodal

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:53 am

  Joint Indonesian-Australian mining venture halted after string of violent protests at which two were killedIndonesia has revoked permits for a joint Indonesian-Australian mining venture on Sumbawa island after a string of violent protests in which two people died and a government office was set alight.The country's leading environmental group, however, said it doubted the government's pledge was an "honest commitment".Thousands of protesters rioted on Thursday in Bima, Sumbawa – 1,330km east of the capital, Jakarta – where they set fire to the district head's office to demand an end to…

• Maori heads returned to New Zealand after 200 years - video

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:17 am

  Twenty tattooed Maori heads have been repatriated from France to New Zealand after more than 200 years. A team from Wellington's Te Papa museum plans to trace the origin of the heads and return them to their communities. More than 500 heads of Maori ancestors remain in collections around the world

• Experts cast doubt on Japan nuclear plant tests

  Justin McCurry

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:36 am

  Japanese government ordered tests on all reactors after Fukushima meltdown, but advisers say they do not prove a plant is safeAdvisers to Japan's nuclear safety agency have said power plant stress tests do not prove that a nuclear plant is safe, as the country faces the prospect of a summer without a single nuclear reactor in operation.Last year, the Japanese government ordered the nuclear authorities to conduct tests on all Japan's reactors after the 11 March meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi raised questions about the safety of nuclear power, particularly in a country prone to earthquakes and…

• Australian Open ballboy's catch 'worthy of Ricky Ponting' - video

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:33 am

  Footage of 14-year-old ballboy Dylan Colaci catching a stray ball from Roger Federer

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  Film: Baftas | guardian.co.uk

• Awards season 2011-12: All the major nominees and winners, including Oscars nominations

  Katy Stoddard

  24 Jan 2012 | 9:00 am

  The 2011 awards season is hotting up. In the run-up to the Oscars, track the key nominees and winners here; can you predict who will triumph this year?• Get the dataThe Academy Awards nominations have been announced, and we're one step closer to finding out who will scoop the Oscars this awards season.As expected, Jean Dujardin (The Artist) and George Clooney (The Descendants), who both won Golden Globes last week, head the best actor nominations.Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady) and Michelle Williams (My Week With Marilyn), who also shared the glory at the Golden Globes, are nominated in the…

• Close up: Buried under a pile of statuettes

  Andrew Pulver

  19 Jan 2012 | 10:53 am

  There's no denying it - awards season is finally upon us. Dust off that tux and/or tiara, and join the partyThe big storyYou couldn't escape it: this was the week when the awards season (for so we must describe it) kicked into high gear. On Sunday night, we had the Golden Globes, which was monitored in a fantastically popular liveblog by Hadley Freeman and Joshua Alston. It was the first major red carpet splurge of the season, and – as was widely expected – French silent film The Artist walked off with the biggest haul of gongs. Ricky Gervais tried but failed to disgrace himself,…

• Baftas 2012 shortlist: 'It reflects the quality of films out this year' - video

  Henry Barnes, Xan Brooks, Andrew Pulver

  17 Jan 2012 | 9:10 am

  The Guardian's film team, Catherine Shoard, Xan Brooks, Andrew Pulver and Henry Barnes, round up the nominations for the 65th British Academy film awards, which will see The Artist, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and My Week with Marilyn in the running for multiple gongs on 12 FebruaryHenry BarnesXan BrooksAndrew Pulver

• The Artist: Do you believe the hype?

  17 Jan 2012 | 6:15 am

  It stole the show at the Golden Globes and is leading the running at the Baftas. And it has a cute dog. The Artist looks set to triumph this awards season. What do you think of the film?

• Baftas 2012 shortlist: neither Kim Kardashian nor Kate Middleton

  Xan Brooks

  17 Jan 2012 | 4:53 am

  This year's nominations are neither trashy nor po-faced. The usual heavyweight suspects are in, balanced by thornier fareIt is at this point that our cosy awards season tips into air-traffic nightmare, like some fevered, Sweded version of Pushing Tin re-enacted with gold statuettes. The Golden Globes have barely left the runway, outbound for oblivion, when the Baftas hove into view, its business class crammed with many of the same passengers we thought we'd only just waved off. The whole thing's confusing; it's starting to blur. Surely there must be an award for the harassed, faceless…

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  World news: Bangladesh | guardian.co.uk

• Bangladesh: life after cyclone Aila – in pictures

  23 Jan 2012 | 9:16 am

  Cyclone Aila caused widespread devastation in south-west Bangladesh when it struck in May 2009, claiming lives, destroying homes and leaving tens of thousands of people stranded in flooded villages. Three years on, NGOs are still striving to rebuild communities and improve the climate resilience of local villages

• Bangladeshi military 'foils coup plot'

  19 Jan 2012 | 9:43 am

  Up to 16 officers with 'extreme religious views' plotted to overthrow prime minister, Bangladeshi military claimsThe Bangladeshi military says it has foiled a plot by a group of hardline officers, their retired colleagues and Bangladeshi conspirators living abroad to overthrow the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina.The coup attempt underlined tensions between Hasina's government and elements of the military that have lingered since a mutiny in 2009.Brigadier General Muhammad Masud Razzaq told a news conference the military had specific evidence that up to 16 current and former Bangladeshi military…

• Developed world failing on climate funds pledge, says Bangladeshi minister

  Fiona Harvey

  2 Jan 2012 | 12:31 pm

  Dipu Moni criticises 'dismal' efforts to deliver billions of pounds in aid to help poorer countries cope with environmental changeEfforts by developed countries to redistribute promised funds to help poorer parts of the world avoid environmental disasters have been described as "dismal" by the foreign minister of Bangladesh.Dipu Moni said wealthier nations must begin immediately delivering the billions of pounds' worth of aid they have earmarked for climate change projects. "Our achievements – social, economic, environmental – of the past decades will be reversed if [rich countries] take…

• Flower power gives Bangladeshi women a way out of poverty

  18 Dec 2011 | 10:30 am

  Poor women trained to produce paper from water hyacinth stems and make Christmas decorations to sell in the westAsk a farmer in Bangladesh's deep south about the water hyacinth and he will say it is a curse. The floating plants form broad green blankets that strangle waterways and create a prime breeding ground for mosquitoes. But for Minati Mondol, a 55-year-old widow in the Agailjhara area of Barisal district near the Bay of Bengal, the hyacinth stands for the hope embodied by Christmas.Mondol is part of a group of artisans who turn the stem of the plant into Christmas figures, stars,…

• Talk point: Fighting the stigma of disability

  Liz Ford

  15 Dec 2011 | 6:33 am

  Mosharraf Hossain has battled against prejudice in Bangladesh. Find out about him and other people living with disability across the globeInteractive: Global development voices - living with disabilityMosharraf Hossain has had more than his fair share of hurdles to jump during his lifetime. Since contracting polio at the age of three, Hossain, who lives in Dhaka, Bangladesh, has had to challenge stereotypes and stigma in a country that, although improving, is still not quite accepting of people with disabilities.Fortunately, Hossain's parents instilled in him and his six siblings a feeling of…

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  Business: Barclays | guardian.co.uk

• Public Eye award singles out Brazilian mining company, Barclays

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:44 am

  Award given at the same time as the World Economic Forum strives to embarrass companies for 'corporate irresponsibility'Brazilian mining giant Vale picked up the dubious distinction today of being the corporation with the most "contempt for the environment and human rights" in the world.After clocking over 25,000 votes online, the world's second largest mining firm was declared the winner of The Public Eye, an annual awards ceremony organised by Swiss nonprofit, the Berne Declaration and Greenpeace Switzerland. The awards website notes that Vale is constructing the Belo Monte dam in the…

• Taxpayers hit by more banking sell-offs

  25 Jan 2012 | 6:12 am

  Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group, in which the UK taxpayer holds large stakes, are the FTSE's worst performers on more Eurozone fearsIt is not a great day's trading so far for the UK taxpayer, who (of course) owns large stakes Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group. The pair of lenders are currently occupying the top two spots on the FTSE 100's biggest loser board. RBS is off 3% at 26.23p and Lloyds is down 2.5% at 30.87p.They are not the only banks being whacked, either. Barclays is not far behind, shedding 1.9% to 214.45p and HSBC has lost 1.6% to 531.5p.The feeling…

• Cairn climbs down over £2.5m share award to chairman, as FTSE falters

  Nick Fletcher

  24 Jan 2012 | 3:18 am

  Protests from shareholders lead company to withdraw proposal, while Greek concerns re-emergeCairn Energy has bowed to shareholder pressure and withdrawn a proposed £2.5m share award to chairman Sir Bill Gammell.The oil explorer had said it would give Gammell, who has stepped up from chief executive to chairman, around £4.9m in total. That included the share award, plus another £1m which would be given to charities of his choice and £1.4m which the company said was due because he was entitled to his chief executive package for 2010/11.The payments were linked to the company's…

• Ocado jumps on bid tales but FTSE 100 fades after four days of rises

  Nick Fletcher

  20 Jan 2012 | 11:14 am

  Renewed speculation of a takeover lifts online grocer, but analysts remain scepticalOcado shares have been steadily recovering from recent lows after the online grocer reported better than expected Christmas trading, and yesterday they moved higher still on the back of vague takeover talk.The company, whose main supplier Waitrose is increasing rolling out a rival delivery service, fell to around 52p last year following problems with its warehouse and distribution system and amid fears of growing competition. The festive performance was helped by the company calling a temporary halt to site…

• BP could have to pay $25bn to settle Gulf oil spill claims, says bank

  Nick Fletcher

  19 Jan 2012 | 10:56 am

  Morgan Stanley says settlement could be double BP's provisionsBP is facing the prospect of civil litigation at the end of February regarding the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster.The suit is set to address economic loss, injury and environmental claims following the spillage in the Gulf of Mexico, including those brought against BP and its partners and contractors by the US Department of Justice.Analysts at Morgan Stanley believe BP and the DoJ may come to a settlement before the case starts:The outcome of [the case] if it were to start, would be particularly uncertain and difficult to predict.

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  Media: BBC | guardian.co.uk

• Mark Thompson: a mixed BBC legacy?

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:20 pm

  Fellow executives and union foes run the rule over the DG's tenure, from the licence fee deal to rows over executive payMark Thompson's decision to signal the end of his tenure running the BBC may run the risk of turning him into a lame duck – but the fact remains that once the Olympics are out of the way, his work at the BBC will almost be complete.The painful "Delivering Quality First" cuts process is nearing its end and Thompson has already overseen the current licence fee settlement. Whoever succeeds him will have to oversee a new charter in 2016 and Thompson will be long gone by…

• BBC could hire first female director general

  Ben Dowell

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:04 am

  Helen Boaden and Caroline Thomson have joined leading pack of contenders to replace Mark ThompsonThe BBC could have its first female director general by the end of this year following Mark Thompson's departure, according to TV industry and corporation insiders.Lobbying for the job of BBC director general of the BBC is expected to begin in earnest following MediaGuardian's revelation late on Thursday that Thompson was planning to step down at the end of the year or the beginning of 2013.Officially the BBC is saying there is no vacancy yet as Thompson has not confirmed a departure date, but…

• Media Talk podcast: Mark Thompson to step down as BBC director general

  Dan Sabbagh, Ben Green, Maggie Brown

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:53 am

  Dan Sabbagh is your charming host for this week's Media Talk, which was hastily rewritten in light of news exclusively revealed by MediaGuardian - that Mark Thompson is preparing to step down as director general within the next 12 months.The DG hasn't yet given a precise timetable for his departure but it seems certain that the corporation's Olympic year will be Thompson's eighth and final one at the helm.So, who are the runners and riders for the top job in British television? Did Thompson jump or was he pushed? And what sort of BBC will his successor inherit? Maggie Brown joins us down the…

• Desert island discs: every guest listed

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  What have we learnt from 70 years of Desert Island Discs? See who's been in and what they chose• Get the dataAs Radio 4's Desert Island Discs enters its 70th year, our Scraperwiki spreadsheet reveals a number of themes running through castaways' choices over the past seven decades.With the entire Desert Island Discs archive now available on the BBC Radio 4 website, guests' selections of books and luxuries are comprehensively revealed in all their profound, surprising - and occasionally downright odd - glory.Since the programme began in 1942, a total of 43 guests, including Terry Wogan and…

• BBC bashing continues at Mail | Media Monkey

  Monkey

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:16 am

  The Daily Mail is on the warpath. Paul Dacre's paper used its leader column on Friday to bemoan the BBC's "double standards" in coverage of the Leveson inquiry. "The BBC has dedicated countless hours to forensically covering evidence given to the Leveson inquiry by newspapers and celebrities," the leader starts. "Yet – when outgoing director general Mark Thompson admitted that the corporation had used private detectives more than 230 times – the revelation did not warrant a mention on its main TV bulletins and current affairs shows." This follows criticism of the BBC on page 12 of the…

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  Fashion: Beauty | guardian.co.uk

• Beauty tips: nude tones - video

  Sali Hughes

  28 Jan 2012 | 4:59 pm

  In the lull between Christmas and spring, nude tones can help your skin look clean and fresh. Sali Hughes explains allSali Hughes

• What I see in the mirror: Bear Grylls

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:59 pm

  'The irony is that my biggest scars are from ridiculous things'My face looks as if it's lived a lot of adventures. My wife Shara says I frown too much. I've had quite a bit of eye damage from too much hanging out of helicopters, desert glare and ice reflections from glaciers. I got a bleeding eye and my surgeon told me, "I've been watching your programmes and waiting for you to walk into my office." I should wear sunglasses more, but I think it looks poncey.I've got three boys and they're always asking about my scars. I used to be self-conscious about them, but now I don't mind –…

• Beauty: nudes

  Sali Hughes

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:59 pm

  'There's something very right about nudes for now'It's clichéd but true that when men claim women look better without make-up, they're usually describing a face full of cunningly applied neutral tones. I can't usually be bothered – all that effort for such a subtle effect can seem ungratifying. My approach is generally all (dark eyes or red lips) or nothing (ish – I surrender my blusher for no one). But I feel there's something very right about nudes for now. We're in that seasonal lull – bored with winter spangle, yet to see spring brights. Nudes seem like a chic change of…

• Disney's anti-beard tyranny is not quite overthrown yet | Paul Hamilos

  Paul Hamilos

  25 Jan 2012 | 11:35 am

  The decision to allow hair on its theme park staff's chins is an important victory. But what's with Disney's 'short and neat' rule?Not since King John grudgingly signed along the dotted line of the Magna Carta have we been afforded a moment quite as glorious, or as long overdue, as this. When, one distant day, future historians sit down to chronicle the true turning points in humanity's ceaseless struggle against tyranny and oppression, they will happen upon Disney's decision to allow staff at its theme parks in the US to wear beards – and they will start scribbling furiously.Finally, those…

• A brief history of Rimmel

  Anna Chesters

  23 Jan 2012 | 7:09 am

  Britain's best-selling cosmetics brand began in London in the 19th century, and today is inextricably linked with Kate MossWho's this then?It's another oldie this week. The brand goes back as far as 1834, when a teenage Eugene Rimmel became his father's apprentice at his newly opened perfumery in London. By the age of 24, Eugene was an expert perfumer himself, as well as something of a cosmetics guru, and opened up his own flagship store in Regent Street. When he died, in 1887, his two sons took over the business and it grew and grew. For Rimmel, the eyes had it and particular attention was…

• 

  Politics: Tony Blair | guardian.co.uk

• Mick Jagger pulls out of Davos tea party

  Ben Quinn

  24 Jan 2012 | 5:07 pm

  Rolling Stones singer complains of being used as 'political football' at PM's event to promote Britain in Olympic yearMick Jagger has pulled out of an event due to be hosted by David Cameron at the Davos summit, complaining of being used as a "political football".The Rolling Stones singer had been due to attend a tea party at the Swiss resort as part of a campaign to promote Britain alongside others such as the model, Lily Cole, and the inventor Sir Tim Berners-LeeBut he said in a statement on Tuesday: "During my career I have always eschewed party politics and came to Davos as a guest, as I…

• Tony Blair had 'secret group preparing for euro referendum'

  Patrick Wintour

  22 Jan 2012 | 6:01 pm

  Planning was kept secret to avoid Gordon Brown's disapproval, Peter Hain discloses in autobiographyTony Blair and his aides sanctioned a secret group inside Labour, including the-then Europe minister, Peter Hain, to prepare the ground for a euro referendum during his second term in office.The group was secret partly to avoid Gordon Brown's disapproval, Hain discloses in his autobiography Outside In, to be published on Monday. The episode shows how determined Blair was in 2002 and 2003 to join the euro.Hain reveals that in the middle of 2002 he "talked discreetly to key pro-Europe individuals…

• Occupy London protesters' mock trial bordered on farcical | Alex Aldridge

  Alex Aldridge

  20 Jan 2012 | 8:12 am

  Alex Aldridge struggled at times to keep the faith at a staged war crimes trial for Bush and Blair in a former magistrates courtThe Occupy London protesters have done an impressive clean-up job on the disused magistrates court building they've been squatting since Christmas. But the Arctic temperatures at the war crimes inquiry the group held there on Thursday – the first of three days of mock hearings and trials being staged in the decaying east London building – suggested they'd had trouble getting the heating working. The old courtroom, which last saw action in 1996, was freezing.

• Britain admits 'fake rock' plot to spy on Russians

  Alexandra Topping, Miriam Elder

  19 Jan 2012 | 2:49 am

  Tony Blair's former aide Jonathan Powell says UK was behind plot to spy on Russians with device hidden in fake plastic rockBritain was behind a plot to spy on Russians with a device hidden in a fake plastic rock, a former key UK government official has admitted.Jonathan Powell, former chief of staff to prime minister Tony Blair, admitted in a BBC documentary that allegations made by the Russians in 2006 - dismissed at the time - were in fact true."The spy rock was embarrassing," he said in the BBC2 documentary series, Putin, Russia and the West. "They had us bang to rights. Clearly they had…

• Lucy Mangan's pick of the week: the story, the stat, the quote, the tweet

  Lucy Mangan

  13 Jan 2012 | 6:06 pm

  Lucy Mangan on the people and stories in the media spotlight in the last seven daysThe storyChoices, choicesWhen Wee Eck won (after a fashion) the Scottish parliamentary election, he promised the Caledonian people a referendum on independence sometime in the second half of his term. He kept it vague, and now Dave C and Ed M are pressing him on the point. Partly because they all know the result will be a kick in the balls for the SNP and an improvement in the others' lots, and partly because Salmond has started muttering that instead of an in-out referendum ("Scotland = British or…

• 

  Books: Books blog | guardian.co.uk

• Oscars' big winners will be books

  John Dugdale

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:06 am

  Literary adaptations look set to sweep the board in Hollywood this yearSix of the nine nominations announced this week for Best Picture are based on books, reflecting a recent pattern in which the Oscar lists have consistently and gratifyingly affirmed cinema's dependence on literature. Apart from a modest lurch towards originality in 2010, the previous five years saw line-ups in which half or more of the shortlistees were adaptations, including the winners No Country for Old Men (2008), Slumdog Millionaire (2009) and The King's Speech (2011).It's not classic novels that attract movie-makers.

• Scottish independence won't cut off British literature

  Stuart Kelly

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:29 am

  English and Scottish literature have always been complicated hybrids, and separating the nations won't change thatJust before Alex Salmond gave the Hugo Young lecture, I received an email from the Scottish government announcing their plan to make it compulsory for every schoolchild doing "English" in Scotland to study at least one "Scottish text". Although Robert McCrum wrote, a propos of the lecture, that "if the politics of the United Kingdom become fragmented, then culture will surely follow", I'd suggest that the culture has already fragmented. In the 1980s and 1990s, it was commonplace…

• What are you reading today?

  Hannah Freeman

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:22 am

  It's an endlessly interesting conversation-starter, and we'd like to record your answers on a Flickr galleryWhat are you reading? is often the start of a great conversation. We swap book recommendations and write about the books we've just read on the site, but now we'd like to invite you to answer the question in pictures – don't tell us, show us.To do this we have started a Flickr group called What are you reading today? where we invite you to upload your photos and share with us what you are reading. You can post up to seven photos a week in the group, so if you like, you can share what…

• The future of books, today

  Richard Lea

  26 Jan 2012 | 11:06 am

  There is much talk of bright tomorrows for publishing at New York's Digital Book World expo, but how optimistic are readers?While we've all been thinking about Andrew Miller and the Costa's new enthusiasm short stories and Rushdie's troubles in Jaipur, in New York, publishers have been looking to the future.Many reports from the Digital Book World conference are brimming with positivity, with the independent publisher Dominique Raccah singing the praises of books created "at the end of a community-building process", the author and futurist David Houle celebrating the astonishing fact that…

• François Hollande's Shakespearean faux pas

  Sarah Crown

  26 Jan 2012 | 10:11 am

  The French presidential hopeful has been busy quoting Shakespeare. Question is: which Shakespeare?Had to post this in case anyone has yet to see it (in which case: you're welcome!). Attempting to sum up his anti-Sarkozy message in a speech to his party faithful yesterday, France's presidential frontrunner François Hollande decided to reach for Shakespeare to bolster his rhetoric. The bard, he told his supporters, put it best when he said "They failed because they did not start with a dream."Oh, no he didn't. Turns out the Shakespeare to whom Hollande was referring wasn't the matchless author…

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  Books news, reviews and author interviews | guardian.co.uk

• Great American novelist

  Philip Hensher

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:55 pm

  Leonard is regarded as the greatest American crime writer, surpassing even Raymond Chandler. But it is time to drop the qualification of genreThe best novelists create a world around the reader. You can feel it bubbling up in irrepressible invention. So we have "a guy by the name of Booker, a twenty-five-year old super-dude twice convicted felon" in his Jacuzzi when the telephone rings. No one answers it, and Booker gets out of the Jacuzzi. At the other end of the line, a woman, Moselle, asks him to sit down. When he does, she informs him that he's triggered a bomb in the chair – "when you…

• The Death of Mao by James Palmer

  Rana Mitter

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:55 pm

  Disaster and intrigue in China after the cultural revolutionOn 12 May 2008, a devastating earthquake ripped apart Wenchuan county in Sichuan province, southwest China. Military and civilian rescuers arrived swiftly at the scene, saving countless lives. Although more than 68,000 people died, the number of fatalities could have been much higher.An indication of how much higher had been made clear on 28 July 1976, when the nondescript mining city of Tangshan in northern China was hit by an earthquake which measured 7.8 on the Richter scale and killed some 250,000 people. At the…

• Reading the Arab spring

  Claire Armitstead, Richard Lea, Ian Black, Craig Thompson, Tim Maby, Ahdaf Soueif

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:58 am

  As Egypt celebrates the first anniversary of the Tahrir Square demonstrations, we look to the literature coming out of the Arab world. Ahdaf Soueif explains what it is like to live in Tahrir Square, while the Guardian's Ian Black – just back from in Syria – finds the books that offer the most nuanced picture of the Arab spring. Samir El-Youssef, co-founder of the new online literary magazine The Arab-Israeli Book Review, joins the distinguished translator Peter Clark to discuss the most exciting new writers in Arabic, and the kinds of books they are writing. And the American graphic…

• The future of books, today

  Richard Lea

  26 Jan 2012 | 11:06 am

  There is much talk of bright tomorrows for publishing at New York's Digital Book World expo, but how optimistic are readers?While we've all been thinking about Andrew Miller and the Costa's new enthusiasm short stories and Rushdie's troubles in Jaipur, in New York, publishers have been looking to the future.Many reports from the Digital Book World conference are brimming with positivity, with the independent publisher Dominique Raccah singing the praises of books created "at the end of a community-building process", the author and futurist David Houle celebrating the astonishing fact that…

• Calling George

  Kaui Hart Hemmings

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:55 pm

  I'm asked all the time 'Did you ever in a million years think George Clooney would star in the movie based on your book?'It's a question I get asked all the time. In fact I know when it's coming. I see it on people's faces, this manic glimmer: "Did you ever in a million years think George Clooney would star in the movie based on your book? Isn't it amazing!! You must be so excited!!"I have my canned answers: "It's amazing," "I am thrilled," "I am excited."I also get asked what was it like working with him, being in the same room with him. Their need for a juicy, ground-breaking tidbit is…

• 

  Business: BP | guardian.co.uk

• BP loses attempt to share Deepwater Horizon oil spill costs

  Terry Macalister

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:05 pm

  US court rejects BP's attempt to make rig operator Transocean pay part of compensation bill for Gulf oil disasterAn attempt by BP to offload a major part of its Gulf of Mexico oil-spill compensation bill on to the US rig operator Transocean has been thrown out by a US court.The setback comes in the run-up to the main legal case against BP and its partners on 27 February in New Orleans, which will rule over who is to blame for the Deepwater Horizon accident, in which 11 workers died.Shares in the oil group fell 2.7% after a federal judge upheld a clause in the drilling contract that shielded…

• BP slips after new US court ruling on Gulf disaster, as FTSE fades on eurozone woes

  Nick Fletcher

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:24 am

  Ahead of Gulf spill court case, Federal judge says BP must indemnify rig owner Transocean for certain claimsBP is among the biggest fallers in a downbeat market after a new US court ruling concerning the Gulf of Mexico disaster.A Federal judge said BP must indemnify US group Transocean - which owned the Deepwater Horizon rig which exploded and spilled oil into the Gulf - for some compensatory damage claims, even if Transocean was found to be grossly negligent. But at the same time he ruled BP, owner of the Macondo well, did not have to indemnify Transocean for punitive damages or civil…

• Gulf of Mexico oil spill: BP loses bid to make others pay compensation

  26 Jan 2012 | 8:18 pm

  Judge rules contractors Transocean and Halliburton are not liable for compensation but they still face fines and lawsuitsA US federal judge has told BP that contractors Transocean and Halliburton do not have to help pay compensation over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill because they are protected by their contracts.More than 750m litres of oil spewed into the Gulf of Mexico after the undersea well blew out on 20 April 2010 and was not capped until July.BP, Transocean and Halliburton have been sparring over who was at fault for causing the blowout. Federal investigators have said BP, the well's…

• Former BP boss earns £12m from Iraqi oil venture

  Terry Macalister

  20 Jan 2012 | 12:53 pm

  Tony Hayward pockets first tranche of payments from Kurdistan oil venture with Genel EnergyFormer BP boss, Tony Hayward will pocket more than £12m in a first tranche of payouts less than a year after he set up his own company and then bet on Kurdistan being the next big province for the oil industry.Hayward who left his old employers with a £10m pension pot after the Gulf of Mexico blowout, exercised his rights to a 6.67% stake in the Genel Energy business along with his partners Nat Rothschild and two other executives. The four Genel backers are entitled to a windfall nudging £160m as…

• Ocado jumps on bid tales but FTSE 100 fades after four days of rises

  Nick Fletcher

  20 Jan 2012 | 11:14 am

  Renewed speculation of a takeover lifts online grocer, but analysts remain scepticalOcado shares have been steadily recovering from recent lows after the online grocer reported better than expected Christmas trading, and yesterday they moved higher still on the back of vague takeover talk.The company, whose main supplier Waitrose is increasing rolling out a rival delivery service, fell to around 52p last year following problems with its warehouse and distribution system and amid fears of growing competition. The festive performance was helped by the company calling a temporary halt to site…

• 

  Global: Charlie Brooker | guardian.co.uk

• Charlie Brooker swims with the fishes in Australia

  Charlie Brooker

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:01 pm

  'When you tell people you're going swimming with tuna, they laugh in your face'Swimming with dolphins. Everyone yaps on about wanting to do that before they die. But swimming with tuna? For some reason, when you tell people you're going swimming with tuna, they laugh in your face. It sounds inherently absurd, and I'm not entirely sure why. I think it's because we often encounter tuna in tins. Also – and I know this is a stupid thing to think, but it's hard not to think it – there's that smell. You expect tuna to smell like, well, to smell like tuna, even…

• Charlie Brooker: Green Kit Kats, toilets that lift the seat themselves, helpful strangers – Japan feels like another planet

  Charlie Brooker

  22 Jan 2012 | 2:29 pm

  For westerners it's an experience akin to recovering from a serious head injuryI'm currently on another planet, namely Japan, which for the average westerner is an experience tantamount to recovering from a serious head injury, in that while the world around you is largely recognisable, it somehow makes little sense. Incredibly minor example: they sell green Kit Kats here (not the wrapper – I'm not that easily impressed – I mean the chocolate itself is green).Furthermore, just like someone struggling to reacquaint themselves with everyday life, you have to continually re-learn how to…

• Charlie Brooker: How to realise David Cameron's vision for Britain's film industry

  Charlie Brooker

  15 Jan 2012 | 1:59 pm

  Attention British film-makers: the prime minister requires you to make more commercial movies. Here's howBritish film-makers! Put down those clapperboards and pay attention because David Cameron, who happens to be a huge fan of your work – assuming you're making The King's Speech II – wants you to focus on films likely to be a "commercial success". Which presumably is the last thing you want.Cynics say Cameron knows squit about British films. When that photo of SamCam and Michelle Obama having a coffee morning in the Downing Street flat was released, there didn't seem to be many British…

• Charlie Brooker: Wondering what to give up for New Year? A few suggestions

  Charlie Brooker

  8 Jan 2012 | 2:00 pm

  Here are one or two things I think the rest of humankind should stop doing immediatelyNew Year's resolutions work like this: you think of something you enjoy doing, and then resolve to stop doing it. Smoking, for instance, or drinking, or shunting fistfuls of salted butter down your ravenous maw each morning. By denying yourself some of your few remaining pleasures, you hope to extend your lifespan, so you can spend extra decades forlornly wishing you were smoking or drinking or gorging on butter instead of slowly withering to death in a self-imposed prison of abstinence.Stop being lazy, you…

• Charlie Brooker: A guide to the buzzwords of 2011

  Charlie Brooker

  28 Dec 2011 | 1:59 pm

  Been duped by a 'sock puppet'? Had a go at 'planking'? Living in a 'structured reality'? 2011 threw up some new words and concepts – and here they are explained2011 was a hectic year – so hectic it required its own language. Phrases such as "Lulzsec", "phone hacking" and "Wendi Deng" suddenly became common currency. But why hasn't anyone printed a handy cut-out-and-keep handbook explaining what all this stuff means? Well, actually, they have. And you're already reading it. Shut up and keep going as we start our guide to the Buzzwords of 2011.Sock puppetStop thinking about actual sock…

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  Politics: Gordon Brown | guardian.co.uk

• Outside In by Peter Hain – review

  John Kampfner

  26 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am

  Peter Hain's memoir is the story of a radical turned political misfitThe fire burned in his belly as, aged 10, he watched his parents being arrested. Three years later he spoke at the funeral of a friend executed by the state. Peter Hain became a political activist at a painfully young age, as he witnessed close up the evils of apartheid and the courage of his parents in trying, in their small way, to fight it.His father hounded out of work, eventually they felt they could fight no more. Leaving the material comforts of South Africa for a life in England, one can feel…

• Peter Hain: 'Gordon Brown was decent, but dysfunctional'

  22 Jan 2012 | 6:01 pm

  Extracts from Peter Hain's autobiography, Outside In, portray a prime minister who could not juggle issues or delegateBrown as prime ministerAlthough his work-rate could not have been surpassed, Gordon Brown seemed unable to delegate. Cabinet ministers and permanent secretaries soon complained that they could not get decisions from No 10. Tony somehow managed to juggle dozens of issues at a time, to be focused on the most pressing but to be sufficiently across them all to run a smooth and efficient ship. Gordon drilled down in forensic detail on the issue of the day, neglecting the many…

• Tony Blair had 'secret group preparing for euro referendum'

  Patrick Wintour

  22 Jan 2012 | 6:01 pm

  Planning was kept secret to avoid Gordon Brown's disapproval, Peter Hain discloses in autobiographyTony Blair and his aides sanctioned a secret group inside Labour, including the-then Europe minister, Peter Hain, to prepare the ground for a euro referendum during his second term in office.The group was secret partly to avoid Gordon Brown's disapproval, Hain discloses in his autobiography Outside In, to be published on Monday. The episode shows how determined Blair was in 2002 and 2003 to join the euro.Hain reveals that in the middle of 2002 he "talked discreetly to key pro-Europe individuals…

• Pay freeze to last until 2020 for millions

  Randeep Ramesh

  22 Jan 2012 | 6:01 pm

  Thinktank says rich will prosper but 'squeezed middle' will not regain pre-recession earning power for eight yearsMillions of ordinary families are unlikely to see their earnings return to pre-recession levels until at least 2020, a report from a leading thinktank has warned. But it predicts that the income of the wealthy will continue to rise over the same period.The study, which focuses on the state of the "squeezed middle" and is produced by the independent Resolution Foundation, looks at the situation of 10 million adults, who crucially do not rely heavily on means-tested support from the…

• Rupert Murdoch rant claims are untrue, says Gordon Brown

  Lisa O'Carroll

  16 Jan 2012 | 9:07 am

  Former PM denies allegation at Leveson inquiry that he said he would destroy mogul after he switched papers' support to ToriesGordon Brown has made a dramatic intervention in the Leveson inquiry into press ethics, categorically denying he had phoned Rupert Murdoch threatening to "destroy" him after the Sun switched allegiance from the Labour party to the Conservatives in 2009.The former prime minister denied claims that he had phoned Murdoch and "roared" at him for 20 minutes, allegedly telling the media mogul: "You are trying to destroy me and my party. I will destroy you and your company"…

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  Education: Education + Bullying | guardian.co.uk

• Bullying at school drove girl, 15, to bridge jump death, inquest hears

  Steven Morris

  5 Jan 2012 | 12:15 pm

  Simone Grice, found clutching ragdoll and mobile phone in Redruth, may have used home tutoring computer to meet menA 15-year-old girl leapt off a road bridge to her death after suffering years of bullying by fellow pupils and neighbours, an inquest has heard.Simone Grice plunged 45m (150ft) and was found clinging to her mobile phone and clutching a ragdoll she had cherished since early childhood.Grice, from Redruth in Cornwall, had recently begun to be tutored at home because her school attendance had become so poor. But the inquest in Camborne heard that she may have used the computer…

• Homophobia in school staff rooms should have been consigned to history | Emily Dashwood

  Emily Dashwood

  29 Dec 2011 | 4:00 am

  Racist remarks would not be tolerated – so why do some teachers think it is still acceptable to make anti-gay comments?It was the first month of my job as a newly qualified teacher. "I'd like you to coach girls' football. You'd be a good role model," the head of year said. "Why a good role model?" I asked. "Because you're straight – you're not one of those fucking dykes."I was speechless. This teacher knew nothing about me or my opinions, yet he still felt confident enough to make a series of assumptions: first, about my sexuality; second, that I would not be offended by his words; and…

• Speed read of the latest educational news

  Janet Murray

  21 Nov 2011 | 2:14 pm

  Free schools get spiritual, students get nasty and the Skills Funding Agency chief clams upEnough to make humanists hopping madNews that the founders of the Maharishi free school, which follows the teachings of the Beatles' spiritual guru, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, are hoping to open two more like it hasn't gone down well with the British Humanist Association (BHA). It issued a press release earlier this month objecting to the plans on the basis that Maharishi schools teach transcendental meditation, which "adheres to a number of beliefs based on spiritual teachings that lack evidence" – and…

• How to teach … Anti-Bullying Week

  Jerome Monahan

  14 Nov 2011 | 2:30 pm

  On the Guardian Teacher Network this week you can find lesson plans, practical advice and more from the organisations that make up the Alliance Against BullyingIt's Anti-Bullying Week, and this year the 130-plus organisations that comprise the Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA) are challenging the old "sticks and stones" adage and putting name-calling and all forms of belittling or insulting language in the spotlight. The impetus comes from the 2010 Anti Bullying Alliance youth summit, at which young people identified verbal abuse as especially damaging and which, if left unchallenged, can quickly…

• Why is school such a hard place to be gay?

  Charlie Condou

  10 Nov 2011 | 2:29 pm

  Despite the high profile of young characters such as Kurt and his boyfriend in TV show Glee, two-thirds of gay teenagers are still bullied at school. Charlie Condou, who plays a gay character in Coronation Street, considers why – and what is being done to stop itThe teenage years are tough. Fuelled by hormones, laced with uncertainty, they are the years when we try to work out who we are and find our place in the world. We can swing from intense excitement to extreme embarrassment in a heartbeat, while all the time wanting nothing more than to make friends and fit in. It's hard for…

• 

  World news: Burma | guardian.co.uk

• Eyewitness: Rangoon, Burma

  19 Jan 2012 | 3:55 am

  Photographs from the Guardian Eyewitness series

• My father's release from prison is good. But there is still no reform in Burma | Wai Hnin Pwint Thon

  Wai Hnin Pwint Thon

  15 Jan 2012 | 10:00 am

  This is not a democratic society – and there are as many political prisoners left in jail as there were five years agoOn Friday 13 January I was able to speak with my father Ko Mya Aye, a free man again after being jailed in 2007 for his role in organising protests against the Burmese dictatorship. I was shaking, so excited; I could hardly believe it was true. There have been so many broken promises in the past, so many times when releases were promised and didn't happen, or where only a small number were released and my father was left in jail. He was held in a remote prison, at one point…

• Burma reforms lead to US restoring diplomatic ties - video

  13 Jan 2012 | 3:23 pm

  Secretary of state Hillary Clinton said the United States will exchange ambassadors with Burma in response to its freeing political prisoners and other reforms

• US and Burma to swap ambassadors in 'substantial step for reform'

  13 Jan 2012 | 12:09 pm

  Hillary Clinton says countries will upgrade diplomatic ties after Burmese president Thein Sein freed political prisonersSecretary of state Hillary Clinton said the United States will exchange ambassadors with Burma in response to its freeing political prisoners and other reforms.Clinton announced the move after Burma president Thein Sein issued a pardon and freed 651 detainees, who included some of its most famous political inmates.In a statement, president Barack Obama described the pardons as "a substantial step forward for democratic reform."The US decision follows a landmark visit by…

• Burmese political prisoners released - in pictures

  13 Jan 2012 | 11:22 am

  The Burmese regime has allowed around 600 inmates to walk free in a mass amnesty

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  Politics: Vince Cable | guardian.co.uk

• Stelios blasts easyJet's bonus 'gravy train'

  Gwyn Topham, Dan Milmo, Ian Griffiths

  26 Jan 2012 | 1:11 pm

  Founder claims 'phoney' calculations boost figures but unperturbed City boosts share price by 10%Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has accused easyJet of crafting bonuses with "phoney calculations", as he warned in an extraordinary tirade that the "gravy train has gone wild" at the airline he founded 17 years ago.Stelios, easyJet's largest shareholder, targeted executive pay on the same day that the carrier revealed a bonus of £840,000 for Carolyn McCall, its chief executive. She earned a total of £1.5m in 2011 in her first full year in the job, according to the airline's annual general…

• Letters: A level playing field on executive pay

  25 Jan 2012 | 3:00 pm

  According to a 2010 ComRes poll, those questioned said that the annual income of a FTSE chief executive should be £118,000. It then averaged £2.1m and has now increased to £3.8m. The major political parties seem to agree that growing inequality is a bad thing and that top pay needs close scrutiny. Why is it then that Vince Cable appears to want to keep shareholders, employees and the rest of us in the dark by rejecting the enforced full disclosure of what companies pay their employees (Unions attack Cable on executive pay, 24 January)? If the US Congress can adopt the Dodd-Frank Act, which…

• Letters: Spotlight on top pay

  24 Jan 2012 | 3:00 pm

  The business secretary claims greater transparency will contribute to curbing excessive top executive pay (Report, 24 January). This is yet another triumph of hope over experience, of fantasy-based policy over evidence-based policy. Extensive increases in mandatory disclosure of information about such pay in the US led not to a decrease but to an enormous and accelerating growth in such pay. More information fuelled even greater executive cherry-picking as well as macho "uber-leadership" signals to irrational financial markets. Greater transparency, of itself, is not merely ineffectual but…

• Sir Fred Goodwin lawyers 'censure' criticism in FSA report on RBS crisis

  Simon Bowers, Jill Treanor

  24 Jan 2012 | 1:18 pm

  Text criticising former chief executive's lack of experience was removed from investigation into bank's near meltdown in 2008Lawyers for Sir Fred Goodwin privately insisted that text criticising his lack of experience in banking be removed from the Financial Services Authority's 450-page report last month into the bank's near meltdown in 2008.The revelation comes less than a week after David Cameron revealed that he had asked the honours committee to examine the possibility of stripping the former Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive of his knighthood.The announcement was made by Bill…

• Tax avoidance and social death: how shame could tame fraud

  Michael White

  24 Jan 2012 | 9:06 am

  Everyone is trying to work out how to clamp down on benefit cheats and tax-dodgers. How about some old-fashioned stigma?What a tsunami of high-minded policy chat on the airwaves: dilemmas Simon Hoggart neatly sums up in his cheerfully brutal way. In the Lords, they debated capping the income of the poor while the Commons heard Vince Cable explaining why he wouldn't – actually, it's couldn't, writes Simon – cap the incomes of the rich.Who's right? I never start from the assumption that people such as Iain Duncan Smith, who has good intentions written all over him, are eager to grind the…

• 

  Politics: David Cameron | guardian.co.uk

• Martin Rowson on David Cameron and RBS chief's bonus – cartoon

  Martin Rowson

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:51 pm

  Row erupts after prime minister claims that MPs had no choice but to agree to Stephen Hester's bonus are challenged by LabourMartin Rowson

• Stephen Hester bonus puts David Cameron under pressure

  Nicholas Watt, Larry Elliott, Jill Treanor

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:10 pm

  Row erupts after prime minister claims that MPs had no choice but to agree to RBS head's bonus are challenged by LabourDavid Cameron was under fire for failing to intervene to block a bonus of nearly £1m for Royal Bank of Scotland's chief executive, Stephen Hester, and for allegedly misleading parliament after he blamed Labour for negotiating a contract that prevented the government from intervening.Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, speaking in Davos, piled the pressure on the prime minister by describing the bonus as "absolutely bewildering". Labour called on Cameron to appear before MPs…

• It's 1981 all over again

  Simon Hoggart

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:22 pm

  We've a Tory PM whose policies are causing irreparable harm and an opposition leader who nobody believes will become PM✒Step back with me in time: we are governed by a Tory prime minister whose policies appear to be causing irreparable harm to the economy, but who refuses to budge. We have an opposition leader who nobody believes will become prime minister himself. And there is the possibility of war in the Falklands. I know that history repeats itself, but in only 30 years?✒I went to the Hugo Young memorial lecture at the Guardian this week to hear Alex Salmond talk about Scottish…

• David Cameron in U-turn over fiscal policing of eurozone

  Ian Traynor, Nicholas Watt

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:17 pm

  Government signals it will not challenge fiscal enforcement role for European commission and European court of justiceThe prime minister has abandoned his pledge to block the eurozone from using common EU institutions to police a new regime of fiscal integration and stiff German-style rules for the embattled single currency.Ahead of Monday's summit of EU leaders, which is due to finalise "political agreement" on the fiscal compact treaty, the government signalled that it would not challenge a role for the European commission and, more sensitively, would also allow resort to the European court…

• David Cameron's eco-friendly image risks 'retoxification', warns WWF chief

  Juliette Jowit

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:54 am

  Prime minister's lack of leadership on green issues among concerns raised by head of charity that helped rebrand partyThe head of the charity that helped to arrange David Cameron's memorable husky photoshoot in the Arctic, launching the Conservatives' rebranding as the nice-not-nasty party, has warned that the PM's lack of leadership on environment issues risks "retoxifying" their image.The striking images of Cameron posing on the ice with huskies on the way to visiting a melting glacier in 2006 marked a turning point for the Conservatives, who had been seen by many voters as uncaring. After…

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  Global: Cartoon | guardian.co.uk

• Berger & Wyse

  Joe Berger, Pascal Wyse

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:00 pm

  Blind man's bluff?Joe BergerPascal Wyse

• Martin Rowson on David Cameron and RBS chief's bonus – cartoon

  Martin Rowson

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:51 pm

  Row erupts after prime minister claims that MPs had no choice but to agree to Stephen Hester's bonus are challenged by LabourMartin Rowson

• Modern Toss

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:05 pm

  Modern Toss get into David Beckham's underpants

• Nicolas Sarkozy by Nicole Jennings

  Nicola Jennings

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:01 pm

  President of the French RepublicNicola Jennings

• The Stephen Collins cartoon

  Stephen Collins

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:59 pm

  The secret of panda loveStephen Collins

• 

  World news: Catholicism | guardian.co.uk

• Capitalism only creates misery – we need a system that puts human wellbeing first

  Jonathan Bartley

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:00 pm

  It is the Green party that now embodies the natural political expression of the more progressive traditions found in dissenting movements such as Quakerism and radical CatholicismEd Miliband has accepted David Cameron's cuts. Ken Livingstone shares Boris Johnson's commitment to business. And according to one-time wannabe Scottish leader Tom Harris, Labour "want you to get rich". Today's party owes little to Methodism, let alone Marx. But if Labour has lost its soul, the Tories never had one and the Lib Dems sold theirs a long time ago.All three embrace a materialistic commitment to modern…

• Divine dispatches: a religion roundup | David Shariatmadari

  David Shariatmadari

  26 Jan 2012 | 3:00 am

  The pope warns of radical secularism; storm grows over closure of Ireland's Vatican embassy; Gaudi inspires Catholic conversion• Rome has had a busy few days. Before advising the faithful on the uses and abuses of social media, the pope warned American bishops of "powerful new cultural currents which are not only directly opposed to core moral teachings of the Judeo-Christian tradition, but increasingly hostile to Christianity as such". He urged them to help the entire Catholic community in the US become aware of the dangers posed by "radical secularism" and foster an "engaged, articulate"…

• Tim Livesey: Ed Miliband's new chief of staff plunges into the thick of it

  Stephen Bates

  25 Jan 2012 | 1:23 pm

  Are internecine Anglican church politics and Catholic turmoil over child abuse adequate preparation for the Labour snakepit?Given Ed Miliband's start to the year, you might think he is in need of prayer – but that's not necessarily why his new chief of staff, Tim Livesey, will be on retreat at a Catholic monastery in Sussex this week, before starting work in the Labour leader's office on Monday. The party, whose leadership Alastair Campbell once claimed "does not do God", is about to be joined by someone who most definitely does.Livesey, 52, joins Miliband's team from Lambeth Palace, where…

• Rick Santorum thinks pregnancy through rape is God's gift? Seriously? | Kate Harding

  Kate Harding

  25 Jan 2012 | 5:30 am

  Invoking God's will as a supporting argument to his position on abortion hardly fits with the constitution he claims to upholdAs a lapsed Catholic turned atheist, a staunch feminist and someone who has a strong general aversion to sleazy, disingenuous men, I was shocked yesterday to find myself feeling something like respect for Rick Santorum, Pope Benedict XVI and Piers Morgan all in the space of three minutes.The three minutes in question are a clip from Morgan's interview with Santorum on the former's CNN talk show. In it, Santorum declares that even if his own daughter were raped – a…

• Italian cardinal brands tax evasion a sin

  John Hooper

  24 Jan 2012 | 8:50 am

  Angelo Bagnasco calls for 'serious, relentless' action against tax dodgers, prompting speculation of government accordIt has long been regarded as more of a national sport than a misdemeanour. And it has long benefited from the seemingly boundless indulgence of the Italian Roman Catholic church.But now the head of the Italian bishops' conference, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, has unambiguously declared that "evading taxes is a sin". He called for "serious, effective and relentless" action against tax dodgers.The cardinal's remarks are a boost to the technocratic government of Mario Monti, which…

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  Life and style: Celebrity | guardian.co.uk

• Mick Jagger snubs David Cameron's Davos party

  Marina Hyde

  26 Jan 2012 | 2:00 pm

  The Rolling Stone is not alone in his protest: these days, celebrities wouldn't be seen dead at DavosYou probably already know this, but every morning, adult-contempo British prime minister David Cameron combs in his side parting, adjusts his tie and jives with his reflection in the bathroom mirror while singing: "I've got the moves like Jagger, I've got the moves like Jagger, I've got the mo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-ooves like Jagger."So do imagine his disappointment to be blown out for a World Economic Forum event by none other than Sir Mick, who apparently didn't like being used as a…

• Hot young movie stars: Elisabeth Olsen

  Cath Clarke

  26 Jan 2012 | 2:00 pm

  Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen are already huge. Now their younger sister, acclaimed star of new thriller Martha Marcy May Marlene, may just eclipse themMore budding superstars: Thomas McDonell | Adepero Oduye | Shailene Woodley | Josh HutchersonAt the age of 10 Elizabeth Olsen put her acting career on hold. Yes, she wanted to be an actor, but no, she didn't want to be a child actor. What kind of 10-year-old makes a sensible decision like that? "Right!" Olsen exclaims, waggling a heavily ringed hand and explaining how her ballet teacher had just banned her from the Christmas show for missing…

• Simon Cowell reaches for the stars

  Marina Hyde

  26 Jan 2012 | 1:59 pm

  The Karaoke Sauron wants to send the winner of Britain's Got Talent into space – and Richard Branson is paying for itIt was science-fiction author Isaac Asimov who described space travel as: "the only chance of escaping the destruction of all that humanity has struggled to achieve for the last 50,000 years". And it was endtimes impresario Simon Cowell who revealed this week: "We are trying to work out a way so that the winner of Britain's Got Talent gets to go up in [Richard Branson's] spacecraft and will be the first person to perform in space."GAME OVER, ASIMOV. As the late professor…

• Richard Simpkin and Simone Lueck: Richard & Famous; Martin Parr: Painted Photographs – review

  Sean O'Hagan

  21 Jan 2012 | 6:02 pm

  Open Eye gallery, LiverpoolRichard & Famous is a show that touches on celebrity culture and its psychic fallout. It takes its punning title from the photographs of Richard Simpkin, an obsessive fan turned self-styled artist. His work, which covers the walls of Open Eye's main space, consists of snapshots of himself alongside an array of more than 2,000 celebrities, many of whom seem palpably uncomfortable in his presence.Richard & Famous echoes the obsessions and dedication of another celebrity stalker, Gary Lee Boas, whose 1999 book Starstruck set the bar for celebrity-stalking with a…

• Please, Lord Justice Leveson – this weekly ordure is not OK! | Marina Hyde

  Marina Hyde

  20 Jan 2012 | 4:00 pm

  Hello!, OK! and Heat editors all had to testify. So few, when so many celebrity magazines regularly splash dubious misery-pornWhat has circled sweat patches, the medical condition Pseudologia fantastica, and makes the Daily Mail look like an evening with Gloria Steinem? If you answered "the weekly celebrity magazine market", then congratulations. You win the chance to flick through this week's divorce and eating disorder speculation, and photo spreads of the great adipose migration. (It is one of the immutable laws of showbiz that fat in the celebrity world can be neither created nor…

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  Society: Child protection | guardian.co.uk

• Nigel Leat school 'failed on every level' to prevent his sexual abuse of pupils

  Steven Morris

  26 Jan 2012 | 9:04 am

  Serious case review finds Hillside school grossly negligent in failing to stop Nigel Leat's sexual abuse of pupils over 14 yearsA school "failed on every level" to prevent a teacher from sexually abusing pupils in his classroom despite concerns about his behaviour being raised for 14 years, a serious case review has concluded.Nigel Leat was jailed indefinitely last year for abusing children he taught, often when other pupils were present, and sometimes filming his attacks.A review of the case published on Thursday found that staff at Hillside first school in Worle, Somerset, had raised…

• Children of all ages need to be able to rely on protection from the state

  Carlene Firmin

  24 Jan 2012 | 9:00 am

  Vulnerable teenagers are often left to struggle alone as services concentrate on either children or adultsThe conviction earlier this month of Gary Dobson and David Norris for the murder of Stephen Lawrence has given me a renewed sense of optimism and reminded me that change can happen, even if it takes years.The strength and determination of the Lawrences and their supporters has not only seen shifts in practice within the police force but has ensured justice for a young man. Achieving that justice, even for one young person, required monumental movement across an institution that many…

• At last, a documentary that presents social work in all its complex glory

  Harry Ferguson

  24 Jan 2012 | 8:06 am

  The BBC's Protecting Our Children series is an authentic portrayal of the difficult decisions and situations social workers face every dayFor almost four decades, social workers have had to endure a relentless bombardment of criticism, blame and downright abuse because of child protection cases where children have died. Given the ease and confidence with which such criticisms are made and policies are reformed, one would think that the way social workers go about protecting children is well understood. But it isn't. What is surprising is how few attempts there have been to show how complex…

• In praise of … risking it all (sometimes) | Editorial

  23 Jan 2012 | 3:00 pm

  Laura Dekker is courageous and resourceful – and so are her parentsIn her description of Christmas Day at sea, Laura Dekker, the 16-year-old who has just sailed solo around the world, in defiance of the child protection authorities in her native Netherlands, described the pleasure of not having to eat "just to be polite", let alone "talk, talk, talk". Cue cheering from most of the world's teenagers, although few have either the skills or the means to spend the festive season in the southern Atlantic as an alternative. Miss Dekker is plainly a courageous and resourceful individual. And so…

• Letters: Ritual abuse and race

  23 Jan 2012 | 3:00 pm

  We were pleased to see your report (An abuse of faith, Social care, 18 January) outlining the evidence of the numbers of black children subjected to violence linked to witchcraft. This is extremely concerning and many of us have worked with such children and adults from the black communities who have experienced abusive aspects of juju, Santeria, witchcraft and possession in the UK. While our major religious institutions are now putting safeguarding procedures into place, children (and adults) from smaller religious groups do not have that safety. We are also concerned as individuals and as a…

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  Film | guardian.co.uk

• Steven Spielberg's Holocaust archive arrives in UK

  Vanessa Thorpe

  28 Jan 2012 | 6:14 am

  Academics hope emphasis on survivors' testimonies will change the way in which war history is studiedThe arrival in Britain of an archive of tens of thousands of Holocaust testimonies will give much needed historical weight to the experiences of survivors, according to a leading scholar.David Cesarani, of the Holocaust Research Centre at the University of London, believes that the US video archive, set up 18 years ago by Steven Spielberg, will help to rebalance a picture that has been dominated by the study of the perpetrators of the atrocities of the second world war.The extraordinary…

• Hollywood women unite to break through the celluloid ceiling

  Paul Harris

  28 Jan 2012 | 6:02 am

  With female scriptwriters behind some of the biggest movies, from Juno to Kung Fu Panda II, it seems the sexism barrier has been lifted. But has it?Next week the Athena Film Festival will open at Barnard College in New York. The showcase, which begins on 9 February and is in its second year, is aimed at celebrating women film-makers and rewarding their art and successes. It will consist of screenings, awards and the usual parties, but with a feminist slant. Among those getting accolades will be a group of women in Hollywood known as "the Fempire".The Fempire consist of screenwriters Diablo…

• This week's new DVD & Blu-ray

  Phelim O'Neill

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:06 pm

  DriveDirector Nicholas Wending Refn's film is more defined by what it doesn't do than by what it does. The plot – wafer thin and corny as hell – is the sort of thing normally dressed up by one-liners, explosions and rapid-cut editing to disguise just how laughably trite it is. On paper, this could be yet another Hollywood action movie, but Refn is slow and serious where others are fast and furious. The minimal story of a stuntman who moonlights as a getaway driver and becomes a hero to the woman he loves is pared down even more into something that aims for the stark simplicity of Michael…

• Roman Polanski's Carnage is a joyously unpleasant film

  John Patterson

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:05 pm

  In the hands of Roman Polanksi, the one-room chamber cinema of Carnage lives up to its name, says John Patterson. Spoiler alert! It all ends messily"Mmm … Francis Bacon?" says Kate Winslet to Jodie Foster, leafing through a coffee-table book devoted to the master of the cramped interior and the silent scream, "cruelty and splendour, chaos and balance …" Later she will vomit violently and at considerable length all over this same book but for now, she's offering a neat summary of the virtues of Roman Polanski's toothsomely claustrophobic Carnage, from Yasmina Reza's stage play.One…

• This week's new film events

  Steve Rose, Katrina Dixon

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:05 pm

  David Lynch, London & EdinburghHas Lynch really retired? Maybe not, but you get the feeling he has done all he can and he's created a body of work that only gets stronger with age. Even "failures" like Dune are worth revisiting, while triumphs such as Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, The Elephant Man or Mulholland Drive can be watched over and over – with the help of this retrospective. Lynch's influence has seeped into not just cinema but advertising, design and music, where his new disguise as "Lana Del Rey" seems to be working out just fine.BFI Southbank & Edinburgh Filmhouse, Wed to 11 MarSteve…

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  Music: Classical music | guardian.co.uk

• Dream Hunter: from folktale to opera

  John Fuller

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:55 pm

  A poet explains how the tradition of dreams inspired him to pen a librettoWhen the composer Nicola LeFanu came to me with the proposal that we write a short opera, I was ready. After collaborating on a dramatic monologue, Alkman, and some love-lyrics, The Tongue and the Heart, it seemed the right thing for us to do. Poets really do envy the purity of music. It's an elaborated art of generalised, unlocated emotions, and we always feel that if we could somehow model our poetry on music, it wouldsatisfy our need to get some aesthetic distance between our experiences and our crafted words.But the…

• Awakening: A Musical Meditation on the Anniversary of 9/11 – review

  Guy Dammann

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:25 pm

  Barbican Hall, LondonInitially performed in San Francisco on the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the Kronos Quartet's Awakening concert was recreated in New York last year for the 10th anniversary. In many respects a typical Kronos enterprise, with the musical elements structured as a continuum and presented on a darkened stage amid a tangle of industrial detritus, this was its first UK performance.Given the context, the fact that the concert's first sound comes from the oud, an Arabic instrument, might have proved rather a surprising awakening. Accompanied by a drone, the taped…

• Paavo Berglund obituary

  Barry Millington

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:47 am

  Finnish conductor who enhanced the structure and spiritual strength of Sibelius's musicPaavo Berglund, who has died aged 82, was regarded as a father figure in modern Sibelius conducting. But from an early date he took an interventionist view: not only were the scores that were traditionally played from full of errors, but the composer's own scoring, Berglund held, sometimes created problems in performance.Berglund corrected the scores and, where he considered it necessary, was not averse to retouching the orchestration to ensure better balance. It was an approach that was endorsed by Finnish…

• Xenakis: Complete Works for Cello – review

  Andrew Clements

  26 Jan 2012 | 5:45 pm

  Deforce/MusicFabrik/Wood(AEON)Xenakis composed just two pieces for solo cello, both fiercely remarkable in their own right. Nomos Alpha, from 1966, is an example of what he called symbolic music, in which the order of musical events is determined according to mathematical rules, while Kottos, composed 11 years later, is a portrait of one of the giants from Greek mythology who fought with Zeus against the Titans. The most substantial of the other pieces here is Epicycles for cello and 12 instruments, an example of later Xenakis, which is far less visceral in its impact and almost archaic…

• Jonathan Harvey's Electric Dreams

  Tom Service

  26 Jan 2012 | 4:51 pm

  Jonathan Harvey has fused electronics with orchestras more sensually, and spiritually, than any other British composer. But he has a challenge to his fellow musicians: why doesn't more contemporary music take advantage of the new worlds of sound that electronics offer?As you'll read and hear if you follow the links in my interview with Jonathan Harvey, you'll discover how he fuses electronics with acoustic instruments more seamlessly and sensuously than pretty well any other composer around. As I say in the piece, he uses electronics not to find new realms of abstraction, but to realise the…

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  Politics: Nick Clegg | guardian.co.uk

• Artisan markets are lovely – but they ain't going to save the economy | Deborah Orr

  Deborah Orr

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:30 pm

  The days when ordinary people sold their own produce and bought the produce of other ordinary people are long goneOne brief phrase in Nick Clegg's call for tax cuts, aimed at low- to middle-income families, says more about Britain's current economic predicament than the rest of the debate around the subject put together. Clegg calls for the tax system to be rebalanced so that it "encourages ordinary people to drive growth". That sounds splendid.The trouble is that "encouraging ordinary people to drive growth" is harder than it sounds. In fact, in a developed economy, it's…

• Nick Clegg hails Brian Paddick's police background in London mayoral race

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:16 am

  Brian Paddick's experience at the Metropolitan police 'sets him completely apart' from his rivals, says deputy prime ministerBrian Paddick's experience at the Metropolitan police "sets him completely apart" from his rival candidates in the London mayoral race, Nick Clegg has declared.The Liberal Democrat leader said the former Scotland Yard deputy assistant commissioner knows what it means to police the capital.The deputy prime minister made the comments as he and Paddick visited the House of Reeves furniture store in Croydon, whose main premises were destroyed during the riots almost six…

• Anger grows over RBS chief's £900,000 bonus

  Shiv Malik

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:58 am

  London mayor Boris Johnson calls award 'bewildering' while Labour leader Ed Miliband describes it as 'disgraceful'Ed Miliband and Boris Johnson have joined the chorus of criticism over the decision by the Royal Bank of Scotland to award its chief executive a bonus of nearly £1m.The bank is more than 80% owned by the taxpayer, and Johnson, the Conservative mayor of London, reacted to the payout by saying the government "should step in and sort it out".The bonus, which has been described as "utterly unacceptable" by a Liberal Democrat peer, will net the RBS chief, Stephen Hester – who earns…

• Nick Clegg: taking from the rich, not giving to the poor | Editorial

  26 Jan 2012 | 4:41 pm

  Right through the 1990s and into the noughties, the Liberal Democrats' signature policy was a 1% income tax rise to be spent on schoolsRight through the 1990s and into the noughties, the Liberal Democrats' signature policy was the "penny for education" – a 1% income tax rise to be spent on schools. At the Resolution Foundation on Thursday, Nick Clegg gave a speech which underlined how far he has shifted his party from this social democratic stance. Bravely opening budget negotiations in broad daylight, the deputy prime minister made plain that his overriding priority is instead a general…

• Impressive Mr Toad drives home his points

  Simon Hoggart

  26 Jan 2012 | 3:28 pm

  Chris Huhne was in fine, aggressive form as he made possibly his last appearance in the Commons as a cabinet ministerPerhaps you do have to admire Chris Huhne. In the past I've said he's a figure of fun, the Mr Toad of British politics, and in many ways he is: the clumsy plotting, the transparent leaking, the dementedly unjustified self-confidence. But on Thursday he was in the Commons, taking energy questions for what might be the last time. It will be the last time if he is charged with persuading his ex-wife to pretend she was driving his car when it was spotted speeding, in order to dodge…

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  World news: Colombia | guardian.co.uk

• Press freedom index: big falls for Arab trio in year of protest

  Roy Greenslade

  26 Jan 2012 | 2:51 am

  Syria, Bahrain and Yemen fall backwards as uprisings fail to secure democracyThree Arab countries where popular risings have been quashed have achieved their worst-ever rankings in the annual press freedom index.But the falls by Syria, Bahrain and Yemen are among many changes that reflect a year of unrest and protest.The United States, for example, has dropped markedly due to the targeting of journalists covering the Occupy Wall Street movement. It slipped 27 places, down to 47th place out of a total of 179 countries in the survey. Britain fell from 19th to 28th (though the reason for that…

• Latin America confronts state atrocities of bloody past

  Rory Carroll

  25 Jan 2012 | 9:32 am

  Ex-Guatemalan dictator Ríos Montt faces genocide charges as presidents in El Salvador and Colombia apologise for massacresLatin America is confronting past civil wars and dictatorships this week with a series of prosecutions and apologies that are shining a light on decades-old atrocities.Governments and courts in Guatemala, Argentina, Colombia and El Salvador moved to acknowledge and possibly punish state-sanctioned violence during cold war-era campaigns against leftwing insurgents.Human rights campaigners welcomed the initiatives but warned that the violence of the drug war in central…

• Development needs discussions that embrace both the good and the bad

  Jonathan Glennie

  24 Jan 2012 | 6:13 am

  Highlighting the issues facing developing countries tends to emphasise the negative. Can we find a better balance?The Institute of Development Studies has an interesting video up discussing the western media's failure to portray the global south in more rounded terms. Most westerners associate developing countries with corruption, famine and disaster, because those are the things that make the headlines.Yet the problem ranges beyond the media. In fact, one of the biggest challenges for campaigners is how to highlight the problems facing the developing world without talking down the countries…

• 15-year-old girl deported mistakenly to Colombia returns to US

  6 Jan 2012 | 12:36 pm

  Jakadrien Lorece Turner returns from South America after masquerading as Colombian illegal immigrant during theft trial and deportationColombia's government says a 15-year-old US citizen who was mistakenly deported to the South American country after claiming to be an illegal immigrant is returning to the United States.A high-level foreign ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity in accordance with ministry policy, said Jakadrien Lorece Turner was repatriated on Friday morning.It was unclear where she was heading. The state department did not comment, and immigration officials…

• 24 journalists killed in Latin America in 2011

  Roy Greenslade

  6 Jan 2012 | 3:05 am

  Last year was one of the most most "challenging and tragic" years for journalists in Latin America, says a review of 2011 by the Inter American Press Association (IAPA).According to its figures, 24 journalists were killed in the Americas - seven in Mexico, five in Honduras, four in Brazil, three in Peru and one each in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Paraguay. IAPA said: "Together with the impunity surrounding crimes committed in other years and the lack of action on the part of the authorities to deter those who resort to violence a vicious circle has been…

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  Stage: Comedy | guardian.co.uk

• This week's new comedy

  James Kettle

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:06 pm

  Brett Goldstein: Grew Up In A Strip Club, Halifax & NorwichIf you're a sharp-thinking young stand-up looking to make a name for yourself on an increasingly crowded comedy circuit, it sometimes helps to have a really compelling story to tell. Brett Goldstein certainly has one of those, as you can tell from the title of this, his debut full-length show. It almost sounds tailor-made for a trashy TV documentary but underneath the sensationalist title is a surprisingly rich and rewarding story. Over the course of an hour, you'll find out what happened when a fresh-faced 21-year-old Goldstein went…

• Seven days on stage – in pictures

  Alistair Smith

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:21 am

  The Stage's Alistair Smith rounds up a week full of surprises as the performing arts are revealed to be not that gay-friendly after all, the Royal Ballet's youngest ever principal jumps ship and Vic and Bob prepare to go back on the roadAlistair Smith

• Stewart Lee: being imitated isn't always flattering

  Matt Trueman

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:37 am

  Comic hits out at the '19-year-olds' borrowing his stand-up techniques – and calls them 'selfish' for following in his footstepsYou'd think a stand-up who tells his audience not to expect jokes would be safe from people wanting to steal his stuff. But Stewart Lee has dropped his signature pause-heavy style of standup because he believes copycat comedians have turned it into a "cliche".Lee told the Irish Times that he had abandoned several of his hallmark techniques for his latest show, Carpet Remnant World, which is currently playing at the Leicester Square theatre, on account of their…

• Dear Daniel Kitson: lampoon critics – don't punch them

  Alexis Soloski

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:07 am

  Comic Daniel Kitson invited a New York audience to lash out at anyone seen scribbling notes. I'd rather do my job in peaceA few days ago I perched on an aisle seat at St Ann's Warehouse, waiting for Daniel Kitson's latest solo piece, It's Always Right Now, Until It's Later. Before the show began, Kitson – who is at once mildly repellent and helplessly magnetic – gave the usual speech asking audiences to turn off their mobiles. Then he added further instruction. Recent attendees had complained that the scribbling of a critic had distracted them from of the play. Kitson had a neat solution.

• Portrait of the artist: Arthur Smith, comedian

  Laura Barnett

  24 Jan 2012 | 4:30 pm

  'My worst heckle? In Edinburgh, a bloke poured a pint of urine over me'What got you started?When I was eight or nine, I wrote a new version of Peter Pan for the school play. They didn't use it – I imagine it was unperformable – but as recompense for not doing my script, I was offered any role, and instinctively went for Captain Hook. I came on trying to be terrifying, but everyone laughed at me.What was your big breakthrough?Not long after that, two girls offered me threepence in class to show them my willy. That was certainly my first professional engagement; I didn't have another one…

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  Society: Communities | guardian.co.uk

• Interview: architects Richard Rogers, Graham Stirk and Ivan Harbour

  Charlotte Higgins

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:06 pm

  Celebrated architect Richard Rogers and his partners discuss £140m penthouses, John Prescott's ministerial 'flair' and Prince Charles's strange ideas about architectureRichard Rogers, at 78, is not about to slow down. "I am enjoying myself, so why would I retire?" says the architect of the Pompidou Centre and the Lloyd's of London building. "I'd like to think I'll be learning a new language or something when I die."But even a master builder can't go on for ever, which is why Richard Rogers Partnership discreetly changed its name, some five years ago, to Rogers Stirk Harbour and…

• Don't expect the Tories to regret this bloody battle over benefits | Polly Toynbee

  Polly Toynbee

  26 Jan 2012 | 3:00 pm

  Will they be embarrassed by the galloping poverty they're creating? No. Labour must defend the weak against these bulliesDefying six defeats in the Lords, the government will bounce the welfare reform bill straight back to the Commons on Wednesday, over-turning those amendments. After stirring up a gale of public opinion against anyone on benefits, they feel invincible. For now.They can ignore revolting bishops who, in the battle of the bibles, have been trumped by ex-archbishop Lord Carey. Writing in the Daily Mail, in style and phrase curiously redolent of the Mail's own editorials, he…

• Letters: The benefit fraud perpetrated on the poor

  26 Jan 2012 | 3:00 pm

  All Liberal Democrats should follow Paddy Ashdown in voting against this iniquitous benefit cap that will deprive thousands more children of decent housing and schooling, and thereby render them virtually unemployable in the future (Peers reject £26,000 cap that includes child benefit, 24 January).If these measures are intended to force their parents into work, where are the jobs, thanks to this government's self-defeating policy of austerity, and where are the affordable homes, thanks to the policy of selling off council houses?The savings involved are paltry compared with the cost of…

• Welfare reform: Lib Dems urge Nick Clegg to back Lords amendments

  Patrick Wintour

  26 Jan 2012 | 2:00 pm

  Letter from more than 50 former Lib Dem parliamentary candidates urges party leader to respect party policy on benefitsNick Clegg is coming under unprecedented private pressure from his own party to back a string of Lords amendments designed to protect children and those with disabilities from the impact of the government's welfare reforms.A letter from more than 50 former Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidates in the 2010 election has been sent to Clegg urging him to respect party policy and vote to allow disabled people to retain employment support allowance for at least two years…

• Cornish party Mebyon Kernow sees the future in black and white

  Steven Morris

  26 Jan 2012 | 8:59 am

  Coalition's struggles raise Cornish separatists' hopes of achieving devolutionWhen Loveday Jenkin was growing up, the Cornish flag was rarely seen. Now the white cross on a black background is ubiquitous, fluttering outside county hall in Truro and printed on everything from souvenir boxes of fudge to pasty packaging and car bumper stickers."I think it shows what a long way we've come in just a few years," says Jenkin, the latest member of Mebyon Kernow (MK) – the Party for Cornwall – to be elected to Cornwall council. "Everyone is so much more aware that we are separate, different, not a…

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  Politics: Conservatives | guardian.co.uk

• Stephen Lawrence's mother says No 10 must do more on race

  Vikram Dodd

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:30 pm

  • Cameron 'not doing enough to tackle racial prejudice'• Murdered boy's brother stopped and searched 20 times• Trust set up to help deprived youth has money problemsDoreen Lawrence has said David Cameron's government is not doing enough to tackle racial prejudice, which continues to blight society, and has warned that spending cuts will hit working-class and black Britons the hardest.In a Guardian interview, Lawrence says the government has huge powers to make a difference in leading the fight against racism, but says: "I've not heard them talk about race."Earlier this month her 18-year…

• Bash the poor and wave the flag – how this Tory trick works | Jonathan Freedland

  Jonathan Freedland

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:30 pm

  In a move imported from the US right, the Conservatives have successfully induced people to vote against their own interestsThe art of the magician, so they say, is distraction. Divert the eye of the audience with one hand and all kinds of mischief are available to the other. And if that's true of magic, it's truer still of politics. To adapt the slogan selling the new film Man on a Ledge, a big deception requires a big distraction.Take these two apparently contradictory facts. This week saw proof that Britain is no longer merely suffering from anaemic growth but actual contraction, a…

• It's 1981 all over again

  Simon Hoggart

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:22 pm

  We've a Tory PM whose policies are causing irreparable harm and an opposition leader who nobody believes will become PM✒Step back with me in time: we are governed by a Tory prime minister whose policies appear to be causing irreparable harm to the economy, but who refuses to budge. We have an opposition leader who nobody believes will become prime minister himself. And there is the possibility of war in the Falklands. I know that history repeats itself, but in only 30 years?✒I went to the Hugo Young memorial lecture at the Guardian this week to hear Alex Salmond talk about Scottish…

• Osborne lays down conditions for eurozone fund contribution

  Larry Elliott, Jill Treanor

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:59 am

  Chancellor tells Davos the world must 'see the colour of Europe's money' before the UK pays into $1tn IMF fundBritain will insist on seeing the "colour of Europe's money" before it is willing to put taxpayers' cash into a $1tn (£636bn) International Monetary Fund war chest designed to help safeguard the future of the euro, George Osborne has said.The chancellor set four conditions for Britain's willingness to provide a £16bn guarantee that would allow the Washington-based fund to tackle financial problems in Europe and elsewhere.Osborne said there could be no new special IMF funding…

• Labour to back welfare benefits cap

  Patrick Wintour

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:46 am

  Labour party expected to vote in favour of a benefits cap, providing it is set higher in expensive areas such as LondonLabour is to back a localised welfare benefits cap in a key vote in the Commons next week, on the basis it is set higher in areas of expensive housing, such as London, and lower in areas of cheaper housing.Labour said on Friday that it recognised the fairness and popularity of the concept of benefit cap per household, but could not support a cap it viewed as unfair – such as the blanket £26,000 per family proposed by the government.In a move that privately infuriated some…

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  Books: Costa book awards | guardian.co.uk

• Short stories win their own Costa award

  Sarah Crown

  25 Jan 2012 | 7:38 am

  A high-profile prize for this genre will train some welcome spotlight on an under-espoused formShock news at the Costas last night — and not about Andrew Miller's triumph, either. Before the winner was even unveiled, Costa CEO John Derkach took to the stage to announce that the prizes – currently comprising awards for the year's best novel, first novel, poetry collection, biography and children's book – were poised to add another string to their bow. As of 2012, the coffee chain will also be sponsoring – doubtless with the requisite helping of pride – a Costa short story prize.Back…

• Guardian Books podcast: Andrew Miller wins Costa book of the year

  Andrew Miller (novelist), Claire Armitstead, Lindesay Irvine, Tim Maby, Sarah Crown

  25 Jan 2012 | 6:11 am

  As Andrew Miller's Pure is anointed the 2011 Costa book of the year, we listen in to the award ceremony with Sarah Crown and discuss what his win means for the 40-year-old prize. Miller talks to Lindesay Irvine about hope, history and his approach to fiction, and reads a section from his novel, which is based on the true story of the demolition of Paris's cemetery of Les Innocents soon before the country was convulsed by revolution.Reading list:Pure by Andrew Miller (Sceptre)Andrew Miller (novelist)Claire ArmitsteadLindesay IrvineTim MabySarah Crown

• Costa adds short story award to its books prizes

  Alison Flood

  25 Jan 2012 | 5:28 am

  Publishers hoping that Costas' prominence could provide 'breakthrough moment' for neglected genreNews that the Costa is to add a new short story category to its roster of awards this year has left the book industry hoping that this will prove a "breakthrough moment" for the genre.The prize, which will be awarded to a single short story, was announced at the Costa book awards last night. Although the Costa short story award will run in association with the novel, first novel, biography, poetry and children's book prizes, the winner will not be competing for the overall Costa book of the year…

• Andrew Miller's Pure: the best kind of historical novel

  William Skidelsky, Andrew Miller (novelist)

  25 Jan 2012 | 3:17 am

  Miller's tale of Paris before the revolution captures the past without any hint of artificialityIntelligent, serious and thought-provoking, but also entertaining, Andrew Miller's Pure is the best kind of historical novel.Reading it, you feel as if you are in Paris before the revolution, a city at once decaying and on the cusp of momentous change, a place of disgusting smells and odd subcultures, at once recognisable and utterly foreign.Miller uses the story of his hero, Jean-Baptiste Barratte, a young engineer from the provinces commissioned to oversee the destruction of a church and its…

• Costa book awards 2011 - in pictures

  24 Jan 2012 | 6:35 pm

  This year's awards turned out to be a two-way tussle between fact and fiction with Andrew Miller the eventual winner for his sixth novel, Pure, a tale of pre-revolutionary Paris

• 

  Environment: Country diary | guardian.co.uk

• Country diary: Sandy, Bedfordshire: A robin's rumbustious overture to a pre-dawn chorus

  Derek Niemann

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:59 pm

  Sandy, Bedfordshire: I rose and went out into the night for more of the pre-dawn chorus. There were robins front, back and sides. It seemed as if every street light was illuminated with songFully two hours before sunrise, a robin's high voice pierced through the bedroom window. I lay and listened. Each short phrase was as a dying breath, plucked out of silence, tailing off into nothingness. This particular bird had an individual variation on the standard robin repertoire of melancholy. Out it came – a rumbustious, exuberant "tiddly-tiddly-tiddly-tiddly". This robin had sat in the hedge in…

• Country diary: South Uist: A perfect day for a beach walk

  Christine Smith

  26 Jan 2012 | 2:59 pm

  South Uist: Pristine and wetly gleaming, the sand stretches for miles until it disappears into a mist of sunlit salt hazeThe sun is shining brightly from a blue sky across which a brisk breeze is driving a succession of shape-shifting, pillowy white clouds. Yet within minutes a dark cloud appears from nowhere and deposits a fleeting but heavy shower before speeding off into the distance. It's a day as lively and changeable as any in April. A perfect day for a beach walk. And what a beach it is this morning! A low tide has exposed far more sand than usual and the winter gales, which so often…

• Country diary: Farr, Highlands: An eerie walk by the lochside

  Ray Collier

  25 Jan 2012 | 2:59 pm

  Farr, Highlands: Halfway along there was a wide strip of ice from shore to shore with a few clumps of snow on top and then beyond more open waterThe sleet came across the loch in gusts, stinging my face if I faced the wrong way, and I sought shelter on the leeward side of the old boathouse clad with bark. Looking through the window I saw the old swallows' nest from last year with white droppings still staining the woodwork below. There was a lull in the wind and I set out along the edge of the loch for the distant Scots pines. The water lapped at my feet as I passed the boat we use to fish…

• Country diary: Werrington, Tamar Valley: Gunshots, graves and a forgotten waterway

  Virginia Spiers

  24 Jan 2012 | 2:59 pm

  Werrington, Tamar Valley: The last lap of the meandering and laboriously constructed canal from Bude, now defunct, is choked with leaf-mould, flag iris and saplingsSnowdrops are growing inside the railings around a tomb, and winter heliotrope creeps in from the edge of the churchyard. Gun shots echo along the valley of the Ottery where the mansion of Werrington Estate is hidden by trees. In the 18th century the medieval church and graves were demolished and dug up: they were removed from the original site and set here, outside a substantial stoned-up bank bounding the parkland. The church…

• Country diary: Portland: Messages in limestone

  John Vallins

  23 Jan 2012 | 3:00 pm

  Portland: Behind us, in Portland stone, was the great pile of St George's church, looking like a fanciful creation by Hawksmoor intended for London but transported hereWe were chilled by gusts blowing off a rough sea across a bleak graveyard close to the windswept edge of Portland – the great limestone promontory, almost an island, only tenuously linked to the mainland below Weymouth by the narrow pebble strand of Chesil Bank. Between us and the shingle beach below was a quarry extracting the famous stone, good for carving yet durable, that Wren used for St Paul's Cathedral and that has…

• 

  Business: Credit crunch | guardian.co.uk

• What else could you buy with a bank chief's bonus? What is Stephen Hester worth - visualised

  Simon Rogers, Kari-Ruth Pedersen

  28 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am

  Nearly £1m in bonuses for the Royal Bank of Scotland's chief executive, Stephen Hester sounds like a lot of money, but what else could you get for it? This visualisation, by Guardian designer Kari-Ruth Pedersen, puts it all in perspectiveSimon RogersKari-Ruth Pedersen

• Eurozone data raises fears of second credit crunch

  Phillip Inman

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:11 am

  Analysts say ECB likely to cut interest rates after official data shows loans to eurozone firms fell sharply while the volume of cash grew at slower rateThe prospect of a second credit crunch in four years came closer on Friday after official figures showed loans to firms in the eurozone fell sharply in December and the volume of cash grew at a slower rate than the previous month.Analysts said the figures painted a disturbingly gloomy picture of economic activity and were likely to spur the European Central Bank to cut interest rates from their current 1%.Eurozone banks have cut their lending…

• How much does it cost to raise a child?

  Lisa Evans

  26 Jan 2012 | 4:45 am

  Raising a child costs a grand total of £218,000 according to the latest estimates. We look at the data behind this figure• Get the dataThere's plenty of data around on the

• World economic outlook from the IMF: just how bad will things get?

  Graeme Wearden, Simon Rogers

  24 Jan 2012 | 9:37 am

  The International Monetary Fund has just revised its predictions for the world's economies. See what the data says• Get the dataThe world economy has deteriorated sharply in the last few months asthe eurozone crisis dragged down the global recovery, according to thelatest predictions from the International Monetary Fund.The IMF slashed its forecasts for economic growth in its new WorldEconomic Outlook, released today. It now expects theeurozone to shrink during 2012, and warned that the eurozone crisiswill drag down growth in other nations too.The data shows the effect of fiscal austerity -…

• Poundland is quids in after Christmas sales rise 25%

  Richard Wachman

  20 Jan 2012 | 6:53 am

  'Squeezed' middle classes turn to fast-growing bargain chain with 5.5m shoppers during peak festive weekCash-strapped shoppers in search of bargains boosted sales at Poundland during the Christmas period with like-for-like sales up nearly 6% on the same time last year.The overall sales number, which includes new outlets that came on stream during the year, was even higher at 25% for the five weeks to New Year's Day. Poundland's estate grew by 60 shops to 380, as its private equity group owners Warburg Pincus expanded rapidly to cash in on opportunities in the new era of austerity. All goods…

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  Sport: Cricket | guardian.co.uk

• New Zealand win after bowling Zimbabwe out twice in one day

  28 Jan 2012 | 7:05 am

  • New Zealand 495-7 dec; Zimbabwe 51 & 143• New Zealand beat Zimbabwe by an innings and 301 runsNew Zealand recorded their biggest ever Test victory on a dramatic third day at Napier. The Black Caps thrashed Zimbabwe by an innings and 301 runs after bowling out Zimbabwe twice in one day.Chris Martin finished with match figures of eight for 31 off 14.3 overs with Regis Chakabva, who made a dogged 63 after coming to the crease with the score on 12 for five, providing the only Zimbabwe resistance.It was New Zealand's biggest Test victory and conversely Zimbabwe's heaviest Test defeat as they…

• England capitulate as Pakistan win second Test and the series

  28 Jan 2012 | 6:36 am

  • Pakistan 257 & 214; England 327 & 72• Pakistan win by 72 runs and take 2-0 series leadEngland collapsed to 72 all out against Pakistan to lose the second Test and the three-match series. It was the tourists' lowest ever Test total against their 'hosts'.The world No1 side needed to make only 145 to win on day four at the Zayed Stadium but had no answer to Abdur Rehman, whose maiden five-wicket haul helped to sentence them to just 72. No one was able to resist Rehman (six for 25) for long, and Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez piled on the pressure too as England were bowled out in 36.1…

• Pakistan v England, day four – as it happened | Tom Lutz and James Dart

  Tom Lutz, James Dart

  28 Jan 2012 | 6:16 am

  Chasing 145 to win, England capitulated for 72 as Pakistan won the second Test and took an unassailable 2-0 series leadMorning. It was Smyth's birthday last night so the least popular member of the sport de... the hardest working member of the sport desk was nominated to remain sober, go top bed early, wakes up early and sub for him on the OBO. I can honestly say going to a social event with my colleagues sober was one of the worst experiences of my life – even worse than working with my colleagues sober – and I was quite glad to slip away. Incidentally, I dreamed I was getting KP to…

• Australia thrash India to complete series whitewash in Adelaide

  27 Jan 2012 | 7:38 pm

  • Australia win by 298 runs and clinch series 4-0Australia took India's last four wickets on Saturday morning to crush the tourists by 298 runs in the fourth test and record a 4-0 series sweep.India had resumed on 166 for six in their second innings chasing an improbable 500 runs for victory but their tail-end batsmen lasted just 58 minutes on a hot and sunny fifth morning of the match.The end came when the spinner Nathan Lyon (four for 63) dismissed Umesh Yadav caught behind for one, condemning India to a humiliating eighth successive overseas Test defeat after last year's 4-0 whitewash in…

• Abu Dhabi denies 'racial-segregation policy' for second Test crowd

  Andy Wilson

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:02 pm

  • Families-only area forced Pakistan supporters elsewhere• England supporters on the opposite side of the groundThe Abu Dhabi authorities staging the second Test between England and Pakistan have denied there was any racial segregation or discrimination in their use of a families-only section on one side of the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.There was a stark contrast between the grass bank on one side of the ground which filled up with thousands of Pakistan supporters, mostly young men, and the "hill" opposite which was much more sparsely populated. It had been designated a "families-only area",…

• 

  UK news: Crime | guardian.co.uk

• Decapitated body case: brothers remanded in custody

  28 Jan 2012 | 6:29 am

  Body of victim John Grainger was discovered by firefighters extinguishing blaze in Stockport, Greater ManchesterTwo brothers have appeared in court charged with the murder of a man whose decapitated body was found on fire.The body of 32-year-old John Grainger was discovered by firefighters in Stockport, Greater Manchester, in the early hours of Thursday when they extinguished a blaze on a verge opposite the Gala Casino in Wellington Street.Anthony Jenkins, 31, of no fixed address, and 29-year-old Joseph Jenkins, of Stockport, were remanded in custody until Tuesday, when they will appear at…

• Escaped prisoner back in custody

  28 Jan 2012 | 1:13 am

  Andrew Farndon, who escaped en route to hospital, has been arrested following a nationwide manhuntA prisoner who went on the run when two guards taking him to hospital were threatened at gunpoint has been arrested. Andrew Farndon, 26, has been at the centre of a nationwide manhunt since an armed accomplice helped him escape custody outside West Suffolk hospital in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, on Wednesday evening. Suffolk police confirmed the prisoner, who is serving an indeterminate sentence for public protection, was in custody after being detained by officers from another force area. The…

• Asil Nadir's cash deposits 'would be 300 times as big as Nelson's Column'

  Simon Bowers

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:29 pm

  Polly Peck chairman's claims that money he allegedly stole was matched with cash deposits are ridiculed in courtProsecutors have ridiculed Asil Nadir's explanation that hundreds of millions of pounds, allegedly stolen from the Polly Peck empire he ran until its collapse in 1990, had been matched by cash deposits put back into the group via a Northern Cypriot subsidiary.Drawing to a close his five-day opening remarks, Philip Shears QC, cast doubt on claims that huge cash deposits were made by, or on behalf of, Nadir's elderly mother into an account at Industrial Bank of Kibris (IBK), a small…

• Doreen Lawrence: 'I don't think I've got any more to give'

  Vikram Dodd

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:00 pm

  Stephen Lawrence's mother talks about her private and public struggles for justice, not just for her murdered son but for all ethnic minorities over the past two decadesFor the family of Doreen Lawrence, the pain and challenges in dealing with the loss of her son Stephen 18 years ago continue, and change. They permeate even the imagination of her granddaughter Mia, aged seven, who was born years after his murder.Mia has a child's intense curiosity about "Uncle Stephen", whom she knows only from photographs. Lawrence said: "She was asking me [the other day] if Stephen was an angel. I'm not…

• Men charged with murder of man found decapitated in Stockport

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:17 pm

  Two brothers to appear at Stockport magistrates court following discovery of body in blazeTwo men have been charged with the murder of a man whose decapitated body was found on fire.The body of John Grainger, 32, was discovered by firefighters in Stockport, Greater Manchester, at 5.10am on Thursday when they extinguished a blaze on a verge on Wellington Street, opposite Gala Casino.Anthony Jenkins, 31, and Joseph Jenkins, 29, both of Covent Gardens, Stockport, will appear before Stockport magistrates court on Saturday.The brothers were arrested on suspicion of possessing shotgun cartridges…

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  Stage: Dance | guardian.co.uk

• Men in Motion – review

  Judith Mackrell

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:51 pm

  The media storm around one of its dancers doesn't stop this tribute to male movement from leaping with playful charmThere was a raw emotional edge to the applause that greeted Sergei Polunin on the opening night of Men in Motion.Just three days ago the young, gifted Ukrainian dancer had made national news with his sudden decision to quit the Royal Ballet, and possibly to end his dancing career. So while there was genuine relief in actually seeing Polunin on stage, as scheduled, there was also the painful knowledge that this could be for the last time.He was dancing Narcisse, a solo by the…

• This week's new theatre and dance

  Judith Mackrell, Mark Cook, Lyn Gardner

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:06 pm

  Nora, CoventryIngmar Bergman's 1981 psychological drama, itself an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's 1879 masterpiece A Doll's House is revived here by director Patricia Benecke. Penny Layden is cast as the banker's wife who apparently has it all – a big house, three children and a husband who's just been promoted – but whose illusions about her husband and about the wider position of women in society are both shattered when a secret she's been keeping is revealed. Ibsen's play might be over 130 years old but it retains the power to both shock and grip audiences, and its examination of the…

• Why did Sergei Polunin, a star of the Royal Ballet, give it all up at 21?

  Zoe Williams

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:01 pm

  Resignation of young Ukrainian billed as the next Nureyev has stumped the ballet worldIt's a story that could have been written if Noel Streatfield went over to the dark side. Sergei Polunin was a young Ukrainian dancer of striking talent. He is 21, and was billed as the next Nureyev. And he resigned: the ballet world is stumped, since as the youngest ever principal at the Royal Ballet, he had already achieved more than wonderful dancers, throughout history, could ever dream of.And the reasons … well, they were split between the completely daft and the terribly poignant. On his Twitter…

• Seven days on stage – in pictures

  Alistair Smith

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:21 am

  The Stage's Alistair Smith rounds up a week full of surprises as the performing arts are revealed to be not that gay-friendly after all, the Royal Ballet's youngest ever principal jumps ship and Vic and Bob prepare to go back on the roadAlistair Smith

• London lives: Daniela Essart, artist on the up – audio slideshow

  Martin Godwin, Jim Powell, Vivienne Parry

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:00 am

  In the fourth of our series celebrating aspects of London life as told by some of the city's extraordinary characters, we meet Daniela Essart, the artistic director and performer of Scarabeus theatre company, which creates aerial and abseiling 'dances' using the capital's buildings as a backdropMartin GodwinJim PowellVivienne Parry

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  Science: Charles Darwin | guardian.co.uk

• Edge challenges leading thinkers to name their 'favourite explanations'

  Alok Jha

  15 Jan 2012 | 2:12 am

  In its annual question, Edge magazine asks 'What is your favourite deep, elegant or beautiful explanation?'Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection, Einstein's reinterpretation of the cosmos through general relativity and the idea that we live in one of an infinity of universes are some of the most elegant and beautiful human ideas, according to a group of the world's leading thinkers.These ideas, and almost 200 others, were the subjects of a series of short essays collated by the web magazine Edge, which invites people including scientists, artists, journalists, historians and…

• Churchill, Henry V and Napoleon? Overrated, says BBC History magazine

  Stephen Bates

  5 Jan 2012 | 10:46 am

  Also among the most overrated people in history, according to the magazine, are Charles Darwin, Spartacus and Malcolm XThey may be among the most famous figures from history, but the likes of Winston Churchill, Henry V and Napoleon Bonaparte don't hack it so far as some British historians are concerned. Poor old Charles Darwin doesn't figure any better either.All are included in a list of the most overrated people in history chosen by the populist BBC History magazine to stir debate and publicity in its latest issue. Others chosen include Spartacus, Mary Queen of Scots, John Locke, William…

• Will a new HMS Beagle set sail in 2013?

  Peter McGrath

  4 Jan 2012 | 6:55 am

  The HMS Beagle Project is seeking a port in the UK where a modern replica of the ship that carried Darwin on his famous voyage will be builtOne of the most significant sea voyages in history began 180 years ago under something of a cloud. The ship had been due to sail on 26 December, but as one of its passengers wrote: "A beautiful day, & an excellent one for sailing, — the opportunity has been lost owing to the drunkedness and absence of nearly the whole crew. — the ship has been all day in state of anarchy."The ship was HMS Beagle, her passenger the young, undistinguished but…

• In science, reputations matter – but they aren't always deserved | Philip Ball

  Philip Ball

  16 Dec 2011 | 3:30 pm

  We enjoy the whiff of scandal, and we love seeing giants knocked off their pedestals. But we shouldn't rush to judgments of scientists' motivationsJohannes Stark was a German physicist whose Nobel prize-winning discovery of 1913, the Stark effect (don't ask), is still useful today. Just the sort of person you might expect to have scientific institutes or awards named after him.The fact that there aren't any is probably because Stark was a Nazi – a bitter and twisted antisemite who rejected relativity because Einstein was Jewish.Scientists concur that, while your discovery should…

• The science of poetry, the poetry of science

  Ruth Padel

  9 Dec 2011 | 4:55 pm

  Both depend on metaphor, which is as crucial to scientific discovery as it is to lyricPoetry is about feeling, science is about facts. They're nothing to do with each other!" The A-level students in a school I visited last week were passionate on this point. Behind them was Keats, urging them on. "Philosophy," Keats said – meaning science – "would clip an angel's wings." Science was out to dissolve beauty, "Conquer all mysteries by rule and line, / Empty the haunted air and gnomed mine – / Unweave a rainbow …" Edgar Allen Poe agreed. Science was a "vulture" that shrivelled wonder.

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  World news: Debt relief | guardian.co.uk

• For Greece default is the only option | Costas Lapavitsas

  Costas Lapavitsas

  23 Jan 2012 | 4:30 pm

  The dreadful debt saga will only come to a close when Greece takes charge of its predicamentNegotiations to reduce Greek debt have been suspended after no agreement could be reached last week. At some point in the near future Greece seems certain to default on its obligations. But the drama surrounding the talks in Athens, Berlin and Paris shows that there will be nothing co-operative about Greek default. It is a ruthless contest dominated by the so-called troika: the European Union, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund.At every turn the interests and rights of…

• Third of debts owed by poor countries to UK is interest on original loans

  Simon Murphy

  22 Jan 2012 | 9:38 am

  Campaigners condemn as 'ridiculously high' figures showing 24 nations owe Britain £825m in interest from debts of £2.34bnA third of the debt owed to the UK by some of the world's poorest countries consists of interest on the original loans, a figure that third world debt campaigners have condemned as "ridiculously high".Around £2.34bn is owed to the UK by 24 nations – including Sudan, Somalia and Zimbabwe – £825m of which is interest, UK Export Finance, which insures British business dealings abroad, has disclosed following a freedom of information request.The Department for…

• The Business podcast: France, credit ratings and Occupy

  Aditya Chakrabortty, Heather Stewart, Angelique Chrisafis, David Graeber, Phil Maynard

  17 Jan 2012 | 8:02 am

  Eurozone leaders are putting on a brave face after nine countries had their credit ratings downgraded by Standard and Poor's. France and Austria lost their coveted AAA ratings - as did the continent's bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility. Joining Aditya Chakrabortty this week to explain the significance of the controversial move by S&P we have the Observer's economics editor Heather Stewart and the Guardian's Paris correspondent Angelique Chrisafis. Also this week: as the Occupy movement begins to look forward to a "spring offensive" we hear from one of the leading…

• Credit ratings: how Fitch, Moody's and S&P rate each country . Visualised - with a spreadsheet

  Simon Rogers, Ami Sedghi

  14 Jan 2012 | 9:20 am

  Standard and Poor's has downgraded nine countries in the eurozone. See how different credit rating agency compare countries• Get the data• US debt ceiling analysed• Who owns America's debt?How do credit ratings vary by country and by ratings agencies? France has been stripped of its coveted AAA credit rating in a mass downgrade of nine eurozone countries by Standard & Poor's.It also cut Austria's triple-A rating, and relegated Portugal and Cyprus to junk status.Larry Elliott and Philip Inman write today thatThe humiliating loss of France's top-rated status leaves Germany as the only…

• Should we worry about redefining aid? | Jonathan Glennie

  Jonathan Glennie

  6 Jan 2012 | 1:00 am

  Maybe. But it's more important to dissect donor claims and analyse how public money is being spentThe news from the Jubilee Debt Campaign that the cancellation of Sudanese debt will count towards the global (and UK) aid target is unsurprising. The definition of what counts as "aid" (formally known as official development assistance, or ODA), drawn up (inevitably) by the donors, has always included debt cancellation, regardless of whether or not it will make any more money available to the recipient country.Debt cancellation can make a real difference. If a country is servicing its debt, then…

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  Media: Digital media | guardian.co.uk

• How to build a profitable blog: getting down to business

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:58 pm

  In the 10th part of her series on how to build a blog, Andrea Wren looks at generating money with advertisingRight. On to business. How do I start turning my new blog Butterflyist.com into something that earns a profit? What I really want from my site is that it becomes my key income. As I said at the outset, I don't want to have to rely on freelancing any more.Glen Allsopp, my blogging mentor from Viperchill, says there are plenty of ways of making money from your blog, and one of the most common is through advertising. That is, from getting companies who are related to your niche to…

• Do you want to join the Guardian's science blog network? | Alok Jha

  Alok Jha

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:02 pm

  We're expanding our network to cover more scientific fields and are seeking some of the UK's best science bloggersJust under 17 months ago, the Guardian launched a small network of science blogs. Each blogger – Martin Robbins, Evan Harris, Jon Butterworth, GrrlScientist and Mo Costandi – was given complete freedom to write about whatever they wished, as often as they wished, independent of any oversight (other than legal) from Guardian editors. We hope that, in the intervening time, they've managed to do what I tentatively promised at the time of launch: to entertain, enrage and…

• Twitter censorship backlash: users react

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:24 am

  Users of the social network have shared their views on news that Twitter has implemented a system to withhold tweets on a country-by-country basis. Many tweeters have accused the service of censorship and, under the hashtags #twittercensorship and #twitterblackout, are planning to protest by not tweeting on 28 January in a stand against what they see as a threat to freedom of expression and information. Others question the extent to which this system will be used and if this move by Twitter will result in a shift away from the network@guardianworld It's an affront on a free society & could be…

• Twitter faces censorship backlash

  Charles Arthur

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:19 am

  Users of social network critical of new system that can censor tweets on a country-by-country basisThe social network Twitter is facing a storm of criticism from users, after revealing that it has implemented a system that would let it withhold particular tweets from specific countries.The company has insisted that it will not use the gagging system in a blanket fashion, but would apply it on a case-by-case basis, as already happens when governments or organisations complain about individual tweets.The new system, which can filter tweets on a country-by-country basis and has already been…

• A week on the web: Abba's new song

  Graham Hayday

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:43 am

  Swedish pop royalty Abba are releasing a new song for the first time in 18 years. Could a reunion be on the cards? Do they need the cash? Twitter had every angle covered[Please note: this column is put together using Storify, which does not work on our mobile site and apps. If nothing loads below this paragraph, click here to go to Storify itself, or use the desktop version of the site.] Digital mediaSocial mediaAbbaGraham Haydayguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms &…

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  Global: Tim Dowling | guardian.co.uk

• Tim Dowling: life is tweet

  Tim Dowling

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:00 pm

  'I realise anything I say about the point of Twitter will eventually be proved idiotic'On Sunday I come downstairs to find the middle one typing furiously on a laptop while a football match roars from the television. The middle one's friend is leaning over his shoulder, staring at the screen. I lean in, too."What are you doing?" I ask."I'm providing live match commentary on Twitter," he says."But you're not on Twitter," I say."I know," he says. "I just joined for this." I watch as he types, "tottenham break with lennon but cross is poor.""How many followers do you have?" I say."None," he…

• How honest are you?

  Tim Dowling

  25 Jan 2012 | 2:00 pm

  New research claims we are all a little more dishonest than we used to be, but answer these questions and you may just discover that you are completely scrupulous after allA survey of 2,000 adults conducted by the Essex Centre for the Study of Integrity has found that people are less honest than they were a decade ago. But the survey itself amounted to a dishonesty test, inviting participants to rate their tolerance of behaviour including littering, adultery and handling stolen goods. What we really need is a more positive test, one that that demonstrates just how honest we can be, in the…

• Reasons to be cheerful in 2012: it's not the end of the world. Again

  Tim Dowling

  20 Jan 2012 | 5:00 pm

  Yes, things are looking grim, but on the bright side we're going to make it through another Doomsday (probably)Things may be tough in 2012, but it won't be the end of the world. I can't stress this highly enough.Every year has its doomsday predictions. Only last year, Christian radio host and eschatological alarmist Harold Camping picked 21 May as the date of the Rapture. "Beyond the shadow of a doubt," he said. When the end of the world failed to conform to his itinerary, Camping rejigged his calculations and shifted his prediction to 21 October. When that day also came and went,…

• Tim Dowling: my family and other animals

  Tim Dowling

  20 Jan 2012 | 4:59 pm

  'If I had to pinpoint the cause of the dog's erratic behaviour, I would put it down to my wife's remarkably inconsistent dog-handling'It's been some months since I looked up from my desk to notice the pets, but the cat, heretofore the least of my problems, has suddenly gone needy. It's taken to interposing itself between my face and my computer at frequent and inopportune intervals."This is unacceptable," I say as the cat blocks my view. It ignores me, stands on the keyboard and watches the screen fill up with semicolons. When I try to brush it aside, it gets its head up underneath my hand…

• How I made myself into a Van Gogh painting

  Tim Dowling

  17 Jan 2012 | 2:00 pm

  How difficult can it be to recreate a relatively straightforward painting such as Van Gogh's Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear? There's only one way to find outMy first thought on seeing these painstaking photographic recreations of famous paintings was, "Why would anyone want to do that?" But my second thought was, "Right – give us a go, then."The rules on Jeff Hamada's Remake project stipulate that only classic works of art should be staged, and that no post-production effects are employed. Some of the interpretations are literal, some are loose, others have been updated or toyed with.My…

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  Education: Early years education | guardian.co.uk

• Family mentors take on early years support

  Rachel Williams

  10 Jan 2012 | 8:57 am

  Using parents as volunteers in early years settings saves money and reaches more families in need, a project in Reading has shown"I wanted to do something like social work – but obviously I didn't want all the paperwork," says Tracey Hawkins, to laughter, at the Sure Start children's centre in Whitley, an area of south Reading where deprivation levels are high. "I just wanted to help out families. I don't want something like Baby P to happen here. Whitley's got a bit of a bad name, so I'd like to help it. We're strong people and I think we should all come together to help it."Hawkins, 42,…

• Child poverty targets will not be met, says Alan Milburn

  Randeep Ramesh, Haroon Siddique, Patrick Wintour

  13 Dec 2011 | 4:22 am

  Coalition adviser urges increased investment in early years funding to prevent the poor bearing brunt of austerity measuresAlan Milburn, who advises the coalition on child poverty, is to make the case for "increased investment" in early years funding, saying that there would be "big economic returns" for the country, with the poorest families having the most to gain.He also said the government should admit that Britain's child poverty targets will not be met and do more to prevent the poor bearing the brunt of austerity measures.Speaking to the Guardian before his first speech since being…

• Autumn statement 2011: free nursery education extended to two-year-olds

  Jeevan Vasagar

  29 Nov 2011 | 8:08 am

  George Osborne to provide free nursery or childcare places for more than 250,000 toddlers to help parents return to workMore than 250,000 toddlers are to be given free nursery or childcare places in an attempt to help parents get back to work, the chancellor has announced.George Osborne outlined a scheme to provide 15 hours a week of free early education for around 40% of two-year-olds. At present, all three and four-year-olds are entitled to 15 hours of free nursery education per week.The government had previously announced plans to extend the free entitlement to all disadvantaged…

• 124 Sure Start centres have closed since coalition took power

  Nicholas Watt

  14 Nov 2011 | 2:38 pm

  Education minister reveals figures that undermine prime minister's claim to be committed to reducing child povertyThe government has confirmed that there are now 124 fewer Sure Start centres for children than there were when the coalition formed last year.Lord Hill of Oareford, the education minister, released figures that showed there were 3,631 Sure Start centres in April last year, but by 8 September this year there were only 3,507.Labour said the figures raised questions about David Cameron's claim that he was committed to an initiative of the last government that is credited with helping…

• August babies are less likely to go on to top universities, says study

  Jessica Shepherd

  31 Oct 2011 | 7:01 pm

  Researchers say August babies underperform compared with older children in their school year throughout their working lives• Get the data Children born in August, the youngest in each school year, are less likely to go on to study at top universities than their older classmates, a thinktank study has found.Researchers at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) examined whether there was a link between the month in which a child is born and what they tend to do when they leave school.They studied three data sets, which represent the records of 48,500 children and teenagers in England. They…

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  Education news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk

• Steven Spielberg's Holocaust archive arrives in UK

  Vanessa Thorpe

  28 Jan 2012 | 6:14 am

  Academics hope emphasis on survivors' testimonies will change the way in which war history is studiedThe arrival in Britain of an archive of tens of thousands of Holocaust testimonies will give much needed historical weight to the experiences of survivors, according to a leading scholar.David Cesarani, of the Holocaust Research Centre at the University of London, believes that the US video archive, set up 18 years ago by Steven Spielberg, will help to rebalance a picture that has been dominated by the study of the perpetrators of the atrocities of the second world war.The extraordinary…

• Sex, lies and natural disasters

  Jon Henley

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:05 pm

  In 2007, floods wreaked havoc in Gloucester. Without lights or TV, people made their own fun ... and nine months later, lots of babies were born. But can the floods really explain the shortage five years on of school places?In the summer of 2007, you may recall, it rained. A lot. On 20 July in Gloucestershire, the equivalent of two months' rain fell in just 14 hours. Some 5,000 homes and businesses were flooded, 10,000 motorists were stranded on impassable roads, and 2,500 people had to be put up in makeshift rest centres. Whole communities were cut off; the historic town of Tewkesbury, at…

• Fighting talk, as pay rises by 4% but vacancies fall

  Graham Snowdon

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:02 pm

  At last salaries are on the up. But it's even tougher to get a jobAfter another week of gloomy employment forecasts, those preparing to graduate this summer and test the icy waters of the jobs market might be forgiven for wanting to dive back into bed and pull their duvets safely over their heads.With the economy suffering a worse than-expected contraction and a mood of pessimism pervading the World Economic Forum in Davos, there was, at least, a modicum of good news from the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR). The employers' body anticipates starting salaries will increase by 4% this…

• Michael Gove criticised for awarding public funds to organisation he advised

  Rob Evans

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:38 am

  Education secretary made decision to give taxpayers' money to organisation that he had promoted as an adviser since 2007Michael Gove, the education secretary, awarded £2m of public money to an organisation that he promoted as an adviser for four years.The education secretary personally made the decision to give taxpayers' money to an organisation that distributes funds to pay for better security at Jewish schools. Gove has promoted the Community Security Trust (CST) as an adviser since 2007.Documents obtained by the Guardian show that Gove personally wrote to the trust confirming that the…

• How will £9,000 tuition fees affect students? We'll be finding out | Will Hutton

  Will Hutton

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:24 am

  Our commission will look at whether the increase has a negative impact on applications – especially from the disadvantagedA vast social experiment begins in September. Many of England's universities and colleges will start charging £9,000 tuition fees a year plus real interest rates for their students – money that will have to be borrowed. That's up from £3,300 a year with no interest charged. Many will borrow more on top, especially those living away from home, to pay for their living expenses. As a result very few students will escape leaving university with debts of less than…

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  World news: Egypt | guardian.co.uk

• Twitter boycott? No, let's trust it | Mohamed El Dahshan

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:28 pm

  Censorship fears are misplaced, tweets from the Middle East will still buzz around the worldWhen Twitter announced it was giving itself the ability to censor particular tweets or users in certain countries, the immediate reaction among users of the network in the Middle East – as elsewhere – was: #sh*t.Without overplaying its importance, Twitter has proved to be an invaluable tool for activists, enabling them to find up-to-date, accurate information and news, to publicise and to communicate among themselves, particularly in times of crisis. The hashtag #egypt was the most widely used on…

• Twitter users threaten boycott over censorship accusation

  Julian Borger, Charles Arthur

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:55 pm

  Tweets don't always flow freely – voice of Arab spring accused of imposing gagging system in some countries"The Tweets must flow", Twitter declared a year ago, and quickly became an instrument of fast-moving revolution across the Arab world, coordinating mass protests in Egypt and sidestepping the state censorship in Syria. But, the microblogging site conceded that the tweets would not flow evenly in every country.The company was accused of censorship by many users and threatened with a one-day boycott on Saturday after announcing that it could remove tweets in certain countries which have…

• Syria, Egypt, Libya and Middle East unrest - Friday 27 January

  Lizzy Davies, Matthew Weaver

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:08 pm

  • UN to discuss draft Syria resolution • Veto-wielding Russia says draft remains 'unacceptable'• Egypt protesters take to Tahrir for 'second Friday of rage'• Read the latest summary6.21pm: Here's a summary of the day's developments. Syria• The head of the Arab League observer mission, Mohammed al-Dabi, reported a "very high escalation" in the violence in the last three days. The Local Coordination Committees in Syria claimed 135 people died yesterday and today. They included five children from one family in what the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights aid was a "massacre" in Homs.

• Guardian Books podcast: Reading the Arab spring

  Claire Armitstead, Richard Lea, Ian Black, Craig Thompson, Tim Maby, Ahdaf Soueif

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:58 am

  As Egypt celebrates the first anniversary of the Tahrir Square demonstrations, we look to the literature coming out of the Arab world. Ahdaf Soueif explains what it is like to live in Tahrir Square, while the Guardian's Ian Black – just back from in Syria – finds the books that offer the most nuanced picture of the Arab spring. Samir El-Youssef, co-founder of the new online literary magazine The Arab-Israeli Book Review, joins the distinguished translator Peter Clark to discuss the most exciting new writers in Arabic, and the kinds of books they are writing. And the American graphic…

• American NGO workers prevented from leaving Egypt

  Ed Pilkington

  26 Jan 2012 | 2:05 pm

  Son of US transportation secretary among several election monitors placed on 'no-fly list' as tension with Cairo escalatesTension between the US government and the Egyptian military authorities has reached a new peak after it emerged that several American non-governmental workers, including the son of a member of President Obama's administration, are being prevented from leaving the country in an ongoing spat over Egypt's recent parliamentary elections.Sam LaHood, the son of the US transportation secretary Ray LaHood, was turned back at the airport in Cairo on Saturday in a significant…

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  Global: Barbara Ellen | guardian.co.uk

• Stop expecting immigrants to be superhuman | Barbara Ellen

  Barbara Ellen

  21 Jan 2012 | 6:08 pm

  For too long, there's been a bizarre cultural climate of putting migrants under unfair instant pressure to performIt's hard not to tense up when you see the word "migrants" alongside "benefits". You think: here it comes, the predictable deluge about "benefits tourism". As in: "All those greedy, cynical immigrants coming over here, taking our jobs, the food from our children's mouths. And, if they're not doing that, the work-shy foreign piss-takers are taking advantage of our welfare system, claiming this, claiming the other…" We know the drill.Last week, new statistics were distributed by…

• Meat eaters – you are daredevils or dumb. Or both | Barbara Ellen

  Barbara Ellen

  14 Jan 2012 | 6:04 pm

  People who've been informed of the dangers of meat, particularly the cheap processed variety, but who continue to wolf it down should be held accountableThere have been times during my years of vegetarianism when I've wondered if I may indeed grow out of it. I've wondered if there might come a day when I'll put aside my childish aversion to the thought of dead stuff travelling through my intestines, like a corpse on a raft ride.However, it could never happen, and not because I'm so enlightened, sensitive or any of the other euphemisms for "whining hippie" usually dumped on vegetarians. My…

• David Cameron, shame on you, for this 'brave' attack on nurses | Barbara Ellen

  Barbara Ellen

  7 Jan 2012 | 6:06 pm

  He's telling the nurses off for problems (being under-staffed and overworked) for which he and his ministers are responsible.It was so disorienting observing David Cameron "bravely" attacking the nursing profession, saying the supposed unsayable, that, for a moment there, he almost got away with it.After a series of highly critical reports on patient care, particularly in relation to the elderly, Cameron is to announce an initiative making nurses take better care of patients, with an emphasis on hourly ward rounds, and patients – ordinary members of the public – assessing and inspecting…

• Downton Abbey's just the opiate of the middle classes | Barbara Ellen

  Barbara Ellen

  31 Dec 2011 | 6:05 pm

  Retro porn is no cure for Britain's class illsPlease give me a moment, I feel queasy; I think I may have over-indulged in festive TV's comforting class retro-ism. Which means Downton Abbey of course. Not that I mind Downton (a decent enough soap), but it appears to have breathed fresh life into the cultural trend for rosy revisionism.Then came the darker meat of Charles Dickens's Great Expectations, depicting a social upstart, cowering in the blessed aura of his "betters", only becoming enlightened when things don't go his way.All over the country, people were marvelling at how the British…

• TV talent shows get my vote | Barbara Ellen

  Barbara Ellen

  23 Dec 2011 | 2:00 am

  For some reason I find myself regularly ringing up to express my preference on shows like The X Factor and Celebrity Big BrotherI have a secret vice: Despite being a sentient adult, I regularly vote for contestants on light entertainment shows. Not every show. I ring up to vote for contestants on The X Factor, I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here, those Andrew Lloyd Webber shows, very occasionally Strictly Come Dancing, and sometimes Celebrity Big Brother. I don't vote for the regular Big Brother, and I've never voted on, or even seen, Dancing On Ice – I have my standardsSometimes I ring up…

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  Society: Equality | guardian.co.uk

• Rich and poor: deserving and undeserving | Editorial

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:54 pm

  The attempt to distinguish between different categories of the poor is almost as old as the modern British stateWhen the Archbishop of Canterbury warned against "a quiet resurgence of the seductive language of 'deserving' and 'undeserving' poor" he may not have expected his immediate predecessor to lead a charge against "hand-outs given to the long-term unemployed", as he did this week. Yet Lord Carey's attack upon his fellow bishops for resisting the government's welfare reform legislation breathes new life into that most unhelpful of distinctions. According to Lord Carey, we now have a…

• The problem Tory 'feminists' face | Suzanne Moore

  Suzanne Moore

  25 Jan 2012 | 2:45 pm

  Even a vibrant Conservative MP such as Louise Mensch can't avoid the fact that austerity is stripping us down to very old gender roles"Women taken seriously shock!" No, not a headline from this week, but a response to the four women who spoke at the Leveson inquiry about how the media portrays us. Anna van Heeswijk (from Object), Jacqui Hunt (Equality Now), Heather Harvey (the rape charity Eaves) and Marai Larasi (End Violence Against Women) made their case with quiet assurance, and were listened to with courtesy. Their evidence, shockingly enough, was deemed worthy of censorship and could…

• State of the union: President Obama addresses inequality | Gary Younge

  Gary Younge

  24 Jan 2012 | 10:07 pm

  The president can thank Occupy for making his new economic populism possible. But will it be enough, come November?• Full transcript of President Obama's state of the union addressIf you want to understand the relevance of President Barack Obama's state of the union message look at where he's off to tomorrow. First, Iowa; then, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Michigan. All swing states. All, with the exception of Arizona, which was John McCain's home state, he won comfortably four years ago. It was an election speech, for an incumbent playing defence.As such, this state of the union speech…

• Leveson must back ban on sexualised images in media, women's groups say

  Alexandra Topping

  24 Jan 2012 | 2:13 pm

  Explicit newspaper pictures censored in inquiry evidence but Leveson warned change would require 'rock-solid legislation'When Lord Justice Leveson launched his inquiry into the ethics of the press, he may not have expected to be confronted with an enlarged photograph of near-naked bottoms. Or to be presented with evidence deemed so explicit it was censored before being circulated to other witnesses.But on Tuesday a coalition of women's groups argued that such highly sexualised images – presented as part of their submission to the inquiry – were ubiquitous in the UK media, and called on…

• Sheryl Sandberg: the first lady of Facebook takes the world stage

  Dominic Rushe

  24 Jan 2012 | 2:00 pm

  The only female co-chair at the World Economic Forum in Davos has made her career by being the 'grownup in the room'Sheryl Sandberg was once in a meeting in New York, pitching a deal, when she needed a bathroom break. Embarrassed, the man to whom she was pitching had to admit he had no idea where the women's bathroom was. Sandberg wondered whether they had just moved in to the office. No, came the reply, they had been there for a year. "Are you telling me that I am the only woman to have pitched a deal in this office for a year?" Sandberg later recalled. "And he looked at me and said, 'Yeah,…

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  Environment: Ethical and green living | guardian.co.uk

• David Cameron's eco-friendly image risks 'retoxification', warns WWF chief

  Juliette Jowit

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:54 am

  Prime minister's lack of leadership on green issues among concerns raised by head of charity that helped rebrand partyThe head of the charity that helped to arrange David Cameron's memorable husky photoshoot in the Arctic, launching the Conservatives' rebranding as the nice-not-nasty party, has warned that the PM's lack of leadership on environment issues risks "retoxifying" their image.The striking images of Cameron posing on the ice with huskies on the way to visiting a melting glacier in 2006 marked a turning point for the Conservatives, who had been seen by many voters as uncaring. After…

• Hop onboard an HGV and see what they can't see | Bike blog

  Laura Laker

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:11 am

  A safety initiative by the Met is encouraging cyclists and HGV drivers and cyclists to swap placesFor most cyclists, HGVs are the thing most feared on urban roads. Despite only comprising 5% of traffic, they are involved in about 50% of cyclist deaths each year, and many more serious injuries.When I sat in the driver's seat of an HGV this week, I realised that fear can be a good thing.The Metropolitan police's Traffic Cycle Team are currently running safety events called Exchanging Places, which give cyclists the chance to see exactly what a lorry driver can – and can't – see.Sergeant…

• Is Red Tractor pork really 'high welfare'?

  Oliver Thring

  26 Jan 2012 | 6:05 am

  The UK pork industry makes much of its assertion that welfare standards here are higher than in the rest of the EU. Oliver Thring examines their claimsRed Tractor pork is high welfare pork – or so the adverts say. The UK's pig industry is in the throes of a £2m marketing campaign encouraging people to consider the welfare of British pigs. Around 80% of British pork farms unite under the Red Tractor scheme, which has specific minimum welfare standards. These turn out to be more or less the legal minimums, but there is at least a guarantee that the pork is British.Supermarkets, which sell…

• Fear of toxic green boxes

  Lucy Siegle

  21 Jan 2012 | 6:10 pm

  Recycled cardboard might be bad for your healthThe dilemma I'm nervous about buying food in recycled boxes since I read reports that the cardboard might be contaminated. Am I being overly cautious? And what about toilet roll?Considering Plato wrote about the concept of recycling it's surprising we still haven't got it completely sorted. The holy grail is a closed loop: you buy cereal packed in a box made from recycled paper, eat the cereal, dispense the box in a recycling bin and it gets sorted and remade into another consumer product.In 2009 Swiss scientist Koni Grob detected "unsafe"…

• Wine trends for 2012

  David Williams

  21 Jan 2012 | 6:05 pm

  Expect to hear more from Swartland and natural wine producers – as well as rising pricesAn American friend of mine is fond of paraphrasing an old hippie slogan about marijuana. "Wine," he says, "will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no wine." That's not likely to find favour in the Department of Health, but you get the idea: a glass or two of wine is a relatively cheap pleasure in economic tough times.This year, however, even that small comfort is going to be more expensive, and it's hard not to feel aggrieved about the principal reason why:…

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  World news: European Union | guardian.co.uk

• World Economic Forum's heavy hitters fail to grasp the nettle

  Larry Elliott

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:51 pm

  Davos 2012 may have been dominated by Europe, jobs and equality, but solutions were notable by their absenceThree big themes have dominated this year's Davos: Europe, jobs and inequality. While it would be comforting to think that the considerable brainpower assembled 5,000 feet up in the Alps has come up with solutions to these problems, that would be stretching the truth.Tackling inequality will require more than the motherhood and apple pie solutions trotted out by the majority of those attending the World Economic Forum. Sure, education is important and so is training. Technological…

• David Cameron in U-turn over fiscal policing of eurozone

  Ian Traynor, Nicholas Watt

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:17 pm

  Government signals it will not challenge fiscal enforcement role for European commission and European court of justiceThe prime minister has abandoned his pledge to block the eurozone from using common EU institutions to police a new regime of fiscal integration and stiff German-style rules for the embattled single currency.Ahead of Monday's summit of EU leaders, which is due to finalise "political agreement" on the fiscal compact treaty, the government signalled that it would not challenge a role for the European commission and, more sensitively, would also allow resort to the European court…

• Spain demands new 'realism' from EU over austerity

  Giles Tremlett, Ian Traynor

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:52 pm

  • Fears cuts will bring more instability as unemployment hits 5m• Brussels must readjust growth estimates, says budget ministerAs Spanish unemployment breaks through the 5 million barrier, the new government of Mariano Rajoy has begun to put pressure on the European Union to ease Spain's deficit targets, which are sending the country hurtling back into recession.Rajoy's government is demanding greater "realism" from Brussels as it struggles to rein in a deficit that ended more than two percentage points, or €20bn, above its EU-set 6% target last year.EU officials are unlikely to greet…

• Osborne lays down conditions for eurozone fund contribution

  Larry Elliott, Jill Treanor

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:59 am

  Chancellor tells Davos the world must 'see the colour of Europe's money' before the UK pays into $1tn IMF fundBritain will insist on seeing the "colour of Europe's money" before it is willing to put taxpayers' cash into a $1tn (£636bn) International Monetary Fund war chest designed to help safeguard the future of the euro, George Osborne has said.The chancellor set four conditions for Britain's willingness to provide a £16bn guarantee that would allow the Washington-based fund to tackle financial problems in Europe and elsewhere.Osborne said there could be no new special IMF funding…

• Spain unemployment tops 5.3m and set to get worse

  Giles Tremlett

  27 Jan 2012 | 7:50 am

  The conservative government of Mariano Rajoy has started to quietly beg the EU to ease up on deficit targets which require savage spending cutsSpanish unemployment broke through the 5-million barrier on Friday as the new government of Mariano Rajoy began to quietly beg the European Union to ease up on deficit targets that are sending the country hurtling back into recession.Spain, which already boasted Europe's worst unemployment rate, recorded 350,000 people losing their jobs in the last quarter of 2011.That rate now stands at 22.8% of the population and is set to worsen as Rajoy's…

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  Global: Competition | guardian.co.uk

• Win a trip to Antarctica in this year's Been there photo competition

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:45 pm

  Send in your best travel photographs for the chance to win an overall prize of a fantastic $30,000 trip to Antarctica, plus monthly prizesThe Been there photo competition has always been a fantastic way to showcase great amateur travel photography from our readers. For 2012 we have teamed up with Quark Expeditions to offer a fantastic trip of a lifetime to the Antarctic Peninsula worth over $30,000USD to the overall winner.The winner from each month will receive a £200 photo voucher for Point 101, the canvas photos service, and be entered into the overall competition for the trip. The themes…

• Win one of five pairs of tickets to Noël Coward's Hay Fever

  27 Jan 2012 | 7:37 am

  Lindsay Duncan stars in the first Noël Coward play to be staged in the theatre renamed after him in London's West End. The production is directed by Howard Davies and also stars Jeremy Northam, Kevin R McNally and Olivia Colman

• Win one of five pairs of tickets to Noël Cowards Hay Fever

  27 Jan 2012 | 7:37 am

  Lindsay Duncan stars in the first Noël Coward play to be staged in the theatre renamed after him in London's West End. The production is directed by Howard Davies and also stars Jeremy Northam, Kevin R McNally and Olivia ColmanJudith Bliss, once glittering star of the London stage, now in early retirement, is still enjoying life with more than a little high drama. To spice her weekend up, Judith invites a young suitor to join her in the country. However, her novelist husband, and her two eccentric children have had the same idea for themselves and any hope for private flirtation disappears…

• Win a luxurious break for two at Stoke Park hotel in Buckinghamshire

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:13 am

  To celebrate the DVD and Blu-ray release of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy on 30 January, we are offering you the chance to win a two-day getaway at the stunning Stoke Park hotelThe Oscar and BAFTA Award-nominated Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is based on the John le Carre Cold War spy novel. Set in the 1970s, George Smiley (Gary Oldman), a recently retired MI6 agent, is doing his best to adjust to a life outside the secret service. However, when a disgraced agent reappears with information concerning a mole at the heart of the Circus, Smiley is drawn back into the murky field of espionage.This…

• Win a luxurious break for two at the Stoke Park hotel in Buckinghamshire

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:11 am

  To celebrate the DVD and Blu-ray release of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy on 30 January, we are offering you the chance to win a two-day getaway at the stunning Stoke Park hotel

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  Education: Faith schools | guardian.co.uk

• Faith school expansion plans are 'shameful', say secular campaigners

  Jeevan Vasagar

  5 Jan 2012 | 10:48 am

  The government is said to be considering making it easier for the Church of England to take control of state schoolsSecular campaigners have criticised reports that ministers are considering making it easier for the Church of England to take control of state-funded schools.The British Humanist Association (BHA) has written to the education secretary, Michael Gove, describing the plans as "the single most threatening development in the area of faith schools since their expansion began in 2001".The criticism follows a report that the government is preparing to smooth the path for community…

• Alien nation?

  Ros Asquith

  2 Jan 2012 | 2:15 pm

  Has our education system been taken over by aliens?Ros Asquith

• Response: Independent Muslim schools pose no divisive threat to society

  Fatima D'Oyen

  12 Dec 2011 | 1:00 pm

  This form of education addresses particular needs within our communityYour article on the growth of Muslim schools, which highlighted Manara Education's flexi-schooling programme, was misleading (Safe as houses?, Education Guardian, 29 November).From the subheading, which states that "local authorities are concerned that there is insufficient regulation" of "official and unofficial" schools, and the article's positioning above a piece on corporal punishment at madrasas, readers may have concluded that flexi-schooling by Muslims is a way of evading regulation rather than a principled…

• Inside Iqra: Slough's Muslim primary school - video

  12 Dec 2011 | 4:52 am

  In 2008, after years of campaigning and opposition, Iqra opened as one of the first Muslim primary schools in the UK. Film-maker Masood Khan talks to those for and against faith schools

• Northern Ireland teaches us the dangers of segregated schools | David Pavett

  David Pavett

  29 Nov 2011 | 5:50 am

  Peter Robinson has called for the end of separate state-funded Protestant and Catholic schools. Michael Gove should listenIf there is one area of the UK that knows a thing or two about segregated religious education it is Northern Ireland. The great majority of schools there are run by either Protestants or Catholics. Children are divided into these denominational institutions from the age of five. Given that the religious communities also tend to live in Catholic and Protestant areas the possibilities for the generation and maintenance of inter-communal misunderstanding and even violence are…

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  UK news: Falkland Islands | guardian.co.uk

• Argentinian president returns to work amid Falklands row - video

  26 Jan 2012 | 6:52 am

  In her first public appearance since undergoing surgery for what was thought to be a cancerous tumour, Argentina's president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, comments on the Falkland Islands issue. Fernández does not want to directly address David Cameron's statements about Argentina's claims over the Falklands, but says Britain should comply with the United Nations resolution on decolonisation

• Hugh Carless obituary

  Alexander Maitland

  22 Jan 2012 | 7:30 am

  Distinguished diplomat who was immortalised in Eric Newby's A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush, the 1958 account of their two-man expeditionHugh Carless, who has died aged 86, had a long and distinguished career in the diplomatic service. A gifted linguist and a voracious reader, admired for his integrity and intellect, he was charmingly modest, yet fascinating to talk to. Decisive, patient and loyal, he was an ideal man in a crisis. All these attributes were immortalised in A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush, the writer Eric Newby's 1958 account of their two-man expedition to an inhospitable area of…

• Prince Harry to visit Brazil

  Tom Phillips

  19 Jan 2012 | 11:29 am

  William Hague announces royal visit and plays down Falklands row during trip to boost ties with South AmericaPrince Harry will visit Brazil in March as part of "Britain's most ambitious effort to strengthen ties with Latin America in 200 years", the foreign secretary has announced, playing down differences between the UK and the continent over the future of the Falkland Islands.William Hague – in Brazil as part of a two-day diplomatic offensive designed to "re-energise" wilting links between the UK and Latin America's booming emerging economies – said the 27-year-old prince would attend…

• Falklands colonialism is coming from David Cameron, not Argentina | Flavia Dzodan

  Flavia Dzodan

  19 Jan 2012 | 9:40 am

  Cameron cannot respect the right to self-determination of the Falklanders while denying it to South American statesI laughed heartily as I read the news last night. British prime minister David Cameron accused my birth country, Argentina, of "colonialism" over the Falkland Islands. I originally read about his jibe on an Argentinian news site, and immediately searched for a report in English – I thought this had to be a hilarious "lost in translation" mistake. It wasn't. Indeed, Cameron warned the British parliament: "What the Argentinians have been saying recently, I would argue, is far…

• Falklands sabre-rattling: Cameron should stick to bullying Miliband | Michael White

  Michael White

  19 Jan 2012 | 7:10 am

  This is not 1982, and it is foolish of David Cameron to start making wild statements about the Falklands as if it wereAs soon as I heard David Cameron suggest at Wednesday's PMQs that Argentina's latest squeeze on the Falkland Islands was "far more like colonialism" than Britain's stance on the subject I knew there would be trouble. Sure enough, 8,000 miles across the global village in Buenos Aires, the home secretary denounced the remark as "totally offensive".We can expect more of this on both sides as the 30th anniversary of the Argentinian junta's invasion approaches. Sabre-rattling may…

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  Global development: Famine | guardian.co.uk

• Fighting famine in Africa with the help of faith communities | Becky Garrison

  Becky Garrison

  25 Jan 2012 | 6:43 am

  The common goal of love of God and love of neighbour in the Abrahamic faiths is a strong bond in tackling crises in AfricaMore than 170 people have died in the northern Nigerian city of Kano after a series of attacks by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram. This rampage follows several major attacks in the last year, which have strained relations between Nigeria's Christian south and Muslim north.Meanwhile, over in east Africa, the United Nations documents a parallel scenario of violence committed by Al-Shabab, a Somali-based militant Islamist group. This group's ongoing actions led to…

• Niger struggles to feed itself at the best of times – these are the worst of times

  Mark Tran

  23 Jan 2012 | 8:35 am

  Erratic rainfall and western financial strife mean improved crisis preparations are being stretched to the limitIn the mid-morning sun, Aminatou Gado takes her place in the queue, where she faces a long wait to have her 14-month-old daughter screened for malnutrition. Having already walked three hours to get to the dusty town of Bambeye, she will probably not leave before 5pm. Inside the adobe building dozens of other women, many breastfeeding, sit on the floor amid discarded flip-flops, waiting their turn. The test involves a simple, coloured cardboard strip wrapped around the child's upper…

• Somalia fighting intensifies as African Union troops make gains in Mogadishu

  20 Jan 2012 | 8:27 pm

  International force pushes outwards in capital city, seeking to oust al-Shabab militants from suburbsHeavy fighting has broken out in Somalia's capital with African Union peacekeepers encountering resistance as they pushed to Mogadishu's outskirts for the first time, the latest move in an offensive against Islamist insurgents.Hundreds of residents fled a northern Mogadishu neighbourhood after waking on Friday to the sound of mortars and gunfire. AU troops have largely pushed al-Shabab militants out of the city over the last year but pockets of resistance remain.Abdirahman Ahmed, a resident,…

• Why east Africa's famine warning was not heeded | Hugo Slim

  Hugo Slim

  18 Jan 2012 | 11:14 am

  Psychological and organisational reasons lay behind the poor response to this famine – not the hoary old 'lack of political will'Natural sciences can predict certain things quite well once they have established particular natural laws. But political and social sciences are notoriously bad at it. This is not surprising. Human events are deeply unpredictable, so we tend not to be too hard on ourselves when we miss things like the Arab spring.But should we be much harder on ourselves when we miss a famine? Surely, there is quite a lot of hard science in a famine – indicators of drought,…

• East Africa's drought: the avoidable disaster

  Simon Tisdall

  17 Jan 2012 | 6:29 pm

  Tens of thousands of lives could have been spared if agencies and governments had heeded the warnings, a report saysThe deaths of tens of thousands of people during the drought in east Africa could have been avoided if the international community, donor governments and humanitarian agencies had responded earlier and more swiftly to clear warning signs that a disaster was in the making, according to a new report.Figures compiled by the Department for International Development (DfID) suggest that between 50,000 and 100,000 people, more than half of them children under five, died in the 2011…

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  Fashion news, advice and pictures | guardian.co.uk

• Beauty tips: nude tones - video

  Sali Hughes

  28 Jan 2012 | 4:59 pm

  In the lull between Christmas and spring, nude tones can help your skin look clean and fresh. Sali Hughes explains allSali Hughes

• Even among the Skins generation, some know how to just be themselves | Trim Lamba

  Trim Lamba

  28 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am

  Depictions of today's youth show them as uncomplicated fashion victims – but not all young people want to be hipstersPeople of a certain age, or rather those who spend leisurely time with the Daily Mail and taped recordings of Antiques Roadshow, tend to spend a fair amount of time worrying about the "youth of today". They picture hoodlums dressed in Lonsdale tracksuits kicking cans of Pepsi Max down dingy alleyways, ready to loot and antagonise innocent civilians. Rest assured, adults: the vast proportion of youth, excluding the rodents who rioted, actually have the menace of a Mr Kipling…

• Laura Bailey on 15 years of modelling

  Jess Cartner-Morley

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:00 pm

  Jess Cartner-Morley meets Laura Bailey – model and London Fashion Week ambassadorLondon Fashion Week, being rather grand these days, has three ambassadors. One of them you will almost certainly have heard of – she's called Samantha Cameron – and one of them you may not, unless you are a keen reader of the fashion blogs and gossip columns Poppy Delevigne stars in. Bluntly put, one gets British designers into the Downing Street drawing room, and the other looks very pretty in their clothes.The third is Laura Bailey, who is not so easy to pigeonhole. She has been a model for 15 years, and…

• The Measure

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:00 pm

  Top marks to conversational prints, navy lace pencil skirts, Harry Lloyd and Hillary Clinton's hair. Nul points to leather sleeves, capes and fancy stripesGoing upPretty puddingsKnickerbocker glories in the new Vuitton campaign, ice-cream cones in the Mulberry ads. Forget champagne, babies, lapdogs: dessert is the new It accessoryConversational prints Victoria Beckham's cat-print dress hasn't hit stores yet and already it has an army of high-street followers. Our favourite piece of the new-season fashion lexicon so farPencil skirts in navy lace Definitely a Thing, this springHarry Lloyd…

• Jess Cartner-Morley on contrast collars

  Jess Cartner-Morley

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:00 pm

  'What happens, clothes-wise, from the collarbone up, changes the tone of your look in a way that has nothing to do with seasonal trends'In pictures: Four of the best contrast collarsDon't be misled by the gold sequins. This column is not about fashion. What happens, clothes-wise, from the collarbone up – the part of your outfit you can see in an old-fashioned passport-size photo – changes the tone of your look in a way that has nothing to do with seasonal trends. You don't even have to get changed to make a difference. You could be wearing a simple cotton shirt – but whether you…

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  Features | guardian.co.uk

• Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal battle to pass the physical

  Kevin Mitchell

  28 Jan 2012 | 6:37 am

  The Australian Open finalists will reignite the debate about the heavy workload and lack of rest in the gruelling men's gameRafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are agreed: their men's final of the 2012 Australian Open will come down to fitness. It is, after all, the issue that binds the entire Tour in common purpose. The players' insurrection over workload that was spiked in New York and subsided in Shanghai bubbled up again in Melbourne over the past fortnight and is the prevailing backdrop to the men's game.It might not be an issue to inspire a Jarrow march but, for athletes who red-line their…

• Why we can't get enough of childbirth on TV

  Zoe Williams

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:07 pm

  TV used to shy away from depicting birth. But now Call the Midwife and One Born Every Minute are attracting record ratings. So what's changed? And why now?Call the Midwife has been an extraordinary success for the BBC. With more than eight million viewers, it is the highest-rated original BBC drama series since records began. If you imagine the schedule as a Hollywood blockbuster, this is like Nicolas Cage (Sherlock) and John Travolta (Doctor Who) fighting to the death, only to find Cameron Diaz effortlessly swooshing past them to save the earth. One Born Every Minute,…

• Why I love The Good Wife | Deborah Orr

  Deborah Orr

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:07 pm

  The lead character is an empty vessel, and the whole programme is an upper-middle-class fairytale, but I still love US drama The Good WifeI'm torn. Part of me is mystified that the Good Wife isn't more widely feted. But part of me is rather gratified that not everyone is as easily pleased as I am. Most worryingly, I love Alicia, the eponymous Good Wife, even though she's such a hopelessly empty vessel. Played by the former ER actress Julianna Margulies (pictured), Alicia is an impossibly perfect, youthful, intelligent and competent middle-aged mother. She had to…

• Interview: architects Richard Rogers, Graham Stirk and Ivan Harbour

  Charlotte Higgins

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:06 pm

  Celebrated architect Richard Rogers and his partners discuss £140m penthouses, John Prescott's ministerial 'flair' and Prince Charles's strange ideas about architectureRichard Rogers, at 78, is not about to slow down. "I am enjoying myself, so why would I retire?" says the architect of the Pompidou Centre and the Lloyd's of London building. "I'd like to think I'll be learning a new language or something when I die."But even a master builder can't go on for ever, which is why Richard Rogers Partnership discreetly changed its name, some five years ago, to Rogers Stirk Harbour and…

• Maya Jane Coles Q&A

  Sam Richards

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:06 pm

  The rising star of British house music empties the contents of her psychic record bagThe track I'll be opening my next DJ set with Deetron: CroqueIt really builds to create the perfect mood in the room. You can take your set anywhere from there.The track I always play to rescue a dancefloor K-nto: Easy LifeThis has been a recent favourite to fix up any dodgy dancefloor. It's a re-edit of Billy Stewart; you can't go wrong with it.The track that currently gets the most rewinds Bahamadia: SpontaneityThis has been getting the most rewinds on my iPod, anyway. Bahamadia has always been one of my…

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  World news: Fiji | guardian.co.uk

• Fiji state of emergency to be lifted

  2 Jan 2012 | 12:04 am

  Frank Bainimarama, leader of 2006 coup, says martial law will end by Saturday in move towards new constitutionFiji's military government has said it will lift the state of emergency imposed in 2009 by next Saturday as the regime prepares to open consultation on a new constitution.The Fijian prime minister, Frank Bainimarama, said in a new year's message that the emergency regulations would be repealed. These gave police and the military extended powers, imposed tough censorship on the media and tightly controlled public assembly.The military government of 2006 coup leader Commodore…

• Fiji's military ruler uses Melanesian Spearhead Group to end pariah status

  26 Apr 2011 | 8:02 am

  Co-operation among Pacific islands will be tested by Frank Bainimarama's leadership of the groupThere aren't many international summits where the leaders sit down to a round of sedatives before settling into formal talks. But getting together around the kava bowl in laid-back Pacific style is their way of reaching consensus. So it was at the 18th Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) summit in Fiji, the beginning of a new era for the sub-regional grouping under the direction of a regime branded the pariah of the Pacific.The summit in Suva was a show of strength for the host, Fiji's military ruler,…

• Anne Gee obituary

  24 Jan 2011 | 12:40 pm

  My wife, Anne Gee, who has died aged 79, was a 17-year-old bride when in 1948 we travelled to Uganda together. I was a new recruit in the colonial service and Anne was allowed to go with me on the condition that she could find somewhere to stay, since there was limited married accommodation available.Fortunately, she found a place with missionaries looking after people with leprosy. She had left behind a promising singing career, having won a national competition aged 16, but nevertheless became an enthusiastic amateur soloist in Uganda of song recitals, opera and oratorio, while at the same…

• Lapita: Oceanic Ancestors – review

  28 Dec 2010 | 8:00 am

  Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, stages the first exhibition on mainland France to focus on one of the oldest civilisations of OceaniaLapita: Oceanic Ancestors at the Musée du Quai Branly, in Paris, is the first exhibition on mainland France to focus on one of the oldest civilisations of Oceania, a continent long considered as empty, or almost. This Austronesian people left Taiwan in about 2000BC, establishing the Lapita complex in the Bismarck Archipelago, east of New Guinea, some 600 years later. From there they fanned out, travelling as far as the Samoa Islands circa 850BC.The Lapita mixed…

• US embassy cables: Prince Charles 'does not command same respect as Queen' says Commonwealth mandarin

  29 Nov 2010 | 5:00 pm

  Thursday, 11 June 2009, 15:32C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LONDON 001385 SIPDIS EO 12958 DECL: 06/11/2019 TAGS PREL, EAID, PHUM, PINR, NI, CE, FJ, NZ, CA, MY, UK SUBJECT: COMMMONWEALTH ON FIJI, SRI LANKA, NIGERIA, QUEEN'S SUCCESSION, AND THE VALUE TO USG OF COMMONWEALTH ENGAGEMENTREF: LONDON 580Classified By: Political Counselor Richard Mills, reasons 1.4 (b/d)1. (C) Summary. During a June 11 discussion with Poloff, Commonwealth Political Director Amitav Banerji offered electoral commission capacity-building as an area where the USG and Commonwealth could be strategic partners;…

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  Film: Film blog | guardian.co.uk

• Chronicle's found-footage fetish weakens its superhero powers

  Ben Child

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:13 am

  There are too many handheld cameras flying around in Josh Trank's film, which takes the found-footage genre too farIt's easy to forget that District 9, Neill Blomkamp's part-mockumentary-style science-fiction thriller about life in a Johannesburg slum inhabited by stranded aliens, was ostensibly a found-footage film – largely because the South African film-maker dispensed with the format whenever it became inconvenient. Chronicle, the new found-footage superhero movie which has been picking up some degree of hype in the blogosphere, conversely finds itself hamstrung and ultimately strangled…

• Sony's product placement is a Resident Evil in the Retribution trailer

  Stuart Heritage

  25 Jan 2012 | 10:26 am

  Who knew that warning of the zombie apocalypse would arrive in the guise of shiny personal electronics? Here's a weird fact: only four Resident Evil films have ever been made. I was convinced that the number of sequels ran into the low hundreds, taking in titles like Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Resident Evil: Purgatory, Resident Evil: Total Wipeout and Resident Evil: The Curse of the Haunted Balloon-Poodle. But no – apparently there are only four of them.Until now. Because this year the fifth Resident Evil film will be released, entitled Resident Evil: Retribution. What's Resident Evil:…

• The Muppets Q&A: send us your questions

  Henry Barnes

  25 Jan 2012 | 8:45 am

  With a new Oscar-nominated film to promote, Kermit and Miss Piggy are crossing the pond and working the UK press circuit. What should we ask them?Play the music, light the lights, tune up the banjo and reinforce the drumkit: the Muppets are back with a big-screen musical.The new movie sees small-town dreamer and lifelong Muppets fan Walter make a pilgrimage to the Muppet theatre in LA with his brother, Gary (Jason Segel). The pair find the theatre abandoned and the Muppets disbanded. Kermit is holed up in his Beverly Hills mansion; Miss Piggy has wriggled her way into the editor's chair at…

• Theo Angelopoulos: a career in clips

  Xan Brooks

  25 Jan 2012 | 6:25 am

  Greek director Theo Angelopoulos has died in a road accident aged 76. Here we look back at his body of work, which included The Travelling Players, Ulysses Gaze and Landscape in the MistThe Travelling Players (1975) Theo Angelopoulos's breakthrough film is a political allegory in disguise; a leftist analysis of democracy, fascism and national identity, shrewdly gussied up as the tale of a theatre tour through the Greek provinces and shot under the noses of the country's military junta. Rigorous, spartan, and yet brimming over with pungent mythic allusions, The Travelling Players established…

• Theo Angelopoulos: one last unfinished tale for chronicler of modern Greece

  Peter Bradshaw

  25 Jan 2012 | 5:33 am

  Incompleteness was a recurrent theme for a film-maker who thought closure out of reach, always searching for the lost idyll of a nation torn apart by the 20th centuryTheo Angelopoulos has been killed in a traffic accident while crossing a busy street in the middle of filming. This very fact has an enormous irony and poignancy: so much of his work is about the unfinished story, the unfinished journey, the unfinished life, and the realisation that to be unfinished is itself part of the human mystery and an essential human birthright and burden. This was part of what he conveyed to audiences, in…

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  Environment: Fishing | guardian.co.uk

• Fishing rules must cover EU vessels in foreign waters, campaigners say

  25 Jan 2012 | 12:00 am

  WWF says reform of fishing policy must ensure that European vessels exploit stocks in international waters sustainablyNew rules are needed to make sure all European fishing vessels fishing outside of EU waters operate in a sustainable way, campaigners urged on Wednesday.The current reform of the common fisheries policy, which governs the EU fleet, must make sure that vessels exploiting fish stocks as far away as the Indian Ocean and the southern Atlantic conform to the same standards as in Europe's waters.WWF-UK made the demand as it published a new study showing that commercial fishing…

• Shangri-La hotels take shark fin soup off the menu

  Jonathan Watts

  18 Jan 2012 | 5:44 am

  The resort company's move, coming just ahead of the Chinese new year festivities, is a huge boost to the campaign to protect decimated shark stocks by banning the dishThe campaign to reduce the demand for shark fins achieved its greatest victory to date on Wednesday when the Shangri-la hotel group announced that it would no longer serve the dish, which is decimating populations of the ocean predator.The resort company, which operates 72 hotels, took the step just days before the Chinese spring festival, the main season for shark fin soup consumption at banquets in Hong Kong and the…

• Five missing as trawler sinks off western Ireland

  Ben Quinn

  15 Jan 2012 | 6:24 pm

  One crewman rescued, but hopes fading for five men on board when boat went down in force 8 winds near county CorkHopes are fading for the safe return of five men missing at sea after a trawler sank off the south-west coast of Ireland when it was making its way back to port after a fishing trip.One of four Egyptian fishermen on board the vessel was rescued after it went down in the early hours of Sunday morning, but his colleagues, their Irish skipper and a student who was interested in pursuing a career at sea remain unaccounted for.The 21m-long trawler, the Tit Bonhomme, is believed to have…

• Five missing after trawler sinks off the Cork coast

  15 Jan 2012 | 7:03 am

  One survivor pulled from sea after fishing vessel Tit Bonhomme hits rocks near Union Hall harbourFears are growing for five people missing after a trawler went down off the west Cork coast.One survivor was pulled from the sea close to Union Hall harbour, where the 21-metre (69ft) Tit Bonhomme was thought to have struck rocks in the early hours of Sunday morning.The Irish-registered fishing vessel was coming into shore when it got into difficulties beside the Adam and Eve islands, just outside the harbour.The crew made a distress call to the coastguard at about 6am, but it was cut off and all…

• The Squid War: a new seafood-inspired conflict

  Leo Hickman

  11 Jan 2012 | 2:00 pm

  Argentina wants to restrict the Falklands squid catch. Welcome to another fish fightArgentina has reportedly told its fishing fleet to catch as much Illex squid as possible off its coastlinebefore the animals enter Falklands' waters, which could damage the £45m Falklands fishing industry, half of which is made up of squid catch. It has been dubbed the "Squid War", like other seafood-inspired conflicts:The Cod Wars For almost 20 years, the UK and Iceland found themselves locked in a series of escalating confrontationsfought over North Atlantic fishing rights. In 1974, a UK trawler was shelled…

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  Life and style: Fitness | guardian.co.uk

• Gym contracts and heartwarming Guardian readers

  Patrick Collinson

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:02 pm

  The distressing story of a pregnant woman chased for payment has put gym contracts in the spotlight – and filled our postbag with offers of helpHow I love Guardian Money readers. Last week our consumer champions Lisa Bachelor and Miles Brignall highlighted the distressing story of a woman chased by LA Fitness for £780 to get out of her gym contract, despite being weeks away from childbirth, her husband being unemployed, and losing her home. Soon after publication the calls and emails started pouring in; many of you wanted to pay the bill, or at least some of it. LA Fitness may have been…

• LA Fitness dealt a knockout blow over unfair gym contracts

  Lisa Bachelor

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:58 pm

  LA Fitness flew into a Twitter storm after Guardian's consumer champions took up the case. Now all gyms are under pressure to improve their contractsIt was one of the most distressing cases of a reader in trouble that Guardian Money has ever had to deal with. But it resulted in an overwhelming outpouring of generosity from readers that led – belatedly – to a humble apology from the company at the heart of the storm. What's more, gym-goers across the UK may benefit as the Office of Fair Trading promises a crackdown on unfair contracts.It began last Saturday when Guardian Money's consumer…

• Fitness camp in northern Italy

  Katharine Viner

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:45 pm

  Six hours of intensive workouts – followed by a sumptuous meal and wine. This is a fitness boot camp, Italian-styleI've never been so relieved as when Dan, one of the muscle-bound personal trainers on the Fitscape week-long holiday in northern Italy, said I could bunk off on the first day.Arriving catatonically knackered, barely able to utter a syllable, I was in terror at the sight of the programme: dawn runs, at least five hours' cardio a day, an alarming amount of "burpees" (squat thrusts). So when Dan said I should "listen to my body", I did just that and slept for 17 hours.After…

• Hop onboard an HGV and see what they can't see | Bike blog

  Laura Laker

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:11 am

  A safety initiative by the Met is encouraging cyclists and HGV drivers and cyclists to swap placesFor most cyclists, HGVs are the thing most feared on urban roads. Despite only comprising 5% of traffic, they are involved in about 50% of cyclist deaths each year, and many more serious injuries.When I sat in the driver's seat of an HGV this week, I realised that fear can be a good thing.The Metropolitan police's Traffic Cycle Team are currently running safety events called Exchanging Places, which give cyclists the chance to see exactly what a lorry driver can – and can't – see.Sergeant…

• London Olympic park to host 'festival of cycling' in 2013

  26 Jan 2012 | 11:23 am

  London mayor Boris Johnson unveils details of first large-scale event to use venue when it reopens after the GamesA two-day "festival of cycling" will be the first large-scale event to use the Olympic park when it reopens in 2013 after this year's Games, the London mayor, Boris Johnson, announced on Thursday.The festival will culminate in a 100 mile race for amateurs and world class competitors starting at the Olympic Park that organisers say will be similar to the London Marathon - but for cyclists.Johnson said he wanted to create one of the world's leading cycling events in the capital as…

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  Life and style: Food & drink | guardian.co.uk

• Family life

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:05 pm

  Readers' favourite photographs, songs and recipesSnapshot: Dad on a rare holiday in the 1930sWhat a great time these young men are having. A group of lads sharing a rare holiday in the 30s, determined to have a ball. The rolled shirtsleeves and vests suggest hot weather. My father, Ben, is the one astride his motorcycle on the far left of the photograph, which I think may have been taken on the Isle of Man. I know Dad went there in his youth to watch the TT racing.Ben was born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, in 1906, and worked for the co-operative movement until the 1930s when,…

• Restaurant review: Za Za Bazaar, Bristol | John Lanchester

  John Lanchester

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:59 pm

  It's billed as the UK's biggest restaurant, serving as many as 1,000 covers at a time, but is that really such a good thing?Some claims aren't easy to fact-check, so I can't be entirely sure that Za Za Bazaar, which opened in Bristol just before Christmas, is the largest restaurant in the UK. I think the boast, or admission, just about stands up: the main restaurant has a stonking 700 covers, and the bar downstairs, where you can get the same food, does another 300. That full-capacity figure of 1,000 punters means it comes in ahead of the current biggest of the biggies, Cosmo in…

• Wine: It's time to crack open the old stuff

  Fiona Beckett

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:59 pm

  That bottle you've been saving for a special occasion may well be better off being drunk nowUnless you're one of those people who drink every bottle of wine they buy within 24 hours, the chances are that you've got a few older bottles knocking around somewhere at home that need to be drunk up. And this cash-strapped time of year isn't a bad time to work through them.The problem is that once they get to a certain age, the question arises whether they will be drinkable at all. You hesitate to bring them out for friends, yet feel they're too good for everyday drinking.Don't be afraid…

• Recipes for roasted rhubarb with sweet labneh, plus halibut and harissa stew with lemon ricotta | Yotam Ottolenghi

  Yotam Ottolenghi

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:59 pm

  A celebration of rhubarb, plus a neat way to temper the spice in north African fish dishesRoasted rhubarb with sweet labneh (V)Perfect for a late brunch. It's best to drain the yoghurt overnight, to give it time to reach the desired rich and creamy texture (four to six hours will just about do, though the labneh may not be as thick). Either way, give the yoghurt bundle a squeeze a couple of times while it's draining. If you want to avoid draining altogether, use a thick Greek or Arab yoghurt as it is – the finished dish won't be as rich and dessert-like, but it will still be wonderfully…

• Marmalade recipes | Dan Lepard

  Dan Lepard

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:59 pm

  There's a whole lot more to marmalade than meets the eyeMarmalade season is here again, and I'll be up at the World's Original Marmalade Awards in Cumbria, looking at the 1,000-odd jars that will wing their way from around the world to Dalemain Mansion for judging. The variation you see from marmalades all made basically from the same recipe is huge, and reflects how slight changes in the fruit used, cooking times and temperatures create vastly different results. My thick-cut Seville marmalade recipe is straightforward: slice a kilo of oranges, soak in water overnight, then boil in the same…

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  Football news, match reports and fixtures | guardian.co.uk

• Liverpool v Manchester United

  Scott Murray

  28 Jan 2012 | 7:36 am

  • Email nice things to scott.murray@guardian.co.uk• Hit F5 for the latest, or use the auto-doofer• Click here for live scores and fixturesHALF-TIME ENTERTAINMENT: A lovely gallery from this game.HALF TIME: Liverpool 1-1 Manchester United. Welbeck is this close from turning Skrtel down the inside-left channel, but the defender does well to hold him off. And that's the end of the action. United will wonder how they're not leading this game at the break; they've been the better side by some distance. Liverpool's midfield may need some tweaking. Carroll and Maxi have been worse than…

• Wilshere in doubt for Euro 2012

  Amy Lawrence

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:04 pm

  • Player suffers recurrence of ankle injury after return to training• Wenger refuses to put a timescale on midfielder's recoveryJack Wilshere has handed England a major injury scare ahead of this summer's European Championship after the Arsenal midfielder suffered a recurrence of the ankle injury that could mean he is ruled out for the rest of the season.In what will come as a huge blow to his club's Champions League hopes as well as Fabio Capello's plans, Wilshere injured his ankle while running as he stepped up his rehabilitation, with the player and his manager, Arsène Wenger,…

• QPR v Chelsea – match centre

  FA Cup: The pre-match handshakes were cancelled and Juan Mata has put Chelsea 1-0 up. Follow our match stats

• Watford 0-1 Tottenham

  Jamie Jackson

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:30 pm

  Harry Redknapp took a break from denying two counts of cheating the public revenue to watch his Tottenham Hotspur team progress rather fortuitously to the FA Cup fifth round.Redknapp, who has a further five days at least at Southwark crown court while his case continues, had been unable to take training all week and there was evidence in a lax display that his squad may have missed his exhortations at their Spurs Lodge base in the build-up to this tie.He acknowledged this had been a disappointing performance by joking afterwards: "I thought we were fantastic, the football was mind-blowing,…

• Alex unveiled at PSG after Chelsea switch

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:22 am

  • Defender presented at a press conference in Paris• Transfer fee reported by L'Equipe at €5mThe Brazilian defender Alex was presented as a Paris St-Germain player in the French capital on Friday following the completion of his move from Chelsea.PSG's sporting director, Leonardo, joined Alex in addressing the media at a press conference broadcast live by PSG TV.The 29-year-old joined Chelsea in 2004 but has struggled for first-team football under André Villas-Boas this season and has now been reunited with his former manager Carlo Ancelotti.The French sports newspaper L'Equipe reported…

• 

  World news: France | guardian.co.uk

• Sarkozy and Karzai agree to press Nato for earlier Afghanistan handover

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:11 pm

  French and Afghan presidents call for withdrawal of all Nato troops in 2013 - a year earlier than US goalThe French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, said on Friday that France and Afghanistan have agreed to ask Nato to bring forward the handover of all combat operations to Afghan forces to 2013.Sarkozy also announced an accelerated exit for France, the fourth-largest contributor of troops in Afghanistan – marking a break from previous plans to adhere to the US goal of withdrawing combat forces by the end of 2014. The proposal comes a week after four unarmed French troops were killed by an Afghan…

• Nicolas Sarkozy vows French troops will leave Afghanistan by end of 2013 - video

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:19 pm

  The French president met his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai to sign an agreement for troops to leave Afghanistan

• Maori heads returned to New Zealand after 200 years - video

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:17 am

  Twenty tattooed Maori heads have been repatriated from France to New Zealand after more than 200 years. A team from Wellington's Te Papa museum plans to trace the origin of the heads and return them to their communities. More than 500 heads of Maori ancestors remain in collections around the world

• PIP breast implant boss Jean-Claude Mas charged with causing bodily harm

  Angelique Chrisafis

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:47 am

  After hours of questioning by investigators, Mas was released on €100,000 bail and banned from leaving FranceFrench authorities have filed preliminary charges against the founder of a French firm at the centre of a global health scare over faulty breast implants.Jean-Claude Mas, 72, head of Poly Implant Prothese (PIP), has been placed under investigation on a criminal charge of causing bodily harm. He was arrested at his countryside villa in the south of France at dawn on Thursday.After hours of questioning by investigators, he was released on €100,000 bail (£83,000) and banned from…

• PIP breast implant boss facing bodily harm charge

  26 Jan 2012 | 9:00 pm

  Jean-Claude Mas has been released from police custody will not be investigated for the graver charge of manslaughterJean-Claude Mas, the Frenchman who sparked a global health scare by selling substandard breast implants, was released from police custody on Friday and faces a charge of causing bodily harm, his lawyer said. Mas will not be investigated for the graver charge of manslaughter, as was expected, and is under court surveillance. In the first arrests since the two-year-old scandal made headlines worldwide in December, Mas and a second executive at his now defunct company Poly Implant…

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  Global: Jonathan Freedland | guardian.co.uk

• Bash the poor and wave the flag – how this Tory trick works | Jonathan Freedland

  Jonathan Freedland

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:30 pm

  In a move imported from the US right, the Conservatives have successfully induced people to vote against their own interestsThe art of the magician, so they say, is distraction. Divert the eye of the audience with one hand and all kinds of mischief are available to the other. And if that's true of magic, it's truer still of politics. To adapt the slogan selling the new film Man on a Ledge, a big deception requires a big distraction.Take these two apparently contradictory facts. This week saw proof that Britain is no longer merely suffering from anaemic growth but actual contraction, a…

• British stereotypes: do mention the war, please | Jonathan Freedland

  Jonathan Freedland

  26 Jan 2012 | 7:34 am

  Brits are portrayed as class-conscious binge-drinkers utterly obsessed with the war. It's a thumbnail sketch, not the whole picture, writes Jonathan FreedlandThe stereotype is itself a stereotype. The European image of the Brit – either pukingly drunk football fan or snooty City gent, both living off past imperial glories, sullenly resenting being in Europe rather than ruling the world – is itself a cliche. Just as Brits know that every good Frenchman wears a striped shirt and beret, and that ruddy-faced Germans subsist on a diet of beer and sausage, so we know precisely what all those…

• Reasons to be cheerful in 2012: Obama will win

  Jonathan Freedland

  20 Jan 2012 | 5:01 pm

  The US president may not be smelling of quite so many roses these days, but the Republican opposition is so flawed and divided, he's odds-on to get a second termThis will be a year of elections, with presidential ballots in Russia, France and the US, along with an imminent change at the top in China. While a coronation for Vladimir Putin and the possibility of a run-off between Nicolas Sarkozy and Marine Le Pen is hardly a prospect to savour, the US contest could be a rare source of political good cheer in 2012.On paper it should be anything but. Barack Obama has…

• A Labour U-turn on the economy? Hardly. But nobody is listening | Jonathan Freedland

  Jonathan Freedland

  20 Jan 2012 | 3:00 pm

  Ed Miliband and Ed Balls's apparent shift over cuts is not a contradiction at all. But in opposition, the argument's hard to winWho'd be in opposition? Except when facing a government clearly in its death throes, opposition must feel like a game you can never win. Call an issue wrong, and you're punished pitilessly. Call it right, and your adversary simply steals your best lines.The past week has been a classic of its kind. Last week this newspaper carried word of an apparent shift in position by Labour. Ed Balls said he could not promise to reverse the coalition's spending cuts and tax…

• Barack Obama's presidency, three years on – is it time to give up hope? | Jonathan Freedland

  Jonathan Freedland

  19 Jan 2012 | 2:36 pm

  He promised radical change, a new kind of politics. Many one-time believers now say he has no stomach for a fightThree years ago to the day, Barack Hussein Obama stood before a crowd shivering in the frigid January air and took the oath of office that made him the 44th president of the United States. By some estimates, there were two million people thronging the National Mall in Washington that day, a human carpet stretching to the steps of the Capitol, to witness a moment many – perhaps most – never believed they would see: the inauguration of America's first black president. When Aretha…

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  Politics: Freedom of information | guardian.co.uk

• Press freedom index: big falls for Arab trio in year of protest

  Roy Greenslade

  26 Jan 2012 | 2:51 am

  Syria, Bahrain and Yemen fall backwards as uprisings fail to secure democracyThree Arab countries where popular risings have been quashed have achieved their worst-ever rankings in the annual press freedom index.But the falls by Syria, Bahrain and Yemen are among many changes that reflect a year of unrest and protest.The United States, for example, has dropped markedly due to the targeting of journalists covering the Occupy Wall Street movement. It slipped 27 places, down to 47th place out of a total of 179 countries in the survey. Britain fell from 19th to 28th (though the reason for that…

• Chemistry Club networking events: see the full list of attendees

  James Ball

  24 Jan 2012 | 2:01 pm

  Ministers, MPs and civil servants have been mixing with private sector execs at £1,800-a-head events. See the full list of who attended here.• Get the dataMaking politics transparent and accountable is one of the aims of the coalition government – and something far more difficult to do in practice than in theory.Lobbying is perhaps the thorniest area on which to shed light: when is a meeting between a minister and an old friend, who happens to work for a lobbyist, simply a private drink and when is it a matter to be declared? Are networking clubs a tool for helping ministers and…

• MediaCity on Monday: Should northern applicants be put at the front of the BBC jobs queue?

  Sarah Hartley

  23 Jan 2012 | 1:01 am

  As the debate about the employment opportunities available at MediaCity continues to hit the headlines, we ask if the BBC needs to take positive action to ensure northern jobseekers fill more of its vacanciesThe heated debate which ensued after we revealed here last week that jobseekers in London had been more than twice as successful in landing jobs than those applying from the north, has raised some interesting issues.Does the recruitment process in some way favour those in the south above northern job seekers? Do vacancies, perhaps, go to people with previous experience or contacts at the…

• Climate scientists back call for sceptic thinktank to reveal backers

  Leo Hickman

  22 Jan 2012 | 6:01 pm

  Leading experts lend support to Freedom of Information request concerning climate sceptic foundation chaired by Lord LawsonLeading climate scientists have given their support to a Freedom of Information request seeking to disclose who is funding the Global Warming Policy Foundation, a London-based climate sceptic thinktank chaired by the former Conservative chancellor Lord Lawson.James Hansen, the director of the Nasa Goddard Institute for Space Studies who first warned the world about the dangers of climate change in the 1980s, has joined other scientists in submitting statements to be…

• £35,000 on the speaking clock? Spend the time reporting real data

  James Ball

  19 Jan 2012 | 4:34 am

  The Met Police's bill for the speaking clock is in the news. But should it be?We now know, thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, that the Metropolitan Police has spent more than £35,000 on calls to the speaking clock in the last two years.What wasters of our public money these profligate policemen are, eh? But that FOI request just scratches the surface – and isn't even needed to suggest other areas where significant amounts of our cash are being blown.Some examples: assuming everyone in the Met drinks two cups of tea per shift, the force's annual bill on teabags alone will top…

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  Education: Further education | guardian.co.uk

• Let's give adults the benefits of digital skills

  Martha Lane Fox

  16 Jan 2012 | 1:00 pm

  Digital literacy must be extended to adults, too, says Martha Lane Fox, to improve employment prospects. Children would be the best teachersLast week, the education secretary gave schools the green light to overhaul the current ICT syllabus and replace it with a compulsory course in computer science. This is a big win – both in the short term for pupils, who stand to benefit from much more lively lessons in what should already be one of the world's most exciting subjects, but also for our longer-term national economic growth.Successive governments have been unequivocal about how vital…

• An education wishlist for 2012

  Joanna Moorhead

  2 Jan 2012 | 2:00 pm

  A sabbatical for teachers; an end to student visa restrictions; and more Michael Gove? Some hopes for the new yearAC Grayling, philosopher and founder of New College of the Humanities, which is due to open in October My wish for education is the abolition of school examinations. They are not necessary; evaluating students can be done far better by reading their essays, looking at their projects, and talking to them. Although more time-consuming, this is a fairer and more accurate measure of ability and attainment, and it liberates teachers and students from the distorting tyranny of the…

• Short courses help adults to a second career

  Lucy Tobin

  19 Dec 2011 | 12:45 pm

  Demand is soaring for short courses, from drumming to shoe-making, among people seeking a portfolio career – and it's good news for colleges and universitiesSue Baughan spent a week of this summer decamped to London to learn how to shape patterns on leather. The summer before that, it was sandal-making, and the one prior to that was spent making boots. By day, the 39-year-old from Boddington in Northamptonshire works full-time as a team co-ordinator for an environmental organisation. But in her evenings, holidays and weekends, thanks to that bevy of short courses, Baughan works on…

• Gove orders inquiry into exams advice given to teachers

  Jeevan Vasagar

  7 Dec 2011 | 5:50 pm

  Claims that examiners are giving teachers advice on what questions their pupils should expect in GCSE and A-level papersEducation secretary Michael Gove has ordered an inquiry into a claim that examiners are giving teachers advice on what questions their pupils should expect in GCSE and A-level papers.Some examiners are giving detailed advice so that schools can focus on teaching to the test rather than covering the entire syllabus, an investigation had found. Teachers attending exam board seminars get precise information about what areas will be examined, according to the investigation…

• Sue Cathcart obituary

  Julia Layton, Geoff Tate

  5 Dec 2011 | 11:42 am

  Our friend and colleague Sue Cathcart, who has died unexpectedly aged 65, recognised the chances that further education gives to young people wanting to make up for wasted schooldays. In the late 1960s she taught in Brixton, south London, and in the 1970s at Uxbridge Technical College, in west London, where she was a lively and inspiring teacher of social studies, totally involved in her students' progress, and good at dealing with "difficult" young people.She was born Susan King in Devon and after attending Plymouth high school for girls she moved to London in 1965 to study for a London…

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  World news: Germany | guardian.co.uk

• Norway apologises for deporting Jews during second world war

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:55 am

  Prime minister says on Holocaust Remembrance Day that country must acknowledge it sent 772 Jews to GermanyNorway has apologised for the arrest and deportation of Jews during the second world war.The prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg, said it was time the nation acknowledged that politicians and other Norwegians took part and expressed "our deep regrets that this could have happened on Norwegian soil".During the war, 772 Norwegian Jews and Jewish refugees were deported to Germany, of whom only 34 survived.Stoltenberg spoke on Friday at a ceremony in Oslo marking International Holocaust…

• Picture of the day: Berlin fashion week

  Rachel Dixon

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:34 am

  Careful moustache preparation ahead of Patrick Mohr's facial hair-heavy showRachel Dixon

• 'Hire and fire' has destroyed Britain's jobs economy | David Marsh and Robert Bischof

  David Marsh, Robert Bischof

  26 Jan 2012 | 4:30 pm

  Europe's biggest problem now is youth unemployment – we should be looking at the German labour modelThese days we tend to talk about the divisions in Europe as one between net creditors and debtors. In reality this is just a sideshow. There is a much more fundamental gulf, hinted at by Angela Merkel in her Davos speech yesterday: between countries with organised industrial training systems such as Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Scandinavia, Austria and Switzerland – all currently with jobless rates of between 3% and 7% – and those with much higher rates of unemployment, often in…

• Cameron tells Davos: Germany must be bold over eurozone crisis

  Jill Treanor, Larry Elliott

  26 Jan 2012 | 1:54 pm

  • UK intervention in euro debate likely to anger Berlin• PM launches fresh assault on Robin Hood tax• Ed Miliband criticises Cameron's austerity measuresDavid Cameron has risked souring Britain's relations with Berlin in the runup to next week's crucial European summit by calling on Germany to play a larger role in safeguarding the single currency.Addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, the prime minister said resolving the ongoing crisis was not just the job of indebted countries such as Greece and Italy, which have been forced to adopt punishing austerity measures; "surplus"…

• German stereotypes: Don't mention the towels | Rainer Erlinger

  Rainer Erlinger

  26 Jan 2012 | 7:36 am

  No sense of humour? Heard the one about the German throwing all the towels in the pool one early morning – he diligently fished them all out again later, writes Rainer ErlingerYes it is true, all the cliches are correct, even the one about the towels and the sunloungers. At least as much was confirmed to me by a reliable friend, who is widely travelled. He also confirmed that only the Germans do it. Mind you, he also confounds the cliche: he once threw all the towels into the pool one early morning, along with two Brits he met in the bar the night before (another cliche).Efficient and…

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  Music: Glastonbury festival | guardian.co.uk

• Reasons to be cheerful in 2012: There's more to festivals that Glastonbury

  Stuart Heritage

  20 Jan 2012 | 5:00 pm

  Glastonbury's taking a year off, but don't tear your hair out: that just means other festivals get to share a piece of the action this yearThe UK's festival scene is as vibrant right now as it's ever been. In fact, if anything, it might be a bit too vibrant – it's exploded to the extent that on most scraps of green during the summer you can expect to see the bassist from Shed Seven performing a lacklustre solo set to an audience of two bewildered campers who are starting to question the value of their £90 tickets.But this year, smaller festivals have a chance of succeeding,…

• Glastonbury, Bestival and Y-Not festival are big winners at industry awards

  guardian.co.uk/music

  16 Nov 2011 | 10:02 am

  Eighth annual UK Festival awards also sees Ed Sheeran named breakthrough artist of the yearTriumphing over its competitors in a crowded (if not muddy) field, Glastonbury was named best major festival of 2011 at a ceremony in London on Tuesday night. Headliners at the festival in June included U2, Beyoncé and Coldplay, and it is probably a relief to organiser Michael Eavis's rivals that the event is taking a break next year.Other winners at the eighth annual UK Festival awards at the Roundhouse in Camden included Bestival, which was named the fan's [sic] favourite festival – a new category…

• Greenpeace launches Rainbow Warrior III with help of Glastonbury founder

  Esther Addley

  10 Nov 2011 | 2:28 pm

  Glastonbury festival owner Michael Eavis joins maiden voyage on the river Thames of environmental group's third flagship• An interactive guide to Rainbow Warrior IIIMichael Eavis first went to sea in 1951, when he was a 15-year-old farmer's son from an undistinguished village near Glastonbury. The death of his father four years later brought an end to his career as a sailor, however, and he returned to manage the dairy herd and, almost by accident years later, to found Europe's biggest music festival.He has never lost his sea legs, however, and on Thursday the 76-year-old fulfilled a…

• Stone Roses reunion: What's the worst that can happen?

  Dorian Lynskey

  21 Oct 2011 | 6:05 pm

  The Stone Roses are the latest in a long line of bands to get back together. Shameless profiteering? Or the chance to heal old rifts and enjoy a dignified return to form?Thanks to some loose lips in the Stone Roses' circle, news of the original lineup's reunion after 16 years prompted a backlash even before the official announcement. Alongside those who declared that they had never rated the band were old fans who agreed with what guitarist John Squire had written in an artwork only two years ago: "I have no desire whatsoever to desecrate the grave of seminal Manchester pop group the Stone…

• Music Loves Summer: our photographers' best images

  6 Oct 2011 | 8:30 am

  Remember the summer? Here's a reminder of the best festival action with a selection of images from a free exhibition of Guardian and Observer photographers' work at Kings Place, London N1 9GU from 3-14 October

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  World news: Globalisation | guardian.co.uk

• How the rise of the megacity is changing the way we live

  Paul Webster, Jason Burke

  21 Jan 2012 | 4:52 pm

  The rapid increase in the number of cities home to more than 10 million people will bring huge challenges … and opportunitiesClick here for a graphic charting the rise of the megacityAmid a clutter of 24-hour arc lights, gigantic cranes and dumper trucks, a behemoth is rising out of a field of churned mud on the outskirts of Chengdu in south-west China. Commuters skirt its vast perimeter fence on their way to the new metro link that cuts under the city. They barely glance at what looks like just another huge construction project in a cityscape that changes every month.This project, though,…

• Delhi's food revolution: forget the bhaji, bring on the risotto

  Jason Burke

  20 Jan 2012 | 9:08 am

  Chefs return from London and New York as India's richest demand glamour and global cuisineAfter mutter paneer and rogan gosht comes crispy asparagus and seared eel with cod roe emulsion. And after samosas and onion bhajis comes molecular fusion.This weekend the latest addition to India's increasingly frenzied fine dining scene opens in the capital, Delhi. Megu, a cutting-edge "Modern Japanese" chain will start serving Delhi's richest from a brand new venue in the luxury Leela hotel in the city's diplomatic quarter.Diners will eat off specially created ceramics in rooms lined with antique…

• Eurozone crisis: thanks to globalisation, we really are all in it together

  Heather Stewart

  12 Jan 2012 | 12:05 pm

  New research by Goldman Sachs identifies Turkey and Russia as among the numerous developing nations most vulnerable to the eurozone downturnGlobalisation is a fickle business. The "interconnectedness" of economies around the world became startlingly clear in the aftermath of the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, as the shock was transmitted and amplified through financial markets.New research by Goldman Sachs suggests that as the eurozone slowdown bites in the coming months, families and businesses from Istanbul to Lima will be reminded that, like it or not, we're all in this…

• Letters: We must rebalance the economy now

  25 Dec 2011 | 3:00 pm

  Vince Cable writes (Comment, 20 December) that we need to put the whingeing of the City aside and "concentrate on [...] rebalancing the economy". We could hardly agree more – but Cable needs to back his words with action. Investment in science and engineering is crucial if we're to achieve this rebalancing. The sectors Cable name-checks for growth, "advanced manufacturing, creative industries, higher education and professional services", are all linked to, and underpinned by, advances in publicly funded science and engineering, and often staffed by highly skilled science and engineering…

• Danielle Mitterrand obituary

  Kim Willsher

  22 Nov 2011 | 12:32 pm

  Former first lady of France and human rights campaignerIn the last interview Danielle Mitterrand gave before her death at the age of 87, the former French first lady recalled berating her friend Fidel Castro for the torturing and killing of Cuban political prisoners. Surprised he did not tell her to shut up or throw her out, she asked why he put up with her nagging. "Because I like you a lot," replied the Cuban president.Mitterrand was liked and admired by many, as much for her ability to take world leaders to task as for her unwavering support for minority and humanitarian issues, from the…

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  News: Main section | guardian.co.uk

• The Real Hustle – review

  Sam Wollaston

  28 Jan 2012 | 1:00 am

  Not even an ex-member of Boyzone makes Sam Wollaston fall for a ridiculous conman showAh, excellent, The Real Hustle (BBC3), surely one of the most ridiculous programmes ever. We seem to be in Paisley, Scotland, and the Real Hustlers are joined by Shane Lynch, dressed as a tramp (not much disguise needed) as their celebrity helper. The mark is a lad coming out of a bureau de change. With nearly £500! Maybe that's normal in Paisley. Actually, it turns out he's got over a grand on him, in cash.Anyway, he's got a lot more money than sense, because he allows himself to be led off to a special…

• Martin Rowson on David Cameron and RBS chief's bonus – cartoon

  Martin Rowson

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:51 pm

  Row erupts after prime minister claims that MPs had no choice but to agree to Stephen Hester's bonus are challenged by LabourMartin Rowson

• Men in Motion – review

  Judith Mackrell

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:51 pm

  The media storm around one of its dancers doesn't stop this tribute to male movement from leaping with playful charmThere was a raw emotional edge to the applause that greeted Sergei Polunin on the opening night of Men in Motion.Just three days ago the young, gifted Ukrainian dancer had made national news with his sudden decision to quit the Royal Ballet, and possibly to end his dancing career. So while there was genuine relief in actually seeing Polunin on stage, as scheduled, there was also the painful knowledge that this could be for the last time.He was dancing Narcisse, a solo by the…

• Unthinkable? A federal upper house of parliament | Editorial

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:20 pm

  If Scots vote for independence, England's political will would shape that of the UK even more decisivelyAlex Salmond's plans for a Scottish independence referendum in 2014 are concentrating minds on the future shape of the United Kingdom. If Scots vote yes, the country they leave will consist of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. England, currently with 84% of the UK population, would then have 92%, Wales 5% and Northern Ireland 3%. England's share of the seats in the Westminster parliament would rise in proportion; its dominance, already great, would become even greater, so that the…

• Why we can't get enough of childbirth on TV

  Zoe Williams

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:07 pm

  TV used to shy away from depicting birth. But now Call the Midwife and One Born Every Minute are attracting record ratings. So what's changed? And why now?Call the Midwife has been an extraordinary success for the BBC. With more than eight million viewers, it is the highest-rated original BBC drama series since records began. If you imagine the schedule as a Hollywood blockbuster, this is like Nicolas Cage (Sherlock) and John Travolta (Doctor Who) fighting to the death, only to find Cameron Diaz effortlessly swooshing past them to save the earth. One Born Every Minute,…

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  Politics: Guardian diary | guardian.co.uk

• Hugh Muir's diary

  Hugh Muir

  26 Jan 2012 | 4:50 pm

  Pity Tom Watson's intern. She had a really bad day• The problem with being too much in the right is that you make a bunch of enemies. That is the fate of Tom Watson MP after months spent leading the parliamentary charge against the Murdochs. And so you hope nothing goes wrong. Until yesterday, nothing did. Then an intern started messing around with his computer. "I should log out of my twitter so that my intern doesn't twit-rape me," was the post on his account. Quickly followed by: "My boss is in a meeting, i've made a terrible mistake, i'm very sorry everyone, it wasn't meant to be…

• Hugh Muir's diary

  Hugh Muir

  25 Jan 2012 | 4:50 pm

  He's a straight kinda guy on tax. A tweet from Mr Tony• Too little respect for the men of our age. Cut them and, yes, they bleed. No wonder they come out fighting. And this is the approach being taken by the office of Tony Blair after months of speculation about his true earnings and now hurtful, hateful rumours that he doesn't pay his full whack of tax. There have been stories and allegations in various media, but it was a tweet from our own Simon Hattenstone that pushed Blair Inc over the edge. "So Mitt Romney pays 15% tax on $45m. Looks pretty good next to Tony Blair's £315k on £12m…

• Hugh Muir's diary

  Hugh Muir

  24 Jan 2012 | 4:49 pm

  Some things don't travel well. Maybe the PM is one of them• He came, he promised and soon he was on his way back to London. We have plans to kickstart the economy here, said Dave. But clearly it was something of an effort for the PM, navigating his way past the Watford Gap. Prepare yourselves, said the breathless press release from Downing Street. The prime minister is on his way to the "north-east". And on Monday our geographically confused PM and his staff pitched up in Leeds.• Wise words meanwhile, from Kirsty Young, the formidable presenter of Desert Island Discs. She tells the Radio…

• Hugh Muir's diary

  Hugh Muir

  23 Jan 2012 | 4:45 pm

  A short walk to Lambeth or a plane to sunny California? A dilemma for honourable members• An intoxicating time for Keith Vaz. For on Tuesday, fresh from his "triumph" in persuading Jesse Jackson to give evidence to his home affairs select committee, in a specially convened session in his Leicester constituency, he is taking evidence from Sir Richard Branson and an ex-Swiss president on his new inquiry into drug policy in Britain. It will see honourable members taking fact-finding trips to Bogota in Colombia and San Diego in California. And with so much going on, it's totally understandable…

• Hugh Muir's diary

  Hugh Muir

  19 Jan 2012 | 4:50 pm

  If you see Ed Balls, buy him a drink. He definitely needs friends• A visceral pain plagues Labour at the moment. The unions, angered by Leader Ed's acceptance of that public sector pay freeze, are on the warpath. That is to be expected. But many of the party's MPs are just as angry and it's not just Tom Watson, whose opposition we highlighted earlier this week. How angry are they? Well, Ed Balls, one-time talisman for the Brownites, wandered into the Commons tea room the other day, encountering a clutch of colleagues. None deigned to speak to him. Certainly none felt any inclination to buy…

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  Culture: The Guide | guardian.co.uk

• This week's new events

  Colette Bernhardt, Iain Aitch, Steve Rose

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:07 pm

  LGBT History Month, NationwideCivil partnerships, the Equality Act and the end of Section 28; the last 15 years have seen a surge in visibility and acceptance for those of a non-hetero persuasion. This extensive event celebrates the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals who got us there, with everything from the small but high quality performance arts festival Outset (Taunton, Somerset), which includes Miss Hope Springs among the highlights, to a delve into The Military Role Of Eunuchs In The Later Roman Empire (Newport, Wales). Looking to the future as well as the past, there's…

• This week's new theatre and dance

  Judith Mackrell, Mark Cook, Lyn Gardner

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:06 pm

  Nora, CoventryIngmar Bergman's 1981 psychological drama, itself an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's 1879 masterpiece A Doll's House is revived here by director Patricia Benecke. Penny Layden is cast as the banker's wife who apparently has it all – a big house, three children and a husband who's just been promoted – but whose illusions about her husband and about the wider position of women in society are both shattered when a secret she's been keeping is revealed. Ibsen's play might be over 130 years old but it retains the power to both shock and grip audiences, and its examination of the…

• Maya Jane Coles Q&A

  Sam Richards

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:06 pm

  The rising star of British house music empties the contents of her psychic record bagThe track I'll be opening my next DJ set with Deetron: CroqueIt really builds to create the perfect mood in the room. You can take your set anywhere from there.The track I always play to rescue a dancefloor K-nto: Easy LifeThis has been a recent favourite to fix up any dodgy dancefloor. It's a re-edit of Billy Stewart; you can't go wrong with it.The track that currently gets the most rewinds Bahamadia: SpontaneityThis has been getting the most rewinds on my iPod, anyway. Bahamadia has always been one of my…

• Clubs picks of the week

  Marc Rowlands, Sam Richards, John Mitchell, Patric Baird

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:06 pm

  Zombie Pirate School Disco, GlasgowThis is a bit like that old Alan Coren book Golfing For Cats, which had two of the bestselling book subjects in the title in a cynical attempt to shift a few more copies. Zombie Pirate School Disco combines three favourite fancy dress outfits – worn, invariably, on a weekend night out – to offer an all-encompassing experience for that particular type of person for whom no 70s night is complete without titting around the dancefloor in the kind of outfit that apparently has to include a comedy Afro wig. There will, of course, be those adventurous enough to…

• This week's new comedy

  James Kettle

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:06 pm

  Brett Goldstein: Grew Up In A Strip Club, Halifax & NorwichIf you're a sharp-thinking young stand-up looking to make a name for yourself on an increasingly crowded comedy circuit, it sometimes helps to have a really compelling story to tell. Brett Goldstein certainly has one of those, as you can tell from the title of this, his debut full-length show. It almost sounds tailor-made for a trashy TV documentary but underneath the sensationalist title is a surprisingly rich and rewarding story. Over the course of an hour, you'll find out what happened when a fresh-faced 21-year-old Goldstein went…

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  Books: Harry Potter | guardian.co.uk

• John Mullan's 10 of the best: nightmares

  John Mullan

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:55 pm

  Drugged visions from the opium eater, Harry Potter's horrors sent by Voldemort … and other things that go bump in the nightClarissa by Samuel RichardsonBefore a tryst with seductive Robert Lovelace, Clarissa has a terrible dream warning her against him: the villainous rake "stabbed me to the heart, and then tumbled me into a deep grave ready dug, among two or three half- dissolved carcases; throwing in the dirt and earth upon me with his hands, and trampling it down with his feet".Frankenstein by Mary ShelleyExhausted after working day and night to make his monster, Victor Frankenstein…

• Anyone for Quidditch? Harry Potter game kicks off at Oxford

  Lizzy Davies

  23 Jan 2012 | 2:00 am

  The game that enthralled students at Hogwarts is starting to stir an interest at Oxford UniversityHuddled together in the chill January wind, the players listened as a PPE fresher in a black cape read the rules of the game: a Quaffle through a hoop would score 10 points, capturing the Snitch would yield a bountiful 30, and under no circumstances was there to be any "grabbing of broomsticks". With that, they were off: two teams, with seven players each, racing round a playing field and trying to shoot a basketball through hula-hoops.To onlookers it may have seemed outlandish and bizarre, but…

• Oxford University students play Quidditch – in pictures

  23 Jan 2012 | 2:00 am

  Quidditch, the fictional activity played by witches and wizards in the air, has been adapted for Muggles as a fast-paced team sport played firmly on the ground

• Harry Potter director Chris Columbus to write children's fantasy books

  Alison Flood

  9 Jan 2012 | 6:51 am

  House of Secrets, co-written with Ned Vizzini, will be out in spring 2013After directing and producing the first two Harry Potter films, Hollywood VIP Chris Columbus is now set to unleash his own fantasy adventure series for children on the world of books.Columbus, who began his career by writing Gremlins and Goonies and also produced the third Potter film, has signed a deal with HarperCollins to write a trilogy of fantasy children's books, House of Secrets, together with co-author Ned Vizzini. The books will follow the adventures of the Pagett siblings, who move into the former house of a…

• Pottermore and more: 2011 in children's books

  Michelle Pauli

  28 Dec 2011 | 9:16 am

  2011 was another busy year for JK Rowling with the launch of Pottermore. But what else happened in children's books this year? Michelle Pauli rounds up the news highlights of the yearWhat have been the children's books and stories of the year for you? Email us your highlights at childrens.books@guardian.co.ukJanuary2011 got off to a sad start with the news that Dick King-Smith, the author of animal books – whose The Sheep-Pig was made into the film Babe – had died at the age of 86. There was happier news for Jason Wallace whose harrowing debut teen novel, Out of Shadows, which is set in a…

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  Fashion: Haute couture shows | guardian.co.uk

• Haute couture: Valentino – in pictures

  Simon Chilvers

  26 Jan 2012 | 9:19 am

  Modern princesses float down the catwalk in elaborately embroidered gowns - each took Italian seamstresses up to 1,200 hours of painstaking work to completeSimon Chilvers

• Haute couture shows: nice frocks – but no shocks

  Jess Cartner-Morley

  25 Jan 2012 | 2:29 pm

  It used to be a loss-making laboratory for fashion's wildest ideas. Now couture is making money – but has it lost its spark?The crazier the world gets, the more haute couture makes sense. Haute couture is the insanely expensive, handmade-to-order, every-stitch-is-sublime branch of fashion, which for a decade we fashionables were all terribly worried would die out. And now, against all odds and after a long period of decline, couture is on a roll again. Chanel haute couture recorded the house's highest ever sales in 2011. Armani, Valentino and Givenchy all report an increase in comparison to…

• Haute couture shows: Jean Paul Gaultier – in pictures

  Imogen Fox

  25 Jan 2012 | 10:46 am

  Jean Paul Gaultier's couture show puts Imogen Fox in mind of strong women, from Madonna to Pat PhoenixImogen Fox

• Haute couture: Givenchy and more from day two – in pictures

  25 Jan 2012 | 6:36 am

  On day two at the haute couture shows, Givenchy looks to the 20s and 30s. Elsewhere, former supermodel Yasmin Le Bon returns to the catwalk for Stéphane Rolland

• Haute couture shows: Chanel and Armani - in pictures

  24 Jan 2012 | 11:11 am

  On day two at the haute couture shows, the most glamorous airline in the world takes off at Chanel and Armani goes green

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  Politics: Health policy | guardian.co.uk

• NHS 'faces peril' if reform plans are derailed

  Conal Urquhart

  28 Jan 2012 | 5:27 am

  Group of 50 GPs managing health services through clinical commissioning groups say they are 'already improving services'The NHS could be "in peril" if the government's plans to overhaul it are derailed by doctors and nurses' organisations, a group of GPs piloting the reforms has warned.The health secretary, Andrew Lansley, has proposed that the management of hospitals and budgets in England is reformed by allowing doctors rather than managers to control health services and budgets.The British Medical Association, the Royal College of Nurses and the Royal College of Midwives oppose the reform,…

• Andrew Lansley accused of presiding over 'utter shambles' on NHS reforms

  Nicholas Watt

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:43 pm

  Liz Kendall uncovers NHS document which outlines five layers of management for new GP-led commissioning systemAndrew Lansley is once again having a wretched time.The health secretary, whose NHS reforms are in severe trouble in the House of Lords, gave vent to his frustration on Thursday when he accused the BMA of being "politically poisoned" in the way it is opposing his health reforms. Denis Campbell noted that this echoed the language of Nye Bevan, Labour's founding father of the NHS, who famously had to battle against BMA claims that his blueprint looked "uncommonly" like a step towards…

• We need to move on from this polarised debate on the NHS bill | Chris Ham

  Chris Ham

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:54 am

  The time for grandstanding has passed. Compromise is a small price to pay for an outcome that is good for patientsThe latest storm over the government's health shakeup signals that the NHS may yet provide David Cameron with the biggest challenge of his premiership. Try as they might, ministers cannot dismiss the concerns of organisations representing doctors, nurses and midwives simply as an expression of producer self-interest, especially in a week in which Stephen Dorrell, a former Conservative health secretary, has joined the government's critics.It is now clear that the government was…

• Andrew Lansley calls BMA 'politically poisoned' for opposing NHS shakeup

  Denis Campbell, Randeep Ramesh, Nicholas Watt

  26 Jan 2012 | 1:53 pm

  Health secretary infuriates doctors' union by repeating description first used by founding father of the NHSRelations between the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, and Britain's doctors hit a new low on Thursday after he accused the British Medical Association of being "politically poisoned" in its opposition to his NHS shakeup.Lansley infuriated the doctors' union by repeating a description first used by Aneurin Bevan, the founding father of the NHS, at the time the service was created in 1948. The putdown came in a pre-prepared speech in Liverpool at the launch of a new children's health…

• How US private insurance healthcare is failing | Rose Ann DeMoro

  Rose Ann DeMoro

  26 Jan 2012 | 1:14 pm

  Sky-high premiums, denied treatments, families bankrupted by medical bills … which bit of US healthcare would you like?Chances are you've probably never heard of Amelia Rivera, a three year-old from New Jersey. Chances are better you have heard of 29-year-old Canadian, Sarah Burke, one of the best freestyle skiers in the world. Burke and Rivera don't have a lot in common, but tragically, their families do. Both have been borne the scars of a callous and broken US healthcare system – which, apparently, brings a gleam to the eyes of those seeking to promote privatization in their overhaul…

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  Culture: Heritage | guardian.co.uk

• Maori heads returned to New Zealand after 200 years - video

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:17 am

  Twenty tattooed Maori heads have been repatriated from France to New Zealand after more than 200 years. A team from Wellington's Te Papa museum plans to trace the origin of the heads and return them to their communities. More than 500 heads of Maori ancestors remain in collections around the world

• Liverpool's world heritage waterfront faces 'irreversible damage', report says

  Helen Carter

  24 Jan 2012 | 10:47 am

  Unesco delegation says skyscraper proposal will result in 'serious loss of historic authenticity'Liverpool's world heritage site waterfront will be "irreversibly damaged" unless urgent modifications are made to a multibillion-pound skyscraper scheme, a delegation from Unesco has warned.The delegation said the skyscraper proposal would result in "a serious loss of historic authenticity".The Unesco inspectors praised the "more or less symmetrical profile" of the city's waterfront, with the Three Graces – the Port of Liverpool and the Liver and Cunard buildings – at centre stage and…

• Leaning tower of Big Ben worries MPs

  Sam Jones

  23 Jan 2012 | 5:09 am

  House of Commons commission meets to discuss what can be done to shore up crumbling Palace of WestminsterOnce again, the splits and misalignments are beginning to show in the mother of all parliaments.This time, though, it is not a bickering coalition or a cabinet riven with discord that is causing concern but rather the state of the Palace of Westminster itself.A committee of MPs will meet on Monday to see what can be done to stop the tower that houses Big Ben leaning any further and to shore up Pugin and Barry's neo-gothic edifice.Subsidence has led to cracks appearing in walls around the…

• First HMS Victory 'to be raised'

  22 Jan 2012 | 3:52 am

  Predecessor of Nelson's flagship, which some believe was carrying £500m of gold coins, sank in 1744The remains of the first HMS Victory are to be raised from the sea bed nearly 300 years after it sank, it has been reported.The vessel, predecessor of Nelson's famous flagship, went down in a storm off the Channel Islands in 1744, taking more than 1,000 sailors to their deaths.Along with a bronze cannon collection, some believe the ship was carrying a large quantity of gold coins from Lisbon to Britain that would now be worth a reported £500m.According to the Sunday Times the wreck is to be…

• Seville's Unesco status threatened by 600ft Pelli tower

  Giles Tremlett

  20 Jan 2012 | 11:08 am

  Spanish city could lose world heritage status over plans to build 40-storey skyscraper amid cluster of 13th-century buildingsSeville faces being added to a Unesco blacklist as building work on a 40-storey skyscraper begins to change the southern Spanish city's skyline.The half-built Pelli tower is casting a growing shadow across one of the country's most-visited cities and over a cluster of 13th-century buildings which have been designated a world heritage site by Unesco.In a report leaked to local newspapers, Unesco experts denounced the "substantial" impact on several historic buildings.

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  Life and style: Health & wellbeing | guardian.co.uk

• Stop the clock: time shouldn't be tied to timepieces

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:30 pm

  Abandon your watch, cover your clocks and try some slow-time activitiesYou don't have time to read this, do you? At least not if the past 300 years of history have had any influence on you.Our troubles started when time was first sliced into tiny artificial units, and we have been subject to their increasing tyranny ever since. Medieval clocks divided the day into mere hours, but by 1700 most timepieces had minute hands, and the second hand was turning up regularly a century later. We found ourselves handcuffed to time by the late 19th century, when wristwatches were provided to German…

• Time management: the past isn't a foreign place

  Mark Vernon

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:29 pm

  How do we learn to embrace our past?The modern mind is inclined to think of the past as gone. Archaeologists dig the ground for it; others try to hold on to it with photos. "The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there," reflected the writer LP Hartley.But isn't the past entirely present? Contemplate, for example, the deep past of our evolutionary inheritance. We have four limbs because our prehistoric ancestors did. We sing much like whales and birds, melodically speaking, thanks to the creatures that first strove to communicate with music.Of course, novelty emerges…

• Appreciating the present

  Ed Halliwell

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:27 pm

  Managing time well means appreciating the present and grounding our wandering attentionThere's a one-in-two chance your mind is on something else as you read this sentence. A study by Harvard psychologists in 2010 asked people to track their thoughts, feelings and activities at random intervals, and discovered that they spend 46.9% of their time doing one thing while thinking about another. They also found this daydreaming makes them more unhappy than if they were paying attention to the present moment, even when it's unpleasant.This probably sounds counterintuitive, but distracting ourselves…

• Planning for the future means making conscious decisions now

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:27 pm

  Rather than being preoccupied with day-to-day events, take a step back and look to the larger prospectsWe fill our lives with plans for our future selves. People have always done this. Someone who lives only in the moment is not quite human. During the past few hundred years, however, future thinking has expanded hugely in scope and substance.Throughout most of history, we viewed the future as a simple extension of the past. There would be good and bad years, but life, on the whole, would carry on as before. Then the Industrial Revolution meant some in the west saw real changes in a…

• Time management: Interruptions can boost your creativity

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:25 pm

  ake time to savour unexpected sidetracks - they are the essence of creative thoughtIn our zeal to create a seamless flow through our days, we're in danger of losing something precious: the delights of the unexpected detour. But what if we imagine time not as a commodity, but as a dimension, the way scientists describe it – a road that starts when we open our eyes in the morning and ends when we nod off under the duvet?When you think about it like this, time becomes more manageable, like a half-planned walk in the country. And like a good country stroll, the detours you find…

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  Education: Higher education | guardian.co.uk

• Steven Spielberg's Holocaust archive arrives in UK

  Vanessa Thorpe

  28 Jan 2012 | 6:14 am

  Academics hope emphasis on survivors' testimonies will change the way in which war history is studiedThe arrival in Britain of an archive of tens of thousands of Holocaust testimonies will give much needed historical weight to the experiences of survivors, according to a leading scholar.David Cesarani, of the Holocaust Research Centre at the University of London, believes that the US video archive, set up 18 years ago by Steven Spielberg, will help to rebalance a picture that has been dominated by the study of the perpetrators of the atrocities of the second world war.The extraordinary…

• Fighting talk, as pay rises by 4% but vacancies fall

  Graham Snowdon

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:02 pm

  At last salaries are on the up. But it's even tougher to get a jobAfter another week of gloomy employment forecasts, those preparing to graduate this summer and test the icy waters of the jobs market might be forgiven for wanting to dive back into bed and pull their duvets safely over their heads.With the economy suffering a worse than-expected contraction and a mood of pessimism pervading the World Economic Forum in Davos, there was, at least, a modicum of good news from the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR). The employers' body anticipates starting salaries will increase by 4% this…

• How will £9,000 tuition fees affect students? We'll be finding out | Will Hutton

  Will Hutton

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:24 am

  Our commission will look at whether the increase has a negative impact on applications – especially from the disadvantagedA vast social experiment begins in September. Many of England's universities and colleges will start charging £9,000 tuition fees a year plus real interest rates for their students – money that will have to be borrowed. That's up from £3,300 a year with no interest charged. Many will borrow more on top, especially those living away from home, to pay for their living expenses. As a result very few students will escape leaving university with debts of less than…

• First ever crime writing MA launched

  Alison Flood

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:23 am

  London's City University says creation of course is in response to student demandAs the underworld steadily increases its grip on literary culture, City University in London is turning to crime, with the launch of an MA devoted to teaching crime fiction and thriller writing.Launched in response to student demand, and to the growing popularity of the genre, the UK's first creative writing masters dedicated to crime and thriller novels is another harbinger of a "second golden age of crime writing".The genre is the second biggest in the UK, according to official data, with sales of £87.6m in…

• Mathematics

  26 Jan 2012 | 7:00 pm

  The study of quantities through analysis, deduction and calculation - including mathematics, operational research and statisticsWhat will I learn?Familiar with fractals? Study a degree in maths and you soon will be.Broadly speaking, maths degrees should give you the basic ideas of pure mathematics (linear algebra, geometry etc), applied mathematics (calculus, mathematical methods, modelling and numerical analysis), and statistics (including probability and operational research).Your first year will probably give you an overview of the subject, introducing you to all the main areas. This…

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  Politics: Simon Hoggart's sketch | guardian.co.uk

• Impressive Mr Toad drives home his points

  Simon Hoggart

  26 Jan 2012 | 3:28 pm

  Chris Huhne was in fine, aggressive form as he made possibly his last appearance in the Commons as a cabinet ministerPerhaps you do have to admire Chris Huhne. In the past I've said he's a figure of fun, the Mr Toad of British politics, and in many ways he is: the clumsy plotting, the transparent leaking, the dementedly unjustified self-confidence. But on Thursday he was in the Commons, taking energy questions for what might be the last time. It will be the last time if he is charged with persuading his ex-wife to pretend she was driving his car when it was spotted speeding, in order to dodge…

• Rabbie-rousers versus damned disgraces at PMQs Burns Night bust-up

  Simon Hoggart

  25 Jan 2012 | 2:30 pm

  Scots dialect verse is hurled around as David Cameron clashes with Ed MilibandBurns Night was due, so at prime minister's questions they were hurling Scots dialect verse around. Eleanor Laing quoted the bard as favouring the union: "Be Britain still to Britain true / Amang oursels united / For never but by British hands / Maun British wrangs be righted!"We pondered that. The prime minister sometimes puts me in mind of Burns's haggis: "Fair fa, your honest sonsie face / Great chieftain o' the puddin' race!" A haggis does slightly resemble a condom, being encased in tight shiny skin. But…

• Danny Alexander has a trillion reasons not to be cheerful

  Simon Hoggart

  24 Jan 2012 | 3:00 pm

  Ed Balls waits for his moment to mention IMF's latest forecastGeorge Osborne was away in Europe, so his understrapper Danny Alexander was in charge at Treasury questions. Not the best day to be home alone – we learned that our national debt has now risen to one trillion pounds.Normally the shadow chancellor, Ed Balls, would not deign to address the monkey in the absence of the organ grinder, but you can't keep him away. For one thing, there is vital sledging to be done, insults to shout, jeers, sneers, and offensive hand signals to wave at the other side.But Mr Balls was strangely quiet.

• Iain Duncan Smith takes on the shelf-stackers | Simon Hoggart

  Simon Hoggart

  23 Jan 2012 | 2:32 pm

  Poundland interns quake as the quiet man turns up the volumeOver in the Lords they were debating whether to cap the income of poor people. In the Commons, the government was explaining why it wouldn't cap the income of rich people. We're all in this together! Iain Duncan Smith was giving the government's view. He was assailed by Glenda Jackson, who we don't normally hear much from, but sounded as if she'd be quite happy to brain him with one of her two Oscars."Has he informed the families of the cataclysm he is about to bring down on their heads?" she demanded, sounding like a furious, female…

• David Cameron bids to join Hardie and Bevan in the pantheon of working-class heroes | Simon Hoggart

  Simon Hoggart

  19 Jan 2012 | 1:44 pm

  The prime minister bounced in to the eye-wateringly trendy Westminster Hub to set out his caring capitalism credentialsDavid Cameron made his pitch for caring capitalism. It was his "hug-a-hedgie" speech. Labour tried to dampen the event by sending a young woman to infiltrate the venue and hand out leaflets titled "Who is he trying to kid?"The list of charges against the prime minister was long. On the first page of the leaflet it told us: "It is 18 months since he took office, and you can still buy cut-price chocolate at point-of-sale!" (To do with his promises on diet, we gather, although…

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  Life and style: Homes | guardian.co.uk

• Let's move to: Headingley, Leeds

  Tom Dyckhoff

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:59 pm

  It's a smashing place to live (yes, even with all those students)What's going for it? Rule 456 of successful property buying: go to university. University districts might be full of smelly students, but they are also full of smelly lecturers and academics and people who think they're academics and have money to spend and like bookshops and cafes and nice places to live in; and they're usually a safe bet for investment and nice places to live in. Headingley is sandwiched between two. Rule 457 of successful property buying: cricket grounds. Stick close to them. And Headingley, of course, is the…

• Snooping around – in pictures

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:00 am

  From a Worcestershire farmhouse to 'Tracy Island' in Kent

• Plain is out – for furniture and accessories, think decorative

  Charlotte Abrahams

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:20 am

  Homewares are all about decorative pattern right now. Charlotte Abrahams picks the best high street offerings, from stencilled cupboards to birds in sweatersCharlotte Abrahams

• Leading lights - new lamps on the block

  Susie Steiner

  26 Jan 2012 | 4:28 am

  A new lamp can be ever so cheering, especially when it does your colour blocking for you. Susie Steiner reports on the latest hotties to come out of the spring/summer homeware collectionsI love a lamp.Perhaps it's because I have the eyesight of a newborn puppy in dense fog. Anything that helps to locate that elusive second shoe in the miasma of my living room, gets my vote. But it's not just that.A light is a properly satisfying purchase. Where a cushion or a bunch of flowers are never going to change a room, a lamp throws out a whole new set of shadows, changing the architecture of your…

• Trading up, trading down – in pictures

  Jill Insley, Hilary Osborne

  25 Jan 2012 | 6:11 am

  From a former Corn Mill in Staffordshire to a relay station in CumbriaJill InsleyHilary Osborne

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  Law: Human rights | guardian.co.uk

• The US government's capital punishment prerogative | David A Love

  David A Love

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:22 pm

  To our shame, the federal authorities have broad powers to execute – even in states that have abolished the death penaltyWhile much attention is paid to the 34 US states that still administer the death penalty, federal and military systems of executions also exist. The retention of the US federal death penalty undermines those states that have abolished capital punishment – and federal executions undermine Washington's claims of world leadership in human rights.Historically, perhaps the most well-known federal executions were of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in New York. The Rosenbergs were…

• Ecuador police recruits abused – video

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:51 am

  Controversial images showing mistreatment of police recruits have been leaked to the press in Ecuador

• Public Eye award singles out Brazilian mining company, Barclays

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:44 am

  Award given at the same time as the World Economic Forum strives to embarrass companies for 'corporate irresponsibility'Brazilian mining giant Vale picked up the dubious distinction today of being the corporation with the most "contempt for the environment and human rights" in the world.After clocking over 25,000 votes online, the world's second largest mining firm was declared the winner of The Public Eye, an annual awards ceremony organised by Swiss nonprofit, the Berne Declaration and Greenpeace Switzerland. The awards website notes that Vale is constructing the Belo Monte dam in the…

• Politicians told to stop 'exaggerated' criticism of human rights court

  James Ball, Maya Wolfe-Robinson

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am

  European court of human rights president Sir Nicolas Bratza says any criticism should be based on evidence not emotionThe president of the European court of human rights has warned political leaders against using "emotion and exaggeration" to criticise the court's workings.Sir Nicolas Bratza made his comments as he released figures detailing the court's rulings during 2011. The figures reveal that the court ruled against the UK on just eight occasions, compared with 159 violations found against Turkey, 121 against Russia and 105 against Ukraine.Of the western European nations, Greece and…

• After Interlaken and Izmir, venue for deciding future of human rights court will be ... Brighton

  Joshua Rozenberg

  26 Jan 2012 | 1:13 pm

  The mood in Strasbourg is optimistic that worthwhile reforms to the European court of human rights can be achieved, following Cameron's speechThe process of reforming the human rights court that began at Interlaken in 2010 and continued at Izmir in 2011 will not be completed this year at Ipswich or Inverness. Instead, Brighton has been chosen by the UK, which currently chairs the Council of Europe, as the venue for a ministerial conference at which member states will approve reforms to the council's most important institution.That, at least, is the plan. British diplomats are currently…

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  World news: India | guardian.co.uk

• Eyewitness: Srinagar, India

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:18 am

  Photographs from the Guardian Eyewitness series

• Meredith Alexander: Why I resigned over Bhopal

  Meredith Alexander

  26 Jan 2012 | 4:00 pm

  A true Olympic legacy would be for Dow Chemical to shoulder responsibility for the 1984 tragedyLike most people, when I hear the word Bhopal, it conjures up the most horrible images in my mind's eye. In December 1984 a highly toxic gas was leaked from a pesticide plant in the Indian city. Winds spread the poison through a densely populated area.Many died instantly, others as they tried to flee, more than 20,000 people died in total in the aftermath of the leak. Others have lived with debilitating health problems ever since. Children born decades after the spill are drinking water that…

• The India art fair - in pictures

  26 Jan 2012 | 8:00 am

  The annual event in New Delhi, consists of work by more than 1,000 artists from India and around the world. It runs from 26-29 January

• India celebrates Republic Day - in pictures

  26 Jan 2012 | 7:26 am

  India celebrated its 63rd Republic Day with military parades and cultural events across the country, marking the adoption of the constitution of India and the transition from a British dominion into a republic

• Indian art fair draws big names to Delhi

  Jason Burke

  25 Jan 2012 | 10:11 am

  Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin and Antony Gormley among those seeking a slice of the still booming Indian marketOutside was India: a snarl of traffic, screaming horns, hustling taxi drivers and a single forlorn cow. Inside was calm: glasses of white wine, canapés and, for the first time in the country, the giants of the contemporary art world."We've brought Damien [Hirst], Tracey [Emin], Gary [Hume], Mark [Quinn] and Antony [Gormley]," said Graham Steele, director of the London-based White Cube gallery, as he watched a who's who of the south Asian art world file into the first India Art Fair on…

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  World news: Indonesia | guardian.co.uk

• Indonesian protests force government to revoke gold mining permits

  Kate Hodal

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:53 am

  Joint Indonesian-Australian mining venture halted after string of violent protests at which two were killedIndonesia has revoked permits for a joint Indonesian-Australian mining venture on Sumbawa island after a string of violent protests in which two people died and a government office was set alight.The country's leading environmental group, however, said it doubted the government's pledge was an "honest commitment".Thousands of protesters rioted on Thursday in Bima, Sumbawa – 1,330km east of the capital, Jakarta – where they set fire to the district head's office to demand an end to…

• Sambasunda Quintet: Java – review

  Robin Denselow

  26 Jan 2012 | 4:56 pm

  (Riverboat)Indonesian music has had little exposure in the UK, but next month there's an ambitious 12-date tour of major venues by a group that set out to revive and update the traditional styles of West Java. Sambasunda Quintet are from the regional capital Bandung, where they also work as part of a 20-piece ensemble mixing western and local themes. In this pared-down lineup their gentle, often haunting songs are based around the sound of the kacapi, a large traditional zither-like instrument carved to look like a boat. To this they add violin, traditional percussion, the suling bamboo…

• Indonesian man arrested for kicking woman he thought was a ghost

  Kate Hodal

  25 Jan 2012 | 11:26 am

  The woman was reportedly dressed in white, with hair covering her face, and moving slowly 'in a weird way'A 38-year-old Indonesian security guard has been charged with assault after kicking a 20-year-old woman in the face after mistaking her for a predatory ghost.The guard was on duty in Bandung, Java, when "suddenly a figure, who was sitting on the floor and clad in white with hair covering the face, moved slowly in a weird way toward the elevator", according to the Jakarta Post.The guard "sensed a threat to himself and the others in the elevator" and kicked the ghost to the floor "so that…

• Sumatran elephant upgraded to critically endangered status

  Jonathan Watts

  24 Jan 2012 | 12:00 am

  Species has lost half its population and 69% of its habitat through deforestation in the past 25 yearsThe Sumatran elephant has been placed on the list of critically endangered species after losing half of its population in a single generation, prompting calls from conservation groups for emergency measures to halt the destruction of its habitat.Deforestation is seen as the primary reason for the collapse in numbers in Indonesia, which until recently was seen alongside India and Sri Lanka as one of the last great refuges for elephants in Asia. The animal is now at risk of becoming extinct…

• Bird flu scientists suspend work amid epidemic fears

  Conal Urquhart

  20 Jan 2012 | 4:07 pm

  Researchers announce 60-day suspension to allow debate about security of their attempts to prevent spread of virusScientists trying to prevent bird flu from killing millions of people have suspended their work because of fears they might accidentally cause the epidemic they hope to stop, according to a letter published on Friday in scientific journals.Researchers from around the world signed a letter in the Nature and Science journals in which they announced a 60-day suspension to allow a public debate about the security of their work.The letter comes after developments in the study of bird…

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  World news: Japan | guardian.co.uk

• Experts cast doubt on Japan nuclear plant tests

  Justin McCurry

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:36 am

  Japanese government ordered tests on all reactors after Fukushima meltdown, but advisers say they do not prove a plant is safeAdvisers to Japan's nuclear safety agency have said power plant stress tests do not prove that a nuclear plant is safe, as the country faces the prospect of a summer without a single nuclear reactor in operation.Last year, the Japanese government ordered the nuclear authorities to conduct tests on all Japan's reactors after the 11 March meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi raised questions about the safety of nuclear power, particularly in a country prone to earthquakes and…

• Japan reports first trade deficit in 32 years after tsunami

  Phillip Inman

  25 Jan 2012 | 1:36 pm

  Trade figures reveal collapse in sales to Europe, as cost of oil gas and yen riseJapan's pride in its export sector has suffered a dent after trade figures for 2011 revealed that a collapse in sales to Europe coupled with the after-effects of the tsunami on the east coast created the country's first deficit in 32 years.The ministry of finance blamed the rising cost of oil and gas and soaring currency for much of the last year's ¥2.49tn (£20bn) deficit.Figures for December showed exports fell 8% from a year earlier, owing partly to weak shipments of electronics parts, while imports rose…

• Japan to report first trade deficit since 1980 following Fukushima disaster

  24 Jan 2012 | 4:12 pm

  Official figures expected to show deficit due to energy imports to cover loss of power after nuclear plant catastopheJapan is expected to announce its first trade deficit since 1980. For decades the country has used an export policy to build up brand names such as Toyota, Sony and Canon, but official trade figures are expected to show a deficit caused by energy imports to cover the loss of nuclear power after the Fukushima disaster. Economists say Japan's trade will be in deficit for the next few years as it copes with the catastrophe that has forced most nuclear power stations to close.

• Ducks replace paddy-field pesticides

  Philippe Mesmer

  24 Jan 2012 | 8:02 am

  Japanese farmers rediscover ancient rice-growing technique that boosts production without the need for chemicalsOn his six-hectare farm in the village of Keisen, on Japan's Kyushu island, Takao Furuno, 61, grows rice and wheat without chemicals.He rediscovered an ancient rice-growing practice involving the use of ducks. Dozens of these birds, raised on the farm, patrol the paddy fields. They feed on insects and weeds, without touching the plants. Their wading oxygenates the water and stirs up the soil. Their droppings are a natural fertiliser.Furuno has cut production costs and boosted output…

• Bank of Japan downgrades growth forecasts

  24 Jan 2012 | 4:04 am

  Eurozone crisis blamed as central bank says Japan's export-reliant economy will shrink 0.4% this financial yearThe Bank of Japan forecast the country's economy will contract in the current financial year but kept policy steady on Tuesday, expecting exports to emerging markets and reconstruction after last year's earthquake to help fuel a steady recovery later in 2012.BOJ governor Masaaki Shirakawa, however, warned that Europe's debt crisis remained the biggest threat to Japan's recovery, already clouded by recent rises in the yen against the euro and slowing global demand for Japanese…

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  Music: Jazz | guardian.co.uk

• This week's new live music

  Andrew Clements, John Fordham, John Robinson

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:06 pm

  The Black Keys, NottinghamThe bluesman had it very tough; the rock star easy. The Black Keys – Dan Auerbach (beard) and Patrick Carney (glasses) – might be said to have seen both sides. For many years quiet toilers on a garage-blues mission, the Keys kept making albums, increasingly suffused with soul and pop, winning more fans along the way until the commercial breakthrough of their not especially enthralling record Brothers. Now stealth superstars (cover of Rolling Stone; US Top 10; three nights at Alexandra Palace), they have a new album, El Camino, that justifies their billing. Filled…

• Kenny Wheeler: The Long Waiting – review

  John Fordham

  26 Jan 2012 | 4:53 pm

  (CamJazz)Kenny Wheeler, the expat Canadian trumpeter and jazz composer, was 82 last week – but this big band session featuring new themes and plenty of flugelhorn improvising, was recorded only a few months ago. Wheeler still practises four hours a day and writes for another four. The pieces here glow with his inimitably bittersweet harmonies and build melodic fragments that sound like snatches of wistful songs into richly layered, choirlike effects. They sound as fresh as if he'd just discovered his muse.Wheeler's flugelhorn-playing has its wobbly moments, but his upper-register sound…

• Chick Corea/Eddie Gomez/Paul Motian: Further Explorations | CD review

  John Fordham

  26 Jan 2012 | 3:31 pm

  (Concord Jazz)There was a time in the 1970s and early 80s when the jazz-averse, if they wanted to show why jazz couldn't touch the punch of pop or rock, would rest their case on the fragile murmurings of the acoustic piano trio. The hiss of a drummer's brushes, the murmur of apparently endless double-bass solos, seemed to sum up a supper-club music that mainly entertained its practitioners. Jazz fans knew better, but the piano threesome didn't reconnect with big audiences until Keith Jarrett formed his great Standards Trio in 1983. Brad Mehldau's group, the late…

• Giorgio Gaslini: Incanti | CD review

  Richard Williams

  26 Jan 2012 | 3:16 pm

  (Camjazz)Born in Milan in 1929, Giorgio Gaslini has been one of the major figures of European jazz for six decades, although remaining virtually unknown in Britain. He made his first recordings as a bebop pianist in 1948, composed the score for Antonioni's La Notte in 1960, recorded with Steve Lacy, Don Cherry and Gato Barbieri, and has written symphonies, choral works (A Conversation with Malcolm X), operas and ballets. His latest album, recorded live in a theatre in Messina last spring, finds him returning to the piano for a recital of pieces drawn mostly from the classical repertoire. But…

• Julian Joseph: Live at the Vortex in London – review

  John Fordham

  25 Jan 2012 | 9:58 am

  (ASC)Julian Joseph is a world-class jazz pianist with large-scale compositional skills and a passport to the contemporary-classical world. So it's surprising that he hasn't recorded in more than 15 years. Equally unexpected is his decision to return on disc with an unaccompanied live album, modest in its production values and scattered with background drinks clinking. But most of this fine album is an arresting reminder of Joseph's powers and deep awareness of the jazz tradition, even if taking on the drive of an absent rhythm section leads him to linger too long on a few…

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  Business: John Lewis | guardian.co.uk

• Letters: John Lewis model for staff ownership

  17 Jan 2012 | 3:00 pm

  As we seek an alternative to the discredited corporate capitalist model of enterprise, it is vital we understand clearly the range of options on offer, which is why Nick Clegg's confusing speech about the John Lewis economy is particularly unhelpful (Employee-owned companies are the way forward, says Clegg, 16 January). John Lewis is a company without shareholders, whose value is vested in a trust and can only be shared between the company's employees. This is distinct from a standard corporation which allows its employees to buy some of its shares while its management is free to inflate…

• Nick Clegg plays the John Lewis card among the City's 'have-yachts' | Simon Hoggart

  Simon Hoggart

  16 Jan 2012 | 4:04 pm

  Perhaps the partnership would like to step in to fund her majesty's new boat – never knowingly undertowedNick Clegg has called for a John Lewis economy. Not a Primark economy (everything made in China), not a Currys economy (the people in charge have no idea what they're selling), nor a Harrods economy (run by someone who believes the Duke of Edinburgh murdered his would-be daughter in law – sorry, wrong, that was the previous owner.)The Lib Dem leader wants an economy based on the practices at John Lewis, known to its fans as "Johnny Lew", so that the people who work for a firm have a…

• Nick Clegg's employee share ownership ideas are half-baked

  Nils Pratley

  16 Jan 2012 | 11:34 am

  The call for more John Lewis-style companies is fair enough – but how would a right to request shares work in private firms and how healthy is it for staff to invest heavily in their employers?"We don't believe our problem is too much capitalism: we think it's that too few people have capital. We need more individuals to have a real stake in their firms," said Nick Clegg on Monday. The deputy prime minister called his vision "more of a John Lewis economy, if you like". Fair enough: the cause of diversity in the corporate jungle would be enhanced greatly if there were more democratically…

• Nick Clegg: We need a 'John Lewis economy' - video

  16 Jan 2012 | 8:27 am

  In a speech to business leaders at Mansion House, Nick Clegg praises employee ownership, saying too few people have access to capital

• Nick Clegg unveils plans for 'John Lewis economy'

  16 Jan 2012 | 7:16 am

  Deputy prime minister says allowing employees to have a stake in their firms will usher in a new era of 'responsible capitalism'Nick Clegg has unveiled plans to create a "John Lewis economy" by radically increasing employee share ownership.Liberal Democrat ministers are to explore ways of getting employee ownership "into the bloodstream" of the British economy – including the introduction of a right for workers to request shares in their companies.The deputy prime minister said employee-owned firms tended to perform better, which will help boost growth.The move would also challenge the…

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  Politics: Boris Johnson | guardian.co.uk

• Nick Clegg hails Brian Paddick's police background in London mayoral race

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:16 am

  Brian Paddick's experience at the Metropolitan police 'sets him completely apart' from his rivals, says deputy prime ministerBrian Paddick's experience at the Metropolitan police "sets him completely apart" from his rival candidates in the London mayoral race, Nick Clegg has declared.The Liberal Democrat leader said the former Scotland Yard deputy assistant commissioner knows what it means to police the capital.The deputy prime minister made the comments as he and Paddick visited the House of Reeves furniture store in Croydon, whose main premises were destroyed during the riots almost six…

• Earls Court project: pro-council residents' steering company director resigns

  Dave Hill

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:21 am

  A new twist in the saga of the controversial Earls Court redevelopment project has occurred. Richard Osband, a leaseholder on one of two council estates the Tory flagship Hammersmith and Fulham council wants to sell for demolition as part of the wider scheme, has resigned as a director of the residents' steering company. A fellow director, Neil Hall, has also stepped down. Both have severed all connections with the company.The great significance of this is that the steering company was set up by the council as a vehicle for consulting with residents after relations with the two estates'…

• Anger grows over RBS chief's £900,000 bonus

  Shiv Malik

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:58 am

  London mayor Boris Johnson calls award 'bewildering' while Labour leader Ed Miliband describes it as 'disgraceful'Ed Miliband and Boris Johnson have joined the chorus of criticism over the decision by the Royal Bank of Scotland to award its chief executive a bonus of nearly £1m.The bank is more than 80% owned by the taxpayer, and Johnson, the Conservative mayor of London, reacted to the payout by saying the government "should step in and sort it out".The bonus, which has been described as "utterly unacceptable" by a Liberal Democrat peer, will net the RBS chief, Stephen Hester – who earns…

• Davos 2012: Cameron scales improbable rhetorical peaks

  Larry Elliott

  26 Jan 2012 | 2:52 pm

  British politicians dominated proceedings on day two of the World Economic ForumIt was like Westminster in the mountains. Everywhere you looked there was a British politician. David Cameron lectured the rest of Europe about how to solve the crisis in the single currency under the disapproving gaze of Peter Mandelson, sitting next to development secretary Andrew Mitchell in the front row.The prime minister had been forced to wait in the wings while his predecessor, Gordon Brown, wrapped up a session with a panel of African leaders. Like the Swiss railway, sessions at Davos are organised with…

• London Olympic park to host 'festival of cycling' in 2013

  26 Jan 2012 | 11:23 am

  London mayor Boris Johnson unveils details of first large-scale event to use venue when it reopens after the GamesA two-day "festival of cycling" will be the first large-scale event to use the Olympic park when it reopens in 2013 after this year's Games, the London mayor, Boris Johnson, announced on Thursday.The festival will culminate in a 100 mile race for amateurs and world class competitors starting at the Olympic Park that organisers say will be similar to the London Marathon - but for cyclists.Johnson said he wanted to create one of the world's leading cycling events in the capital as…

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  Art and design: Jonathan Jones on art | guardian.co.uk

• Don't call me Sir: why do artists snub royal honours?

  Jonathan Jones

  26 Jan 2012 | 9:23 am

  From Lucian Freud to Roald Dahl, creative talents have long been rejecting honours from the Queen. But why? Maybe they just don't want to be part of an elite gang of Fred GoodwinsWhy are creative people so deeply sceptical of Britain's honours system? Previously top secret details revealed today show that artists including Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud and LS Lowry rejected honours from the Queen as well as such writers as Roald Dahl and Graham Greene. What made them so reluctant to be rewarded by the British establishment?None of these artists were known radicals. They were not on record as…

• The Fitzwilliam flies the flag for Britain's great local museums

  Jonathan Jones

  24 Jan 2012 | 9:31 am

  Cambridge's Fitzwilliam Museum is full of treasures – but wherever you live in Britain there is a terrific gallery close byThe Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge is one of my favourite art galleries. So I am pleased it is making its name nationally: it has just set a record for attendances with its acclaimed exhibition Vermeer's Women. This ambitious show broke the convention that high-class regional museums like the Fitzwilliam tend to put on worthy examinations of Victorian art or a few drawings. It homed in on a great and glamorous painter, and got 150,000 visitors.In truth, the Fitzwilliam…

• From Hockney to Downton Abbey: have our cultural tastes gone conservative?

  Jonathan Jones

  23 Jan 2012 | 5:58 am

  Does the popularity of traditional landscape paintings at the Royal Academy and a posh country-house TV series mean Britons are rejecting the progressive for the conservative?When is culture conservative? This is an urgent question, since in many peoples' eyes Britain is slipping into a regressive mood in the arts and entertainment that – according to your point of view – is either to be loathed or welcomed as a symptom of deep societal change.The conservative political commentator Peter Oborne welcomes it. In a provocative and trenchant article in the Daily Telegraph, he recently hailed…

• Thanks for the memories, Kodak – you made photographers of us all

  Jonathan Jones

  19 Jan 2012 | 7:26 am

  The digital age of photography has been liberating, but we've lost something precious along the wayThis is a sad day for anyone who feels nostalgic for the days of the "Kodak moment" – almost always a snapshot of a big family gathering, a perfect holiday, or a generally momentous personal event. When many of us were children in the 70s, 80s and indeed 90s, popular photography flourished under the benevolent eye of Kodak, the once all-powerful giant that has now filed for bankruptcy protection.For the vast majority of us, getting your photos developed meant taking the film along to the…

• Why the Wikipedia blackout is good news for art lovers

  Jonathan Jones

  18 Jan 2012 | 10:52 am

  Wikipedia thinks it's the source of all knowledge when it comes to art – but I'm celebrating a day off from its third-hand factoidsI got really excited this morning. Looking up an artist online – Rembrandt, if you want to know – I noticed something different. As usual, the first item offered was his Wikipedia entry. But after a few seconds, the Rembrandt page dissolved into a darkened screen with a big W and an explanation I was too thrilled to read at that moment. Wikipedia offline? Wikipedia offline! A new dawn for humanity …Only after a couple of glasses of champagne did I look…

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  Politics: Tessa Jowell | guardian.co.uk

• Sir Roger Jowell obituary

  David Walker

  8 Jan 2012 | 8:33 am

  Co-founder of the National Centre for Social ResearchThanks to Roger Jowell, co-founder of NatCen (the National Centre for Social Research), who has died of a heart attack aged 69, we are potentially a deeply self-knowing society. His studies of British attitudes, over time and in comparison with other European countries, amassed a trove of social knowledge. High standards in fieldwork and intellectual precision in the methods of finding out what we think – Jowell's hallmarks – have given the UK an international reputation for the quality of this field of sociological inquiry.Results…

• School sports cuts threaten the Olympic legacy, says Tessa Jowell

  Toby Helm

  7 Jan 2012 | 5:09 pm

  Former minister breaks cross-party consensus with attack on coalition just 200 days before Games startThe 2012 London Olympics will go down in history as a giant "missed opportunity" for young Britons unless David Cameron orders an urgent rethink to revive and boost sport in schools, former Labour Olympics minister Tessa Jowell says.The stark warning from Jowell, a member of the Olympics board and one of the leading champions of the Games, lays bare mounting concern at sport's highest levels that the Olympics will be scarred by a failure to deliver on the promise of a permanent legacy.Her…

• Phone hacking: News International pays Tessa Jowell £200,000

  Allegra Stratton

  12 Dec 2011 | 11:23 am

  Ex-Labour cabinet minister gets settlement after police said her phone had been hacked by News of the WorldThe former Labour cabinet minister Tessa Jowell has accepted a £200,000 settlement from Rupert Murdoch's News International over the hacking of her phone.Jowell's lawyers, Bindmans, confirmed on Monday that the News International subsidiary News Group, which used to publish the News of the World, had agreed to £200,000 in damages for breach of privacy and harassment.Of this, £100,000 will be paid to a charity of her choice, with which she has worked closely and which will benefit…

• Opposition to Dow Olympic stadium wrap deal crosses international and political boundaries

  Dave Hill

  8 Dec 2011 | 4:43 pm

  Since I lasted posted about the row over London 2012's organisers controversially awarding the Olympic stadium wrap sponsorship deal to Dow Chemical, the Indian government has urged the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to make its displeasure known to Seb and Co, and Jacques Rogge, the International Olympic Commttee chairman, has joined Coe and Boris Johnson in echoing Dow's line of defence - that in 1984 it wasn't involved with the company that owned and ran the chemical plant in Bhopal that leaked catastrophically in that year, leading to the deaths of thousands of people.Anti-Dow…

• Tessa Jowell has no regrets over Olympic sports legacy promises

  Owen Gibson

  29 Nov 2011 | 1:40 pm

  • Participation rise looks set to fall well short of target• Shadow minister 'deeply sceptical' on coalition's school planTessa Jowell, the shadow Olympics minister, has insisted she has no regrets over setting ambitious sports participation targets for the London Games, despite the fact that the figures are set to fall woefully short.After London won the Games on the back of a series of legacy promises, Labour set a target of one million more people playing sport three or more times a week, and a further million engaging in more physical activity, by 2013. Sport England was charged with…

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  World news: Kenya | guardian.co.uk

• Letters: Join our global charter to stop world hunger now

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:00 pm

  This week, with the world's business, political and economic leaders meeting in Davos, we should not be seeing tens of thousands of people dying of starvation and 13 million at risk of losing everything they have in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia, because of a hunger crisis that was predicted and preventable (What we want to discuss at Davos, 25 January). The world is failing people in east Africa and this must change now. While solutions are never easy, it is within our power to stop natural disasters turning into human tragedies of such horror. The crisis in east Africa is a terrible reminder:…

• Court orders four Kenyans to stand trial over 2007 election violence

  Clar Ni Chonghaile, David Smith

  23 Jan 2012 | 11:50 am

  International criminal court panel's decision puts question mark over presidential hopes of two of the accusedTwo Kenyan presidential hopefuls will stand trial accused of orchestrating violence that left at least 1,133 people dead after elections in 2007, the international criminal court (ICC) has ruled.Uhuru Kenyatta, deputy prime minister and son of the country's founding president, is alleged to have directed a militia to murder and rape after the disputed polls. The 50-year-old is the country's richest citizen with a personal fortune of $500m (£321m).Kenyatta will be tried alongside the…

• Kenya's deputy prime minister faces trial at international criminal court

  David Smith

  23 Jan 2012 | 5:32 am

  Uhuru Kenyatta, the country's richest citizen, is one of four men accused of orchestrating violence after 2007 electionsTwo Kenyan presidential hopefuls will stand trial accused of orchestrating violence that left more than 1,200 people dead after elections in 2007, the international criminal court (ICC) has ruled.The deputy prime minister, Uhuru Kenyatta, and the former education minister, William Ruto, are accused of crimes against humanity, including murder and persecution.They will be tried along with Francis Muthaura, who is head of the civil service and cabinet secretary, and Joshua…

• Why east Africa's famine warning was not heeded | Hugo Slim

  Hugo Slim

  18 Jan 2012 | 11:14 am

  Psychological and organisational reasons lay behind the poor response to this famine – not the hoary old 'lack of political will'Natural sciences can predict certain things quite well once they have established particular natural laws. But political and social sciences are notoriously bad at it. This is not surprising. Human events are deeply unpredictable, so we tend not to be too hard on ourselves when we miss things like the Arab spring.But should we be much harder on ourselves when we miss a famine? Surely, there is quite a lot of hard science in a famine – indicators of drought,…

• East Africa's drought: the avoidable disaster

  Simon Tisdall

  17 Jan 2012 | 6:29 pm

  Tens of thousands of lives could have been spared if agencies and governments had heeded the warnings, a report saysThe deaths of tens of thousands of people during the drought in east Africa could have been avoided if the international community, donor governments and humanitarian agencies had responded earlier and more swiftly to clear warning signs that a disaster was in the making, according to a new report.Figures compiled by the Department for International Development (DfID) suggest that between 50,000 and 100,000 people, more than half of them children under five, died in the 2011…

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  World news: Kurds | guardian.co.uk

• Turkey must investigate this massacre to build Kurdish trust | Fazel Hawramy

  Fazel Hawramy

  19 Jan 2012 | 10:30 am

  The bombing of innocent villagers by the Turkish army demands justice. Relations with the Kurds depend on itA group of Kurdish schoolchildren and young villagers were transporting cheap fuel into Turkey from Iraq on 28 December. Some time after 9.30pm, as the group reached the border area, four Turkish F-16 fighter jets launched an attack and within an hour, 34 members of the group, including 17 children, were dead.The Turkish army initially hailed the raid as a success, claiming that it had killed fighters from the Kurdistan Workers' party (PKK) – a group that has waged an armed rebellion…

• Turkish women get behind the wheel

  Constanze Letsch

  13 Jan 2012 | 4:13 pm

  Women lead drive for gender equality in Diyarbakir, south-east Turkey, where PKK and Turkish troops have previously clashedMost of the stories that emerge from Baglar, the largest and poorest district in Diyarbakir, in south-east Turkey, have been reports of violent clashes between Kurdish people and police.Baglar is home to refugees who were forced from their homes when Turkish security forces emptied more than 3,000 villages during their conflict with the Kurdish separatist PKK in the 1990s.But now it is making headlines for another type of revolution: the local authorities want to put…

• Trying to get at the truth of Turkey's jailed journalists

  Roy Greenslade

  9 Jan 2012 | 4:18 am

  Turkey is regarded as having a dire press freedom record. But the facts - even the numbers - are disputed.First, the numbers. According to the Turkish Journalists' Union and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the country currently has 72 journalists in jail.Turkey's ministry of justice, which disputes the unions' list, says that only 63 of the named people were jailed and that the overwhelming majority of them were sentenced on charges that "had nothing to do with the conduct of journalism." Doubtless, the ministry will also take issue with figures that appear in an Index on…

• Turkey to compensate air strike victims

  3 Jan 2012 | 4:01 am

  Families of 35 civilians killed in strike meant for Kurdish rebels will receive payments within days, says deputy prime ministerTurkey will compensate the families of 35 civilians mistakenly killed in an air strike meant for Kurdish rebels, the deputy prime minister has said, even as he insisted that military officials followed proper procedures, including firing warning shots.The air strikes, guided by intelligence from drones and fired by Turkish F-16 jets, hit a group of Kurdish smugglers in northern Iraq last week. The loss of life was one of the highest civilian death tolls in one day in…

• Turkish air strikes kill dozens of villagers near Iraq border

  Peter Beaumont

  29 Dec 2011 | 12:42 pm

  Turkey's government forced to admit victims of bombing were not Kurdish separatist fightersThe donkeys had been sent across Turkey's south-eastern border with Iraq to ferry vats of smuggled diesel and cigarettes. On Thursday when they came back it was with bodies wrapped in carpets lashed to their sides: the victims of a Turkish air raid that killed up to 35 villagers from this remote region.In a major embarrassment for Turkey's government, it was forced on Thursday to admit that the dead, originally described by the Turkish army as Kurdish separatist fighters from the banned PKK, were…

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  Politics: Labour | guardian.co.uk

• Bash the poor and wave the flag – how this Tory trick works | Jonathan Freedland

  Jonathan Freedland

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:30 pm

  In a move imported from the US right, the Conservatives have successfully induced people to vote against their own interestsThe art of the magician, so they say, is distraction. Divert the eye of the audience with one hand and all kinds of mischief are available to the other. And if that's true of magic, it's truer still of politics. To adapt the slogan selling the new film Man on a Ledge, a big deception requires a big distraction.Take these two apparently contradictory facts. This week saw proof that Britain is no longer merely suffering from anaemic growth but actual contraction, a…

• Labour must do more to be credible on economy, says Douglas Alexander

  Patrick Wintour

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:59 pm

  Shadow foreign secretary warns that public has not heard enough from Labour party about how it would cut the deficitDouglas Alexander, the shadow foreign secretary, is warning Labour it has only created a bridgehead towards establishing economic credibility and will need to talk "a lot more" about bringing the deficit down if it is to reap political dividends from the government's economic failure.Making a rare intervention in the debate on Labour's economic approach, he said in a Guardian interview: "I don't think the public has yet heard us talking enough about dealing with the deficit, as…

• It's 1981 all over again

  Simon Hoggart

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:22 pm

  We've a Tory PM whose policies are causing irreparable harm and an opposition leader who nobody believes will become PM✒Step back with me in time: we are governed by a Tory prime minister whose policies appear to be causing irreparable harm to the economy, but who refuses to budge. We have an opposition leader who nobody believes will become prime minister himself. And there is the possibility of war in the Falklands. I know that history repeats itself, but in only 30 years?✒I went to the Hugo Young memorial lecture at the Guardian this week to hear Alex Salmond talk about Scottish…

• Labour to back welfare benefits cap

  Patrick Wintour

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:46 am

  Labour party expected to vote in favour of a benefits cap, providing it is set higher in expensive areas such as LondonLabour is to back a localised welfare benefits cap in a key vote in the Commons next week, on the basis it is set higher in areas of expensive housing, such as London, and lower in areas of cheaper housing.Labour said on Friday that it recognised the fairness and popularity of the concept of benefit cap per household, but could not support a cap it viewed as unfair – such as the blanket £26,000 per family proposed by the government.In a move that privately infuriated some…

• Anger grows over RBS chief's £900,000 bonus

  Shiv Malik

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:58 am

  London mayor Boris Johnson calls award 'bewildering' while Labour leader Ed Miliband describes it as 'disgraceful'Ed Miliband and Boris Johnson have joined the chorus of criticism over the decision by the Royal Bank of Scotland to award its chief executive a bonus of nearly £1m.The bank is more than 80% owned by the taxpayer, and Johnson, the Conservative mayor of London, reacted to the payout by saying the government "should step in and sort it out".The bonus, which has been described as "utterly unacceptable" by a Liberal Democrat peer, will net the RBS chief, Stephen Hester – who earns…

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  Television & radio: Last night's TV | guardian.co.uk

• TV review: We'll Take Manhattan; David Bailey: Four Beats to the Bar and No Cheating; Putin, Russia and the West

  Lucy Mangan

  26 Jan 2012 | 5:29 pm

  A dramatisation of how David Bailey and his girl-next-door muse Jean Shrimpton click-started the 60s had a lot going for it but tried a little too hardWe'll Take Manhattan (BBC4) told the story of a baby David Bailey and his muse and mistress Jean Shrimpton – still very much the raw prawn herself – jetting off to New York in 1962 to do the rule-shattering Young Idea Goes West photoshoot for Vogue, all battered teddy bears, gritty streetscapes and the extraordinarily ordinary gangly girl next door, that would establish them for ever as icons of the 60s' cultural revolution.Expectations of…

• TV review: Natural World – Jungle Gremlins of Java | How to Cook Like Heston

  John Crace

  25 Jan 2012 | 3:05 pm

  Yes, the rainforest has many possibilities – falling down a ravine, leopards, being bitten by a snake …Meerkats are just so last year. After a YouTube clip of a slow loris stretching went viral, the endangered Indonesian primate has become the new, must-have exotic cute pet. It's the big cartoon eyes that are irresistible apparently. Not that I know anyone with a slow loris – or have ever heard anyone expressing a desire for one – but Natural World – Jungle Gremlins of Java(BBC2) said it was true, so it probably is.And that's one of the great pleasures of the Natural World strand. I…

• TV review: Junior Doctors – Your Life in Their Hands | Confessions of a Nurse

  Sam Wollaston

  24 Jan 2012 | 5:09 pm

  Prefer to stay alive? Then here are the rookie doctors you might want to avoidAh, one of my favourite games today: doctors and nurses. First then, a new series of the thoroughly entertaining docusoap Junior Doctors: Your Life in Their Hands (BBC3). We've moved from the north-east to London, from Casualty-meets-Geordie-Shore to Casualty-meets- Made-in-Chelsea if you like (actually we are at Chelsea and Westminster hospital so that almost works). And more importantly we've got a new batch of young docs in, fresh meat.So here's Andy who's 22 (Jesus, he's a child, he must have started…

• TV review: The Real Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines | Party Paramedic

  Sam Wollaston

  23 Jan 2012 | 3:04 pm

  Who said the age of adventure was dead? Now mind those pylons!Antony Woodward was involved in a plane crash in Lockerbie, Scotland. Yes, that Lockerbie. But not that plane crash. Obviously not, otherwise he wouldn't be in this documentary, The Real Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (BBC2). How strange though, that it's there that he crashed his plane – a bit like getting involved in a minor, non-fatal shooting incident in Dunblane or Hungerford.Antony's crash wasn't minor to him. He drove his microlight into some power cables, and came to the ground in a crumpled, twisted heap with…

• TV review: Birdsong | The Last Explorers

  Sam Wollaston

  22 Jan 2012 | 4:29 pm

  It's taken 20 years to reach the screen, but this glorious tale of love and war has been worth the waitA man with a tin helmet and a faraway empty look stands amid the madness, the mud, and the misery of the western front, northern France, 1916. Suddenly the screen brightens, comes alive. There are trees, leaves, water, light, elegantly dressed women and chortling pheasants. We're still in northern France, just a few miles from where we were before, but we've gone back in time, to 1910. The same man is there, no helmet, younger and more focused, less tarnished.That's how it goes in…

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  Editorials | guardian.co.uk

• Unthinkable? A federal upper house of parliament | Editorial

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:20 pm

  If Scots vote for independence, England's political will would shape that of the UK even more decisivelyAlex Salmond's plans for a Scottish independence referendum in 2014 are concentrating minds on the future shape of the United Kingdom. If Scots vote yes, the country they leave will consist of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. England, currently with 84% of the UK population, would then have 92%, Wales 5% and Northern Ireland 3%. England's share of the seats in the Westminster parliament would rise in proportion; its dominance, already great, would become even greater, so that the…

• Nigeria: fundamental issues | Editorial

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:25 pm

  Boko Haram's gruesome rise has prised open crevices where ethnic, religious and socioeconomic fault lines intersectA bombing campaign is reductionist by design. Complex societies with long and painful histories end up being reduced to simple dichotomies : north v south, Muslim v Christian, poor v rich. Or in Boko Haram's case, the righteous v the apostate. There is something particularly chilling in the interview which we publish today with a representative of the Islamic militant group, whose campaign of violent jihad has claimed hundreds of lives already this year. It is when he claims that…

• Rich and poor: deserving and undeserving | Editorial

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:54 pm

  The attempt to distinguish between different categories of the poor is almost as old as the modern British stateWhen the Archbishop of Canterbury warned against "a quiet resurgence of the seductive language of 'deserving' and 'undeserving' poor" he may not have expected his immediate predecessor to lead a charge against "hand-outs given to the long-term unemployed", as he did this week. Yet Lord Carey's attack upon his fellow bishops for resisting the government's welfare reform legislation breathes new life into that most unhelpful of distinctions. According to Lord Carey, we now have a…

• In praise of … JB Priestley | Editorial

  26 Jan 2012 | 5:00 pm

  As a prose realist with strong leftwing politics, Priestley was more famous than George Orwell and is now back in the newsAsk people to name an outstanding prose realist of the 1930s and 40s, with strong leftwing politics, a piercing eye for social reportage and a unique line in imaginative fiction – and many will probably say George Orwell. Many fewer these days would cite the vastly talented JB Priestley (more famous in his day than Orwell), whose English Journey was the precursor of The Road to Wigan Pier, whose disjunctive "time" plays are at last being revived though his novels remain…

• Nick Clegg: taking from the rich, not giving to the poor | Editorial

  26 Jan 2012 | 4:41 pm

  Right through the 1990s and into the noughties, the Liberal Democrats' signature policy was a 1% income tax rise to be spent on schoolsRight through the 1990s and into the noughties, the Liberal Democrats' signature policy was the "penny for education" – a 1% income tax rise to be spent on schools. At the Resolution Foundation on Thursday, Nick Clegg gave a speech which underlined how far he has shifted his party from this social democratic stance. Bravely opening budget negotiations in broad daylight, the deputy prime minister made plain that his overriding priority is instead a general…

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  The Guardian newspaper: Editorials & reply | guardian.co.uk

• Unthinkable? A federal upper house of parliament | Editorial

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:20 pm

  If Scots vote for independence, England's political will would shape that of the UK even more decisivelyAlex Salmond's plans for a Scottish independence referendum in 2014 are concentrating minds on the future shape of the United Kingdom. If Scots vote yes, the country they leave will consist of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. England, currently with 84% of the UK population, would then have 92%, Wales 5% and Northern Ireland 3%. England's share of the seats in the Westminster parliament would rise in proportion; its dominance, already great, would become even greater, so that the…

• From the archive, 28 January 1971: Pill for men 'on trial in a year'

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:07 pm

  Originally published in the Guardian on 28 January 1971Successful trials of a contraceptive pill for men have been carried out on rats in a London hospital medical school and, subject to approval, clinical trials may be carried out within a year.Professor Denis Lacy, of St Bartholomew's Hospital Zoology Department, said yesterday that discussions were being held on whether to apply for permission from the Scowen Committee on Drug Safety to conduct trials on men. No side effects had been observed in the rats which had been given the pill and Professor Lacy did not expect any side effects in…

• Letters: Give it some welly

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:00 pm

  I'm a museum curator who spends a lot of time mollocking around in vast stores. Given the conditions – heavy objects, 13ft-high shelves, I find it's a good thing not to be wearing pretty items of clothing that flap about. Jeans usually fit the bill and can be chosen to look moderately smart in office situations (Letters, 27 January). Given also that age (55) is causing me to lose my nerve in the wobbling-on-13ft-high-ladder stakes, I would love to be a lumberjack, because then I might be OK.Helen ReesSouthampton• In the village where I live, with its broad dairy farming hinterland, jeans…

• Letters: A Wapping lesson

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:00 pm

  With revelations still emerging from the Leveson inquiry about the cynical behaviour of News International, readers might like to note that the exhibition on the Wapping dispute in 1986-87, when Murdoch sacked the workforce at his newspapers and set out to destroy the print unions, continues at the Bishopsgate Institute, London EC2, until 29 February. The News of the World phone-hacking scandal, which has revealed the dark side of Murdoch's global empire, should be no surprise when you look at the collusion 25 years ago between the Tory government, the police and NI to promote corporate…

• Letters: Join our global charter to stop world hunger now

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:00 pm

  This week, with the world's business, political and economic leaders meeting in Davos, we should not be seeing tens of thousands of people dying of starvation and 13 million at risk of losing everything they have in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia, because of a hunger crisis that was predicted and preventable (What we want to discuss at Davos, 25 January). The world is failing people in east Africa and this must change now. While solutions are never easy, it is within our power to stop natural disasters turning into human tragedies of such horror. The crisis in east Africa is a terrible reminder:…

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  World news: Lebanon | guardian.co.uk

• Thai authorities question Hezbollah suspect after terror tipoff - video

  13 Jan 2012 | 11:41 am

  Police in Thailand have arrested a Lebanese man suspected of links to the militant Shia Muslim group Hezbollah, prompting the US embassy to warn American nationals of the threat of a terrorist attack in the country

• Thailand arrests Hezbollah suspect after terror tipoff

  Haroon Siddique

  13 Jan 2012 | 9:46 am

  Thai police question Lebanese man after Israel warns of potential attack, prompting US to issue terror alert to citizensPolice in Thailand are questioning a suspected Hezbollah member, with the development coming as the US embassy warned American nationals of the threat of a terrorist attack in the country.The suspected Hezbollah member, a Lebanese man, was arrested on Thursday after a tipoff from Israel about a potential attack in Bangkok, the Thai deputy prime minister, Chalerm Yoobamrung, said, adding that police had stepped up security.Chalerm told Reuters: "A Lebanese suspect from the…

• Action in the Middle East - British Pathé video

  19 Dec 2011 | 4:24 am

  British Pathé archive footage shows a round-up of affairs in the Middle East and north Africa from 1958. British troops fly out to Jordan as revolution takes hold in Iraq and American marines land in Lebanon to quell revolution and Jordan's Arab Legion parades in a show of military strength

• Syria: UN raises death toll to 5,000 - Tuesday 13 December 2011

  Matthew Weaver, Lizzy Davies

  13 Dec 2011 | 9:57 am

  • UN figures suggest killing is escalating in Syria • 18 killed in Idlib after defected troops fight army• Saudi Arabia executes woman for sorcery• King of Bahrain defends handling of the uprising• Read the latest summary3.56pm: Anti-government activists have set up a tent city in the eastern city of Benghazi in a second day of demonstrations against Libya's ruling National Transitional Council, writes Chris Stephen in Tripoli.The protest camp sprang up on Tuesday in the city's Maidan al-Shagara (Tree Square) after thousands of people joined demonstrations in Benghazi and Tripoli to…

• Hezbollah names CIA spies in Lebanon

  13 Dec 2011 | 5:01 am

  Militant group steps up campaign against US intelligence agency by revealing identities of 10 undercover officers in TV broadcastHezbollah has revealed the identities of CIA officers working undercover in Lebanon, a blow to agency operations in the region and the latest salvo in an escalating spy war.The militant group made the names public in a broadcast on Friday night on a Lebanese television station, al-Manar. Using video animations, the station recreated meetings purported to take place between CIA officers and paid informants at Starbucks and Pizza Hut outlets. The officers met with…

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  Education: Lecturers' pay | guardian.co.uk

• University vice-chancellors take average £9,700 pay rise

  Jessica Shepherd

  16 Jan 2012 | 6:49 am

  Heads of elite universities' earnings exceed £333,000 on average, despite squeeze on institutions' overall budgetsThe heads of elite universities were awarded an average pay rise of £9,700 last year, taking their average earnings beyond £333,000, the Guardian can reveal.Analysis of 13 top university leaders' pay packets has prompted calls for the prime minister's clampdown on executive pay to reach beyond banks and big business to include universities as well, although the average rise of 3.9% is below the rate of inflation.An examination of the universities' most recent financial…

• Teachers lobby MPs over pension changes

  Jessica Shepherd

  26 Oct 2011 | 10:39 am

  Schools minister Nick Gibb is given 150,000-signature petition urging government to scrap proposed changes to teachers' pensionsThousands of teachers and lecturers travelled from all over the country to Westminster on Wednesday to urge their MPs to reverse proposed changes to their pension scheme.They presented Nick Gibb, the schools minister, with a petition signed by more than 150,000 colleagues, calling for the reforms to be scrapped.The government has proposed to put new teachers in England and Wales on a career-average, rather than a final-salary scheme, and raise the state pension age…

• Lecturers working to rule in pension dispute

  Jessica Shepherd

  10 Oct 2011 | 5:20 am

  Academics at 67 universities protesting over changes they say will leave them poorer in retirementLecturers at half of the country's universities will work to rule this week in a bitter dispute over their pensions.From Monday, academics at 67 universities – including Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial College London – will only work their contracted hours, refuse to cover for colleagues and skip meetings in protest at changes which they argue will leave them with less in retirement.They have threatened to carry out rolling strikes and boycott the marking of students' work unless employers…

• Are colleges cutting more jobs than they need to?

  Andrew Mourant

  27 Jun 2011 | 2:15 pm

  Unions are questioning whether redundancies in colleges are justified when the coffers are relatively fullAround 4,300 and counting. Every month the lecturers' union, UCU, updates numbers of further education posts at risk, and each time the outlook grows grimmer.It's just one strand of a national picture unfolding through the Guardian's Cutswatch, which, with readers' help, is mapping the fallout from the coalition government's austerity measures. Yet while no one expected FE to be immune, there's growing concern that some jobs are being sacrificed even when colleges' financial balances…

• Tension over college lecturers teaching in schools

  22 Mar 2011 | 1:00 am

  A new proposal to allow college lecturers to teach in schools is highlighting the inequality in pay and conditions between schools and FEThe suggestion delighted the FE sector: according to the government, college lecturers are as qualified as schoolteachers and should no longer be barred from teaching in schools.The education secretary, Michael Gove, wasted no time in backing Professor Alison Wolf's proposal that staff with qualified teacher learning and skills (QTLS) should be able to work in schools.The recommendation, part of Wolf's review into the future of vocational education, is…

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  Letters | guardian.co.uk

• Family life

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:05 pm

  Readers' favourite photographs, songs and recipesSnapshot: Dad on a rare holiday in the 1930sWhat a great time these young men are having. A group of lads sharing a rare holiday in the 30s, determined to have a ball. The rolled shirtsleeves and vests suggest hot weather. My father, Ben, is the one astride his motorcycle on the far left of the photograph, which I think may have been taken on the Isle of Man. I know Dad went there in his youth to watch the TT racing.Ben was born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, in 1906, and worked for the co-operative movement until the 1930s when,…

• A letter to … Roy, the love of my life

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:05 pm

  The letter you always wanted to writeDearest Roy, the massive stroke you died from, aged 84, ended 42 years of unalloyed happiness together. I was five years your junior. Now, after two years, my anger, shock and disbelief have dimmed a little, but underlying grief remains like a debilitating sickness. I am intensely grateful for the charmed life we led together, for your handsome, generous presence and the loving way you taught me the joy of sharing, but I still feel deep resentment that it all had to end so suddenly.The chance of you recovering to lead a reasonable life were slender – and…

• Problem solved

  Annalisa Barbieri

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:04 pm

  My sister says I should cut off my daughter because she's a porn star. I disapprove of her job but don't know what to doMy elder daughter – a beautiful, intelligent, loving 24-year-old woman – is a porn star and I don't know how to deal with it. My husband died suddenly 10 years ago and since then it has just been me and my three children.I had a couple of serious conversations with my daughter about why I consider porn to be a very bad career choice, how dangerous it is, etc. My words seemed to fall on deaf ears. She explained that she used a stage name to protect her identity,…

• TalkTalk refuses to give me a new contract

  Miles Brignall

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:01 pm

  TalkTalk claims I've been shopping around for another provider. I haven'tI am a happy TalkTalk customer. They recently rang me to offer me a new 18-month contract with some extras which I was happy to sign up to if I got a wireless router. They agreed, but then told me that on my account was an "unsolicited cease command" dating from November. This, I was told, meant I had been shopping around for another provider. I hadn't. But until I could get rid of this they said they could not do anything for me; neither renew my contract nor send me a router. I was told to sort it out. I contacted BT…

• RAC error appears on credit card statement

  Miles Brignall

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:01 pm

  My daughter's RAC car insurance was automatically renewed despite not agreeing in writing or verbally to thisIn December 2010 I purchased RAC cover for my daughter's Mini – but at no point was I informed there would be automatic renewal. A few weeks into the policy we contacted RAC to cancel it as the insured car had been towed to a garage and was being repaired and then sold, and we therefore no longer needed cover. I was told I could not cancel the policy as I had used the service, which I accepted as fair enough.A year on and have I have just discovered from my credit card bill that the…

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  Politics: Liberal Democrats | guardian.co.uk

• Nick Clegg hails Brian Paddick's police background in London mayoral race

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:16 am

  Brian Paddick's experience at the Metropolitan police 'sets him completely apart' from his rivals, says deputy prime ministerBrian Paddick's experience at the Metropolitan police "sets him completely apart" from his rival candidates in the London mayoral race, Nick Clegg has declared.The Liberal Democrat leader said the former Scotland Yard deputy assistant commissioner knows what it means to police the capital.The deputy prime minister made the comments as he and Paddick visited the House of Reeves furniture store in Croydon, whose main premises were destroyed during the riots almost six…

• Letters: The benefit fraud perpetrated on the poor

  26 Jan 2012 | 3:00 pm

  All Liberal Democrats should follow Paddy Ashdown in voting against this iniquitous benefit cap that will deprive thousands more children of decent housing and schooling, and thereby render them virtually unemployable in the future (Peers reject £26,000 cap that includes child benefit, 24 January).If these measures are intended to force their parents into work, where are the jobs, thanks to this government's self-defeating policy of austerity, and where are the affordable homes, thanks to the policy of selling off council houses?The savings involved are paltry compared with the cost of…

• Welfare reform: Lib Dems urge Nick Clegg to back Lords amendments

  Patrick Wintour

  26 Jan 2012 | 2:00 pm

  Letter from more than 50 former Lib Dem parliamentary candidates urges party leader to respect party policy on benefitsNick Clegg is coming under unprecedented private pressure from his own party to back a string of Lords amendments designed to protect children and those with disabilities from the impact of the government's welfare reforms.A letter from more than 50 former Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidates in the 2010 election has been sent to Clegg urging him to respect party policy and vote to allow disabled people to retain employment support allowance for at least two years…

• Lib Dems examine options to fast-track £10,000 tax threshold plans

  Patrick Wintour

  26 Jan 2012 | 1:30 pm

  Party looks at options to raise the billions necessary to fund Nick Clegg's proposal to lift income tax threshold more quicklyThe Liberal Democrats have started examining ways to raise billions in higher taxes on the rich to fund Nick Clegg's call for the government to go faster in lifting the personal income tax threshold to £10,000.Clegg's officials admitted that the rate at which the threshold could be increased would depend on what schemes can be developed before the budget to fund the proposal. Tax avoidance, aviation taxes and wealth taxes will all be examined by the Treasury.In a…

• Unemployment benefit map shows party political divide

  David Hencke, Rajeev Syal

  26 Jan 2012 | 12:12 pm

  Twelve of the 15 seats with highest percentage of claimants are held by Labour, while lowest claimant areas are mostly Tory or Lib Dem seatsThe number of people claiming unemployment benefit is falling in some key coalition constituencies while continuing to rise in many Labour-held seats, new figures show.An analysis by Tribune magazine of the latest unemployment statistics shows that 12 out of 15 constituencies with the highest percentage of jobseeker's allowance (JSA) claimants are held by Labour MPs.The other three are in Northern Ireland and are held by Sinn Féin, the Democratic…

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  World news: Libya | guardian.co.uk

• Libya undecided on future of African investments

  Mark Tran

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:34 pm

  NTC will reassess financial commitments made under Muammar Gaddafi before making further plansLibya's new government is still taking stock of extensive investments made in Africa by the former regime of Muammar Gaddafi before deciding on what it should do next.Mohammed Abdul Aziz, Libya's deputy foreign minister, admitted on Thursday that the National Transitional Council (NTC) does not yet know the exact extent of Libyan investments on the continent."We don't have a figure yet of what we lost and what is still there," he told the Pan-African news agency ahead of the AU summit in Addis Ababa,…

• Syria, Egypt, Libya and Middle East unrest - Friday 27 January

  Lizzy Davies, Matthew Weaver

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:08 pm

  • UN to discuss draft Syria resolution • Veto-wielding Russia says draft remains 'unacceptable'• Egypt protesters take to Tahrir for 'second Friday of rage'• Read the latest summary6.21pm: Here's a summary of the day's developments. Syria• The head of the Arab League observer mission, Mohammed al-Dabi, reported a "very high escalation" in the violence in the last three days. The Local Coordination Committees in Syria claimed 135 people died yesterday and today. They included five children from one family in what the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights aid was a "massacre" in Homs.

• Libya: looking the other way | Editorial

  26 Jan 2012 | 4:30 pm

  The lack of oversight by Libya's National Transitional Council has created an environment conducive to tortureWhat is going on in Libya is not new. Libyans suspected, sometimes merely because of the colour of their skin, of being Gaddafi loyalists were being tortured and summarily executed throughout the rebellion. A week before Gaddafi himself was caught, sodomised with a knife and killed, Amnesty International issued a report saying that abuses in detention were staining the new Libya. For anyone who cared to look, a whole town, Tawargha, emptied of its inhabitants – black Libyans…

• Libyan militias accused of torture

  Ian Black

  26 Jan 2012 | 1:50 pm

  Charities say prisoners face mistreatment amid western concern over Tripoli's failure to tackle security and political issuesThree months after the killing of Muammar Gaddafi, concerns are mounting about the mistreatment and torture of prisoners held by Libyan militiamen who are operating beyond the control of the country's transitional government, as well as by officially recognised security bodies.Amnesty International warned that prisoners from Libya and other African countries have been subject to abuse. The warning comes against a background of anxiety in western capitals about Tripoli's…

• Syria, Egypt, Libya and Middle East unrest - Thursday 26 January

  Matthew Weaver, Lizzy Davies

  26 Jan 2012 | 12:09 pm

  • UN unable to update estimated death toll in Syria• UN and NGOs slam Libya over 'torture' of detainees• Egypt imposes 'travel ban' on American NGO workers• Read the latest summary6.03pm: Time for a wrap-up of today's main developments.Syria• The chief of the Arab League and the Qatari prime minister are to head to New York on Saturday to seek support for an Arab plan for Syria. Nabil al-Arabi said he and Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani would "hold a meeting with the UN Security Council on Monday to seek ratification of the Arab League decision on Syria". Arab League observers…

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  Culture: Liverpool 2008: European capital of culture | guardian.co.uk

• Sea Odyssey will parade through north Liverpool

  Helen Carter

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:45 am

  It is hoped huge crowds will gather to watch the free event - the largest ever to have taken place north of the city centreNorth Liverpool will play a major role in the Titanic-themed Sea Odyssey spectacular which it is hoped will bring huge crowds to the city's streets this spring.It is being described as the largest and most complex outdoor event to have ever taken place north of the city. A 30ft Little Girl Giant figure, created by Royal de Luxe, will tell a Titanic-themed story and will visit Anfield and Goodison and the city centre between April 20 and 22.The event echoes the giant…

• Cash for culture can boost UK economy, says arts alliance

  Charlotte Higgins

  25 Mar 2010 | 1:52 pm

  Cultural Capital arts manifesto calls for a small but 'crucial' public investmentBritain should invest in culture to help economic recovery, says an alliance of arts leaders including the National Theatre artistic director, Sir Nicholas Hytner, and Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum.Speaking at today's launch of the arts manifesto Cultural Capital, MacGregor said: "We want to give politicians the confidence to put on their CVs not what football team they support, but why life without Schubert is impossible."Culture works. This is a bit of national life that is extraordinarily…

• Culture Capital: how arts funding became a live issue | Lyn Gardner

  Lyn Gardner

  25 Mar 2010 | 12:41 pm

  A new campaign aims to place the arts centre stage ahead of the general election – and not before timeIn an upcoming election in which every vote will count, the arts vote potentially takes on even greater significance. Given the way they've been courting the arts since the start of the year, it's clear that all three parties are aware of this. So far there are plenty of fine words but no promises. This is hardly surprising given the post-budget commentary, which maintains that if the books are to be balanced, whichever government is in power is going to have to find £30bn of cuts over the…

• Liverpool profited from year as capital of culture, says report

  Helen Carter

  11 Mar 2010 | 5:37 pm

  Designation brought in millions of extra visitors and pounds in 2008, says researchIt may not have been an unalloyed critical triumph, but Liverpool's year as European capital of culture earned the city bumper visitor numbers and a multimillion-pound boost to its economy, academics have found.A five-year research programme published today analysed the social, economic and cultural impact of the 2008 title and found that the festival year saw 9.7m visitors to the city, an increase of 34%, and generated £753.8m for the economy.Media coverage of Liverpool's cultural attractions doubled and for…

• First UK city of culture finalists revealed

  Maev Kennedy

  24 Feb 2010 | 9:43 am

  Birmingham, Derry, Norwich and Sheffield compete for inaugural title in 2013Four British cities, Birmingham, Derry, Norwich and Sheffield, have been announced as the finalists in the competition to become the first UK city of culture, in 2013.They now have three months to buff up their credentials and announce cultural programmes sufficiently glittering to secure the honour, which is predicted to bring investment and tourism – but comes without a penny of government funding.Their final bids must be submitted by the end of May, and the government will announce the winner in the summer.Phil…

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  Politics: Ken Livingstone | guardian.co.uk

• Nick Clegg hails Brian Paddick's police background in London mayoral race

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:16 am

  Brian Paddick's experience at the Metropolitan police 'sets him completely apart' from his rivals, says deputy prime ministerBrian Paddick's experience at the Metropolitan police "sets him completely apart" from his rival candidates in the London mayoral race, Nick Clegg has declared.The Liberal Democrat leader said the former Scotland Yard deputy assistant commissioner knows what it means to police the capital.The deputy prime minister made the comments as he and Paddick visited the House of Reeves furniture store in Croydon, whose main premises were destroyed during the riots almost six…

• Earls Court project: pro-council residents' steering company director resigns

  Dave Hill

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:21 am

  A new twist in the saga of the controversial Earls Court redevelopment project has occurred. Richard Osband, a leaseholder on one of two council estates the Tory flagship Hammersmith and Fulham council wants to sell for demolition as part of the wider scheme, has resigned as a director of the residents' steering company. A fellow director, Neil Hall, has also stepped down. Both have severed all connections with the company.The great significance of this is that the steering company was set up by the council as a vehicle for consulting with residents after relations with the two estates'…

• Ken Livingstone and council tax: porkies and possibilities

  Dave Hill

  26 Jan 2012 | 10:55 am

  On Wednesday, Ken Livingstone's campaign team claimed that Boris Johnson's election campaign chief had lied about Ken's running mate and should apologise. Team Ken declared that Lynton Crosby had sent an email to Boris's signed-up supporters which contained the following claim:A council tax freeze benefits every London household during these tough times. But Ken Livingstone's hand picked Deputy Mayoral running mate in the Assembly is leading the Labour charge against the freeze, instead promoting an increase in council tax.Team Ken said this was completely false. I've seen the email. It…

• Politics Weekly podcast: welfare reform, Newt Gingrich and Boris Johnson

  Jackie Ashley, Tom Clark, Richard Adams, Randeep Ramesh, Michael White, Phil Maynard

  26 Jan 2012 | 8:41 am

  The government suffered six defeats in the House of Lords this week as Iain Duncan Smith hoped to make progress with his controversial welfare reform bill. A rebellion in the House of Lords led by independent Church of England bishops and former Lib Dem leader Paddy Ashdown was successful (for now at least) in disrupting a government cap of £26,000 for benefit claimaints. The bill will get another push in the Commons, and the government - which has the weight of public opinion on its side - show signs of relishing the battle. In the studio to discuss the growing importance of the (unelected)…

• 'Boris Johnson' chased by chicken at City Hall - video

  26 Jan 2012 | 5:51 am

  A man dressed as a chicken chases a Boris Johnson look-a-like in a Labour Party campaign stunt

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  Society: Local government | guardian.co.uk

• Nick Clegg hails Brian Paddick's police background in London mayoral race

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:16 am

  Brian Paddick's experience at the Metropolitan police 'sets him completely apart' from his rivals, says deputy prime ministerBrian Paddick's experience at the Metropolitan police "sets him completely apart" from his rival candidates in the London mayoral race, Nick Clegg has declared.The Liberal Democrat leader said the former Scotland Yard deputy assistant commissioner knows what it means to police the capital.The deputy prime minister made the comments as he and Paddick visited the House of Reeves furniture store in Croydon, whose main premises were destroyed during the riots almost six…

• Hedging on roads: councils bet on icy weather

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:23 am

  The soaring cost of gritting roads is forcing local authorities to gamble on weather derivativesAs Britain prepares this weekend for a Siberian blast, councils across the country will be anxiously checking their betting slips.The increasing cost of keeping roads open during harsh winter weather has forced councils to make spread bets to offset the risk of big financial losses. Weather derivatives – financial contracts that pay out in cases of extreme weather – are being actively tested by councils across the country.The recent succession of historically cold winters, followed this year by…

• Earls Court project: pro-council residents' steering company director resigns

  Dave Hill

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:21 am

  A new twist in the saga of the controversial Earls Court redevelopment project has occurred. Richard Osband, a leaseholder on one of two council estates the Tory flagship Hammersmith and Fulham council wants to sell for demolition as part of the wider scheme, has resigned as a director of the residents' steering company. A fellow director, Neil Hall, has also stepped down. Both have severed all connections with the company.The great significance of this is that the steering company was set up by the council as a vehicle for consulting with residents after relations with the two estates'…

• Cornish party Mebyon Kernow sees the future in black and white

  Steven Morris

  26 Jan 2012 | 8:59 am

  Coalition's struggles raise Cornish separatists' hopes of achieving devolutionWhen Loveday Jenkin was growing up, the Cornish flag was rarely seen. Now the white cross on a black background is ubiquitous, fluttering outside county hall in Truro and printed on everything from souvenir boxes of fudge to pasty packaging and car bumper stickers."I think it shows what a long way we've come in just a few years," says Jenkin, the latest member of Mebyon Kernow (MK) – the Party for Cornwall – to be elected to Cornwall council. "Everyone is so much more aware that we are separate, different, not a…

• Police chief warns of funding 'cliff edge'

  Alan Travis

  26 Jan 2012 | 2:40 am

  Gloucestershire chief constable says force is 'potentially in the middle of a perfect storm' after council tax freezeA chief constable has warned that further cuts to his budget prompted by a council tax freeze are pushing his force towards a "cliff edge".The warning from Gloucestershire's chief constable, Tony Melville, came in response to a barrage of warnings from police staff associations over the possible impact on frontline and neighbourhood policing of a further £1.3m savings on top of existing cuts of £24m from the £103m annual budget."Here in Gloucestershire, we are potentially in…

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  Politics: London politics | guardian.co.uk

• Earls Court project: pro-council residents' steering company director resigns

  Dave Hill

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:21 am

  A new twist in the saga of the controversial Earls Court redevelopment project has occurred. Richard Osband, a leaseholder on one of two council estates the Tory flagship Hammersmith and Fulham council wants to sell for demolition as part of the wider scheme, has resigned as a director of the residents' steering company. A fellow director, Neil Hall, has also stepped down. Both have severed all connections with the company.The great significance of this is that the steering company was set up by the council as a vehicle for consulting with residents after relations with the two estates'…

• Ken Livingstone and council tax: porkies and possibilities

  Dave Hill

  26 Jan 2012 | 10:55 am

  On Wednesday, Ken Livingstone's campaign team claimed that Boris Johnson's election campaign chief had lied about Ken's running mate and should apologise. Team Ken declared that Lynton Crosby had sent an email to Boris's signed-up supporters which contained the following claim:A council tax freeze benefits every London household during these tough times. But Ken Livingstone's hand picked Deputy Mayoral running mate in the Assembly is leading the Labour charge against the freeze, instead promoting an increase in council tax.Team Ken said this was completely false. I've seen the email. It…

• London boroughs to be hit hardest by universal benefit cap

  Dave Hill

  26 Jan 2012 | 8:26 am

  More than half of London's boroughs contain more than 1,000 households that will be worse off as a result of the government's forthcoming household benefit cap, according to the latest impact assessment (pdf) from Iain Duncan Smith's Department for Work and Pensions. They are: Barnet, Brent, Camden, City of Westminster, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Newham, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets and Wandsworth.These 17 comprise all but one of the local authority areas where more than 1,000 households are expected to be hit.

• Boris versus Ken: harsh talk of lying, swindling and chicken feed

  Dave Hill

  25 Jan 2012 | 10:59 am

  Later, things got crosser. But before that, I saw this happening from inside City Hall.Our new friend Boris Johns-hen conveys a dual message, it seems to me: one is a reminder of the mayor's unfortunate description of the £250,000 he gets from the Telegraph each year as "chicken feed"; the other alludes to an alleged fear of debating his main rival for the mayoralty, Ken Livingstone. The latter is the feathered fellow's principle brief. A press release from Team Ken has accused Boris of dodging a string of challenges to have things out in public with their man. It seems a little early to…

• How Westminster residents are hoping to add bite to the big society | Susanna Rustin

  Susanna Rustin

  25 Jan 2012 | 9:58 am

  The campaign in Queen's Park to create a new civil parish could give a real glimpse of the promised new politicsIn the eyes of London's Evening Standard it's a dramatic story of churchmen rising up against an overweening local authority: Westminster council has reversed controversial plans to charge for Sunday parking in the West End, but the coalition of church leaders who fought the scheme want to ensure it doesn't happen again. There is talk of reviving parish councils – an ecclesiastical "coup" in the Standard's telling.But buried in the report lay the spur for their action: a campaign…

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  Life and style: Lost in showbiz blog | guardian.co.uk

• Mick Jagger snubs David Cameron's Davos party

  Marina Hyde

  26 Jan 2012 | 2:00 pm

  The Rolling Stone is not alone in his protest: these days, celebrities wouldn't be seen dead at DavosYou probably already know this, but every morning, adult-contempo British prime minister David Cameron combs in his side parting, adjusts his tie and jives with his reflection in the bathroom mirror while singing: "I've got the moves like Jagger, I've got the moves like Jagger, I've got the mo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-ooves like Jagger."So do imagine his disappointment to be blown out for a World Economic Forum event by none other than Sir Mick, who apparently didn't like being used as a…

• Simon Cowell reaches for the stars

  Marina Hyde

  26 Jan 2012 | 1:59 pm

  The Karaoke Sauron wants to send the winner of Britain's Got Talent into space – and Richard Branson is paying for itIt was science-fiction author Isaac Asimov who described space travel as: "the only chance of escaping the destruction of all that humanity has struggled to achieve for the last 50,000 years". And it was endtimes impresario Simon Cowell who revealed this week: "We are trying to work out a way so that the winner of Britain's Got Talent gets to go up in [Richard Branson's] spacecraft and will be the first person to perform in space."GAME OVER, ASIMOV. As the late professor…

• Alex James gets backstage pass into KFC's kitchens

  Marina Hyde

  19 Jan 2012 | 4:31 pm

  Is there no job the former Blur bassist won't do?And so, once more, to former Blur bassist Alex James, who seems to be the new Paul Ross of the entertainment world. Which is to say, his answerphone message says: "I'll do it."The gig Alex would not be willing to accept appears yet to have been found, with his latest incarnation being the job of Sun food columnist. This Wednesday found the self-styled foodie's byline above a lengthy article entitled "Why fast food is on a roll", presumably designed to appeal to the Sun's advertisers.Charged with touring factories for Greggs and…

• Kate Winslet, move over … Kelly Brook is after your career

  Marina Hyde

  19 Jan 2012 | 2:00 pm

  Things could have been so different if I'd just been more focused, says KellyQuote of the week emanates from Kelly Brook, and is offered without comment, bar speculation that the "one thing" of which she speaks would be "clinical self-delusion".Kelly is promoting another knicker range, and to this end granted an interview to the Sunday Telegraph magazine. "I often think if I had been better at focusing on one thing exclusively," she tells the publication, "I'd have had an acting career like Kate Winslet."Kelly BrookCelebrityMarina Hydeguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News…

• Madonna beats Elton John to win pettishness award

  Marina Hyde

  19 Jan 2012 | 2:00 pm

  The continuing feud between the two pop stars got even more waspish at this week's Golden GlobesAre you aware of the genesis of Elton John's feud with Madonna? Instinct suggests it is humanity's oldest enmity, easily predating the endless strife between Sunnis and Shias, and sure to outlast all hatreds in one dimension or another. It certainly burns with an intensity rarely seen outside of the confines of World Wrestling Entertainment.Conventional history books suggest the first salvo was fired in 2004, when Elton used an appearance at the Q Awards to accuse Madge of miming. "Madonna – best…

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  Business: Market Forces blog | guardian.co.uk

• Imperial Tobacco boosted ahead of update, but FTSE fades as Greek talks drag on

  Nick Fletcher

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:19 am

  Brokers positive about cigarette maker, but investors remain nervous about EuropeImperial Tobacco has ended the week on a strong note after a volatile few days.Its shares were boosted on Wednesday by talk of possible bid interest from Japan Tobacco, but they fell back once analysts poured cold water on the idea.However they finished Friday 36p higher at £22.89 as a couple of brokers issued positive notes ahead of the company's first quarter update next Wednesday.In a buy note, Adam Spielman at Citigroup edged up his price target from £25.50 to £25.70 and said:We expect the statement to be…

• Wall Street dips on lower than expected US economic growth figures

  Nick Fletcher

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:50 am

  Fourth quarter GDP grows by 2.8% but falls just short of forecasts of 3%An opening fall on Wall Street following slightly weaker than expected economic data has put more pressure on European markets.The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down around 40 points in early trading following the latest US economic growth figures. The country's GDP grew by an annualised 2.8% - the fastest pace for around 18 months - but the figure was just below expectations of a 3% rise. Analysts pointed out that signs of stock rebuilding by businesses and slower spending on capital goods suggested a slowdown in…

• Mothercare shares fall again on Kiddicare competition fears and Panmure sell advice

  Nick Fletcher

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:08 am

  Broker downbeat on prospects after meeting Mothercare, with UK turnaround expected to take two yearsMothercare shares are coming under pressure again on growing fears of competition in the UK, where the mother and baby retailer is already struggling and could take two years to turn around.This week's news that supermarket group Morrisons, up 1.3p to 293.4p, has taken over ten former Best Buy stores to roll out its rival Kiddicare brand has just emphasised the struggle ahead for Mothercare in the UK. The company - which is doing well internationally - is already reviewing its UK store…

• Hornby warns on profits after its expensive toys fail to sell at Christmas

  Nick Fletcher

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:50 am

  Big ticket items like Hornby and Scalextric hit by squeeze on consumer spendingHornby shares have run out of steam as the model railway and Scalextric maker warned profits would be below expectations after a disappointing Christmas.Cost conscious parents seem to have cut back on gifts, and if they bought expensive items at all, they were likely to be technology products such as iPads rather than racing car sets.Hornby said pre-Christmas sales were below last year's figures due to fragile consumer confidence:In particular sales of high-ticket items such as our Hornby and Scalextric sets were…

• BP slips after new US court ruling on Gulf disaster, as FTSE fades on eurozone woes

  Nick Fletcher

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:24 am

  Ahead of Gulf spill court case, Federal judge says BP must indemnify rig owner Transocean for certain claimsBP is among the biggest fallers in a downbeat market after a new US court ruling concerning the Gulf of Mexico disaster.A Federal judge said BP must indemnify US group Transocean - which owned the Deepwater Horizon rig which exploded and spilled oil into the Gulf - for some compensatory damage claims, even if Transocean was found to be grossly negligent. But at the same time he ruled BP, owner of the Macondo well, did not have to indemnify Transocean for punitive damages or civil…

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  World news: John McCain | guardian.co.uk

• John McCain endorses Mitt Romney - video

  5 Jan 2012 | 3:50 am

  John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate in 2008, announces his endorsement of 2012 frontrunner Mitt Romney ahead of next week's primary in New Hampshire

• Mitt Romney endorsd by John McCain as race moves to New Hampshire

  Ewen MacAskill

  4 Jan 2012 | 6:06 pm

  Romney attempts to consolidate frontrunner position after close battle in Iowa handed momentum to Rick SantorumMitt Romney sought to regain the initiative in the Republican presidential race on Wednesday as he arrived in New Hampshire ahead of next week's primary and immediately announced he had secured the endorsement of the man who beat him for the nomination in 2008, senator John McCain. Although Romney narrowly defeated Christian fundamentalist Rick Santorum in Iowa in a contest that went down to the last ballot box in the early hours of Wednesday morning, it was a major setback for the…

• Vladimir Putin mocks Moscow's 'condom-wearing' protesters

  Miriam Elder

  15 Dec 2011 | 4:26 pm

  Russian prime minister makes extraordinary attack on John McCain but Dmitry Medvedev gets just one mention during TV marathonVladimir Putin painted a colourful picture of Russia's protesters on Thursday, describing them as agents of the west, attending useless demonstrations with condoms pinned to their chests as they sought the downfall of the motherland.In his first comments on the unrest which broke out in Russia following the disputed parliamentary election, the prime minister made sure to mock, dismiss and hint at the treason of the tens of thousands who have turned out to protest…

• Must we permit the US military to detain Americans without trial? | Seema Jilani

  Seema Jilani

  9 Dec 2011 | 10:27 am

  The National Defense Authorisation Act before Congress threatens further erosion of US citizens' civil libertiesThree years ago, former Guantánamo Bay detainee Mustafa Ait Idr cautiously sat with me in a Sarajevo café, spilling hot coffee as he brought the cup to his lips. Though it was seven months after his release, he was still nursing a broken finger – punishment, he said, for refusing to strip naked in his cell – and was unable to fully grasp the cup due to his loss of dexterity. His face was also partially paralysed from beatings, and he told me how his head was held in a toilet…

• Mitt Romney and Rick Perry accused of blatant untruths about Barack Obama

  Chris McGreal

  25 Nov 2011 | 8:29 am

  Republican candidates criticised for TV ads that step over lineRepublican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Perry have been accused of telling TV viewers blatant untruths about Barack Obama.The candidates deny their TV commercials are deceitful and dishonest but both ads selectively quote the president to make it appear he is saying one thing when he is saying another.The advertisements have been widely scorned for crossing a line from a longstanding practice of political campaigns pushing the truth to its limits, over to misrepresentation. One ad appears to show Obama admitting he…

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  Media: Media business | guardian.co.uk

• James Murdoch's right-hand man to leave News Corp post

  Lisa O'Carroll

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:53 am

  Matthew Anderson, the company's director of strategy and corporate affairs in Europe and Asia, will leave on 31 MarchJames Murdoch's right-hand man in London, Matthew Anderson, is stepping down from his News Corporation post.News Corp announced on Friday that Anderson, the company's director of strategy and corporate affairs in Europe and Asia, will leave his post on 31 March.However, he is not severing ties with News Corp entirely – he will continue to be a senior adviser to the company "focusing on select international initiatives and relevant directorships".The statement said Anderson…

• James Murdoch quits GlaxoSmithKline board

  Terry Macalister

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:38 am

  News Corp executive to leave corporate responsibility role at GlaxoSmithKline, though UK's largest drug company denies link to phone-hacking scandalJames Murdoch, the media executive at the centre of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal, is to quit his seat on the board of GlaxoSmithKline, the UK's largest drug company.The son of Rupert Murdoch was brought in as a non-executive director and member of the corporate responsibility committee at Glaxo in 2009 but has decided not to seek re-election for the near £100,000-a-year post.Glaxo insisted there had been no pressure on the media…

• Netflix hails successful UK launch

  Mark Sweney

  26 Jan 2012 | 6:53 am

  Online streaming service reports a return to subscriber growth and better-than-expected resultsNetflix's launch in the UK has been "very successful" to date, the company has said, as it reported a return to subscriber growth and a 15% share price boost due to better-than-expected results for the final three months of 2011.The chief executive, Reed Hastings, said Netflix UK, which launched on 9 January, has exceeded expectations with faster subscriber growth than the company saw when launching into the broadly comparable Canadian market.Hastings said in a letter to investors that the major…

• Test Match Special secure on BBC radio until 2019

  Mark Sweney

  26 Jan 2012 | 6:03 am

  Broadcaster secures rights to TMS radio coverage of England's home cricket internationalsThe BBC may be cutting back on sports rights, but Test Match Special radio coverage of England's home cricket internationals has been secured until at least 2019.On Thursday, the BBC announced it has agreed a new six-year deal for radio rights to England's international cricket matches, including two home Ashes Test series against Australia and exclusive coverage of all other domestic Test and one-day matches during the period.The BBC has renewed its contract with the England and Wales Cricket Board,…

• Rhapsody takes battle to Spotify by buying Napster's European operation

  Mark Sweney

  26 Jan 2012 | 4:43 am

  US digital music service challenges rival with push in UK and Germany using long-established brand nameRhapsody has acquired Napster's European operation, marking the music streaming service's first move beyond the US market and kicking off a battle with Spotify.The US service, which has only been available to American customers for the past 11 years, has reached a deal to acquire Napster International's subscription music business.The deal, for an undisclosed sum, will see Rhapsody launch in the UK and Germany under the Napster brand name and take the fight to the increasingly popular…

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  Media news, UK and world media comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk

• Sun journalists and police officer arrested in corruption investigation

  Josh Halliday, Lisa O'Carroll

  28 Jan 2012 | 6:49 am

  Met police search News International's headquarters in Wapping as four current and former Sun employees are arrestedFour current and former senior Sun journalists and one serving police officer have been arrested as part of Scotland Yard's investigation into police corruption.The Metropolitan police have also launched a search at News International's headquarters in Wapping in a bid to secure any potential evidence relating to alleged payments to police by journalists.Officers were accompanied by lawyers who arrived at the Sun's offices between 6am and 8am this morning. They are there to…

• Super Bowl: Top 10 banned TV ads | Michael Solomon

  Michael Solomon

  28 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  Super Bowl ad breaks are the pinnacle of advertising - but these commercials never made the showJust because a 30-second commercial during the Super Bowl costs $3.5 million this year, doesn't mean NBC will take a company's money. After all, despite all evidence to the contrary with Whitney, the network does have standards. Over the years, plenty of commercials have been banned from the big broadcast for being offensive. Some, such as the spots PETA produces, are meant to be rejected so they can generate free publicity by going viral online. (Even major Super Bowl sponsors such as…

• The Hard Sell: Radio 1

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:06 pm

  'Fern Britton would have been a more credible option. As would Dot Cotton. Or a fern and some cotton'Imagine you're a Radio 1 executive: try-hard haircut, Daily Mail-enraging expense account, the full clip. You need some "talent" to be the face of the station's New Music policy. Which of your roster of hip youngsters do you pick? Mistajam? Kutski? Kissy Sellout even? Nope, you plump for Fearne Cotton, presenter of Pet Swap and Love Island. Fern Britton would have been a more credible option. As would Dot Cotton. Or a fern and some cotton.The resultant promo, screening incessantly on BBC3,…

• The Week in TV: Birdsong, Mad Dogs and Hustle – video

  Andrew Collins

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:01 pm

  Our resident TV addict Andrew Collins guides us through a week of action, costume dramas and the best of the rest of the last seven days in television. Featuring season two of Mad Dogs, a new series of the BBC franchise Hustle and the BBC period war drama Birdsong, based on the 1993 Sebastian Faulks novelAndrew Collins

• Tim Dowling: life is tweet

  Tim Dowling

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:00 pm

  'I realise anything I say about the point of Twitter will eventually be proved idiotic'On Sunday I come downstairs to find the middle one typing furiously on a laptop while a football match roars from the television. The middle one's friend is leaning over his shoulder, staring at the screen. I lean in, too."What are you doing?" I ask."I'm providing live match commentary on Twitter," he says."But you're not on Twitter," I say."I know," he says. "I just joined for this." I watch as he types, "tottenham break with lennon but cross is poor.""How many followers do you have?" I say."None," he…

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  Media: MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival | guardian.co.uk

• Elisabeth Murdoch to deliver 2012 MacTaggart lecture

  Mark Sweney

  9 Jan 2012 | 3:14 am

  Shine Group chairman Elisabeth Murdoch to give keynote address at this year's MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television FestivalElisabeth Murdoch – the founder of production company Shine, maker of shows such as Masterchef and Merlin – is to give the MacTaggart lecture at this year's MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival.Murdoch, who turned down a seat on the News Corporation board following the £415m buyout of Shine by Rupert Murdoch in February last year, pulled out of a speaking slot at the 2011 festival over fears the phone hacking furore would overshadow…

• Kenton Allen takes Edinburgh TV festival role

  Ben Dowell

  3 Oct 2011 | 1:53 am

  Joint chief executive of Rev and Friday Night Dinner producer Big Talk appointed advisory chair for 2012 eventKenton Allen, the joint chief executive of Rev and Friday Night Dinner producer Big Talk, has been appointed advisory chair for the 2012 MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival.Allen takes over from BBC Vision director George Entwistle, advisory chair of the festival for 2011.Allen's role for the 37th festival will involve commissioning session ideas and overseeing their production.The producer, whose credits include The Royle Family, That Mitchell and Webb Look and…

• Media Monkey's Edinburgh diary - part two

  29 Aug 2011 | 4:47 am

  ✒ Festival-goers in the George bar on Friday night had their eyes well and truly opened Monkey hears. Denise Welch was doing a good impression of Judy Finnigan during Judy's infamous National Television Awards bra debacle. Except Denise appeared to be less concerned at displaying her bra. Some nearby were moved to capture the moment for posterity on their camera phones. Monkey was, of course, appalled by the Loose Women jokes that promptly ensued.✒ Monkey's best excuse for not turning up to the festival? Apparently an international production executive was a no-show because he decided to…

• Media Monkey's Edinburgh diary

  Monkey

  28 Aug 2011 | 12:30 pm

  ✒You're nothing these days unless you've got your own private jet. Alas Google's in-house airliner was unavailable to bring chairman Eric Schmidt to Edinburgh. He had to resort to a British Airways flight to bring him to London before catching the train to Edinburgh (presumably not in standard class). "The jet's in the garage," Monkey overheard Schmidt telling a fellow festival delegate. Word has it his opinion of the British rail network was in the same ballpark as his take on the country's education system. Could do better.✒Still with Schmidt, it is a festival tradition that the…

• BBC plans to use 3D and 'super hi-vision' for London Olympics

  Mark Sweney

  28 Aug 2011 | 12:28 pm

  Executive in charge of 2012 coverage has spoken about the proposed experiment at the Edinburgh televison festivalThe BBC is considering plans to broadcast the 100 metres final of the London Olympics in 3D, as well as trying out a new technology that delivers picture quality said to be 16 times better than HDTV.Roger Mosey, the BBC executive in charge of the corporation's London 2012 coverage, told reporters on the sidelines of the Edinburgh international television festival that 3D coverage for the 100m and other events was "certainly on the agenda", as part of a "limited experiment".The…

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  Media: Media Monkey | guardian.co.uk

• BBC bashing continues at Mail | Media Monkey

  Monkey

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:16 am

  The Daily Mail is on the warpath. Paul Dacre's paper used its leader column on Friday to bemoan the BBC's "double standards" in coverage of the Leveson inquiry. "The BBC has dedicated countless hours to forensically covering evidence given to the Leveson inquiry by newspapers and celebrities," the leader starts. "Yet – when outgoing director general Mark Thompson admitted that the corporation had used private detectives more than 230 times – the revelation did not warrant a mention on its main TV bulletins and current affairs shows." This follows criticism of the BBC on page 12 of the…

• The Muppets: Chris Moyles pulls the strings | Media Monkey

  Monkey

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:36 am

  So Chris Moyles is a muppet, after all. No, really.Chris MoylesRadio 1BBCRadio industryMonkeyguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

• A Liddle more controversy as Rod's Sun column angers the disabled | Media Monkey

  Monkey

  26 Jan 2012 | 1:24 pm

  Be careful what you wish for – Monkey fears for Rod Liddle's personal safety after his latest rant in Thursday's Sun, where he says his resolution for 2012 is to "become disabled". Liddle writes that being disabled is "incredibly fashionable", it brings government cash, you don't need to work – and you can even get a car parking badge. But far from pulling his horns in after another shellacking on Twitter, the Rodster barrelled merrily along on his Spectator blog, asking if Britain has become a nation of immoral, lying, cheating, scumbags. He concluding that, thanks to journalists, we now…

• Was Mail right to kick BBC in a less than private way? | Media Monkey

  Monkey

  26 Jan 2012 | 11:55 am

  "How Beeb downplayed its use of private eyes", thundered the Daily Mail on Thursday, as it accused BBC News of virtually ignoring evidence from director general Mark Thompson to the Leveson inquiry that the corporation had spent £310,000 on private investigators in six years. Strangely, when the Mail covered the inquiry on 5 December – when Lord Justice Leveson heard how the names of journalists had been found at private investigator Steve Whittamore's Hampshire home – it described the "veritable treasure trove" of material, yet failed to mention that it topped the list of title's using…

• BBC's Birdsong under fire over mumbled lines | Media Monkey

  Monkey

  26 Jan 2012 | 5:58 am

  The sound of birdsong is enough to lift even the most miserly spirits. But not if it is the BBC period drama of the same name. The Daily Telegraph reports that viewers have complained about Birdsong, broadcast on BBC1 on Sunday night, because of "the actors' poor diction and mumbled lines". Presumably those complainants did not smart at the show's steamy sex scenes.BBCTelevision industryBirdsongDramaTelevisionMonkeyguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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  Society: Mental health | guardian.co.uk

• Experience: I threw myself under a tube train

  Anonymous

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:59 pm

  'I can picture myself walking down the stairs, standing near the edge and then stepping forward into nothing'It was a Monday morning rush hour at an underground station. I can picture myself walking down the stairs, standing near the edge and then stepping forward into nothing as the train approached. I heard a voice behind me cry out. I often think of that female cry, how she must have felt when she saw me jump.I was on my way to work and my partner had dropped me off at the station. I'd planned what I was about to do and kissed my two children goodbye that morning, I thought for the last…

• Magic mushrooms may help with depression, say leading scientists

  Sarah Boseley

  23 Jan 2012 | 2:00 pm

  Active ingredient could allow sufferers to relive happier times, says team including former government adviser David NuttA drug derived from magic mushrooms could help people with depression by enabling them to relive positive and happy moments of their lives, according to scientists including the former government drug adviser, Professor David Nutt.Two studies, for which scientists struggled to find funding because of public suspicion and political sensitivity around psychedelic drugs, have shed light on how magic mushrooms affect the brain.Nutt, from Imperial College London, was sacked as a…

• Should politicians have their mental health monitored?

  Louise Tickle

  23 Jan 2012 | 10:59 am

  Psychologists who have tracked politicians' careers now say their mental health should be monitoredWhen Michael Gove suggested that despite the economic situation, the UK should buy the Queen a new yacht, the Twittersphere went into meltdown. "Fruitcake" and "numpty" were among the reactions to the education secretary's idea. It's a common reaction to unusual – or unpopular – proposals. Nobody really believes Gove is having mental health problems.But politicians do face high levels of responsibility and therefore stress. They send young people to war zones and determine the future…

• This column will change your life: the art of forgetting

  Oliver Burkeman

  20 Jan 2012 | 4:59 pm

  Want to blank out that screw-up at work today? Here's howIf I were an uncharitable, envious crosspatch, I might observe that Paul McKenna's new book, I Can Make You Smarter, offers a hostage to fortune: if it worked, might it not eliminate the customer base for all future works by the hypnotist? But I'm neither uncharitable nor envious of his millions, naturally, so instead I'll observe that it's interesting, in a book on smartness, how much he makes of his promise to "supercharge your memory". For him, as for many self-help gurus, "becoming more intelligent" is intimately associated with…

• Sinéad O'Connor seeks treatment for depression

  Sean Michaels

  19 Jan 2012 | 6:29 am

  Singer checks into hospital with a view to be 'back and smiling'Sinéad O'Connor has been admitted to hospital for treatment of her depression. The singer expects to spend "two weeks" in doctors' care, with a view to be "back and smiling" soon. "Good team," she said. "They will put me back together quick."It's been about two months since O'Connor married her fourth husband, drugs counsellor Barry Herridge, in Las Vegas. Their relationship quickly ran into trouble: the marriage was "kyboshed" within three hours of the wedding, she wrote in late December, and they decided to divorce. While the…

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  World news : Middle East and North Africa roundup | guardian.co.uk

• Iraq suicide bomber kills dozens

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:33 pm

  Car bomb explodes near a funeral procession in Baghdad, injuring 65 peopleOfficials in Iraq say 33 people were killed when a suicide bomber detonated a car packed with explosives near a funeral procession in south-east Baghdad.Police said the attack happened at 11am local time on Friday in the capital's predominantly Shia Zafaraniya neighbourhood.Half the dead were police officers who were guarding the march. A further 65 people, including 16 police officers, were injured. Hospital officials confirmed the death toll.Salam Hussein, a 42-year-old grocery store owner in Zafaraniya said he was…

• Twitter boycott? No, let's trust it | Mohamed El Dahshan

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:28 pm

  Censorship fears are misplaced, tweets from the Middle East will still buzz around the worldWhen Twitter announced it was giving itself the ability to censor particular tweets or users in certain countries, the immediate reaction among users of the network in the Middle East – as elsewhere – was: #sh*t.Without overplaying its importance, Twitter has proved to be an invaluable tool for activists, enabling them to find up-to-date, accurate information and news, to publicise and to communicate among themselves, particularly in times of crisis. The hashtag #egypt was the most widely used on…

• Letters: Join our global charter to stop world hunger now

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:00 pm

  This week, with the world's business, political and economic leaders meeting in Davos, we should not be seeing tens of thousands of people dying of starvation and 13 million at risk of losing everything they have in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia, because of a hunger crisis that was predicted and preventable (What we want to discuss at Davos, 25 January). The world is failing people in east Africa and this must change now. While solutions are never easy, it is within our power to stop natural disasters turning into human tragedies of such horror. The crisis in east Africa is a terrible reminder:…

• Twitter users threaten boycott over censorship accusation

  Julian Borger, Charles Arthur

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:55 pm

  Tweets don't always flow freely – voice of Arab spring accused of imposing gagging system in some countries"The Tweets must flow", Twitter declared a year ago, and quickly became an instrument of fast-moving revolution across the Arab world, coordinating mass protests in Egypt and sidestepping the state censorship in Syria. But, the microblogging site conceded that the tweets would not flow evenly in every country.The company was accused of censorship by many users and threatened with a one-day boycott on Saturday after announcing that it could remove tweets in certain countries which have…

• Syria violence has risen significantly, says Arab League mission chief

  Martin Chulov

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:25 pm

  As UN prepares to debate resolution on crisis, at least 100 are thought to have been killed in Homs since WednesdayThe head of the Arab League monitoring mission in Syria has said violence has risen significantly in the country in recent days, as the UN prepares to debate a resolution on the crisis next week.The flashpoint city of Homs has again been the focal point of clashes, which are thought to have killed at least 100 people since Wednesday. Activists in the besieged city reported a massacre had taken place at the hands of regime forces on Thursday.European and Arab states are…

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  Fashion: Milan fashion week | guardian.co.uk

• Gucci's 'tormented poets'

  Simon Chilvers

  17 Jan 2012 | 5:54 am

  Carpet bags, cocktail jackets and floral suits added a dandy flourish to Gucci's autumn/winter catwalk at Milan fashion week"These are tormented poets with an effortless attitude when it comes to mixing and creating personal style," says Gucci creative director Frida Giannini of her menswear autumn/winter 2012 collection, which was shown yesterday in Milan. "Fabrics that allude to the 19th century, softly oversized pieces, shirts with a dandy hint, and the nonchalance of a newly-arrived young Hollywood actor."The show notes also referenced "Visconti grunge", Caravaggio paintings and Leonardo…

• Milan versus fashion: round two

  Simon Chilvers

  7 Oct 2011 | 11:45 am

  There's an issue with the fashion week scheduling and Milan are playing hard ball. Here's the latestThe fashion week date saga rumbles on with Milan still trying to move their dates and therefore creating a clash with New York and London. Today the British Fashion Council sent out this statement. It is with great disappointment that we read Camera Nazionale della Moda's statement released earlier today that they will continue to break the dates agreement and schedule shows over New York and London Fashion Weeks. No one would agree that this is in anyway an ideal situation but we have and…

• Hello Kitty hits the catwalk

  6 Oct 2011 | 9:33 am

  It's the kitsch Japanese brand that adorns stationery, Beanie Babies and keyrings. Now Hello Kitty has turned its force to fashion, but can cute conquer the catwalk?- In pictures: Hello Kitty on burgers, at weddings and on fingernails. Plus, pictures of the Pynkiss clothing lineIt's nothing new. Flashbulbs fill the room, a funky dance soundtrack blasts out of the speaker system, tall models with gravity-defying hair strut on the catwalk. This could be any show at Milan fashion week. But on this occasion, the cute little cat adorning the clothes looks familiar, if not a little out of…

• Milan breaks ceasefire on fashion week schedules

  Jess Cartner-Morley

  4 Oct 2011 | 5:05 am

  London says Italians contravening 2008 accord with 2012 dates clash in a hullaballoo that underlines serious issues for industryAfter a summer of peace, hostilities have resumed between the rival cities of Paris, Milan, New York and London for supremacy in the fashion industry.The latest flashpoint is the catwalk calendar for next September. Milan fashion week has announced dates which clash with those of London. The organisers of London's shows have been joined by those of New York's in claiming that this directly contravenes an agreement in 2008, when this problem last flared. Mario…

• Fashion Statement: a week of pleasant surprises

  Guardian Fashion

  30 Sep 2011 | 5:12 am

  Warm weather from the skies and harsh words from Anna Wintour about the Italian premier. It's been a surprising week in the world of fashionSome of you have no doubt noticed it's been just a little bit sunny out there. An Indian summer they're calling it. So while we were busy pointing our readers in the direction of some lovely woolly jumpers, it turns out we'd be better off saying hello to some shaded face furniture. Oh, life, what are you like? In addition to blue skies, we had a pleasant surprise when Anna Wintour reportedly let rip about Silvio Berlusconi. See below.Anna Wintour: "How…

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  Politics: David Miliband | guardian.co.uk

• David Miliband urges Labour to challenge 'hard-right' Tories

  9 Jan 2012 | 8:32 am

  In a rare intervention in British domestic politics, former foreign secretary speaks of his party's frustration at being in oppositionDavid Miliband has spoken of his "frustration" at Labour being in opposition while a "pretty hard-right" government is at the helm.The elder brother of the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, said the party had to be humble about its mistakes but proud of what it had achieved in power.His comments mark a rare intervention in domestic politics from the elder Miliband since he lost out on the leadership to his younger brother. They came in an interview with the Indian…

• Letters: In defence of Ed and Labour

  6 Jan 2012 | 3:00 pm

  Thank you, Jackie Ashley, for (finally) getting an honest and intelligent article in recognition of the left-right divide into the paper (A return to left-right politics promises a fascinating year , 2 January). Along with the well-judged enumeration of the coalition's policies – entrenched support for the super-rich at home and the transatlantic alliance abroad – your incisive and courageous attack on Blair's project "to erase Labour's leftwing identity" represents welcome and overdue support for the position of the present Labour leadership.I very much hope that this perception will…

• Labour accepts £5bn of defence cuts as Jim Murphy rejects 'populism'

  Nicholas Watt

  5 Jan 2012 | 4:02 pm

  Shadow defence secretary says painful choices have to be accepted as he warns against 'populism' of opposing all cutsEurosceptic Tories, who loathe the EU's Lisbon treaty, found it difficult to take aim at the man who ensured its ratification in parliament.Jim Murphy, Labour's former Europe minister, has such a disarming manner that eurosceptics could barely lay a glove on him. Murphy also showed the skills which allowed him to capture one of the safest Tory seats in Scotland in 1997 when he advocated the passage of the treaty on the grounds of economic growth and jobs.So Philip Hammond is…

• Letters: Brotherly advice for Ed Miliband

  David Lammy

  30 Dec 2011 | 3:00 pm

  Your Christmas editorial (26 December) wonders why David Cameron is still "in command" and why Ed Miliband "is not currently seen as equal to this grave hour". First: successful political leadership now requires intelligence and likability. Intelligence is a necessary but not sufficient condition. Political winners, above all, have to be likable under scrutiny.Second: if Miliband is the leader of the "red team", Cameron leads a blue and yellow team. This newly blended sage colour will always seem warmer than an austere blue. And now that the pursuit of social justice is firmly embedded in all…

• Has Ed Miliband suffered his Westland moment as David Cameron wins?

  Nicholas Watt

  14 Dec 2011 | 8:39 am

  MPs draw parallels between Ed Miliband and Neil Kinnock who struggled against Margaret Thatcher during Westland crisisPrime minister's questions was bound to be tricky for David Cameron today. He needed to attack Ed Miliband, who was on strong form on Monday in response to the prime minister's statement on the European summit. But Cameron could not be too aggressive because of the deep Liberal Democrat unease over the prime minister's decision to wield the British veto in Brussels on Friday.Even with these difficulties, Cameron put in one of his strongest performances of the year at the last…

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  UK news: Military | guardian.co.uk

• British soldier shot dead by insurgents in Afghanistan

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:47 pm

  Ministry of Defence says 1st Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment soldier was shot during a foot patrol in Helmand provinceBritain's military says a UK soldier has been shot dead by insurgents in southern Afghanistan.The Ministry of Defence says the soldier from 1st Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment was shot on Friday during a foot patrol in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province.Officials have not yet released the identity of the soldier but said his family has been notified.Britain has about 9,500 troops in Afghanistan, most based in the southern province.The death brings to 397 the…

• Italian memorial to recall second world war 'friendly fire' tragedy

  John Hooper

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:16 am

  In 1944 US planes bombed a train carrying 1,000 allied PoWs at a bridge in central ItalyAs Sue Finley stood among the ruins five years ago, she thought: "I might be the only person in the entire world who knows what happened here, and that a tragic accident might go unrecognised forever."On 28 January 1944, US air force planes bombed a bridge at Allerona, north of Orvieto in central Italy. Captain William Cook, the intelligence officer of the 320th Bombardment Group wrote afterwards that "an excellent concentration of bombs bracketed the bridge" and a "train of 40/50 cars standing across the…

• Derek Howard-Budd obituary

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:02 am

  Our friend Derek Howard-Budd, known as HB, has died of pancreatic cancer aged 62. HB's life was spent in the service of others. In 2002, he joined the corps of honorary stewards at Westminster Abbey, which filled him with pride and brought together his abiding interest in and knowledge of history, his deep Christian faith and his love for his country.He was born in Brighton and educated there and in Twickenham. In 1973 he started his working life with the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes, with whom he held management roles in Northern Ireland, Belize, Brunei, Germany and the UK, spanning a…

• Olympic military guards will not take orders from security staff

  Peter Walker

  26 Jan 2012 | 7:50 am

  Locog chief says military personnel guarding Olympic venues will answer only to senior Games officials or the policeMilitary personnel deployed to guard Olympic venues this summer will not take orders from private security staff and will be answerable only to senior Games officials or the police, the head of the organising committee has said.Speaking at the launch of a recruitment drive by the security firm G4S, which is seeking to take on at least 10,000 guards for the event, Paul Deighton, head of the London Games organising committee (Locog) said civilian and military security teams would…

• Ministry of Defence to cut further 3,000 civilian jobs

  Nick Hopkins

  26 Jan 2012 | 7:16 am

  Defence secretary will be forced to admit MoD has miscalculated how many staff it can afford, Guardian learnsAnother 3,000 civilians are to be axed from the Ministry of Defence to help it bring down an estimated 2bn overspend in its budget, the guardian has learned.Philip Hammond will be forced to make the embarrassing admission in the coming days amid fresh concern within the MoD about how to balance its budget.This anxiety has led the defence secretary to order the army, Royal Navy and RAF to go through all their key contracts and equipment programmes to ensure they are in line with their…

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  UK news: Monarchy | guardian.co.uk

• Former partner at Princess Diana's law firm jailed for part in £17.5m fraud

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:44 pm

  Kevin Steele given five-and-a-half-year sentence for using his position at Mishcon de Reya to help fraudster obtain loanA former partner at the law firm used by Diana, Princess of Wales, has been jailed for his part in a £17.5m fraud.Kevin Steele, 51, was sentenced to five and a half years imprisonment after he helped fraudster Michael Shephard apply for the multimillion pound loan from a Swiss private bank to develop a luxury hotel resort in Turkey.The equity partner at Mishcon de Reya, which represented Diana in her divorce from the Prince of Wales, helped Shephard, a client of his, to…

• Would you turn down an honour from the Queen?

  26 Jan 2012 | 5:44 am

  A freedom of information request has revealed an interesting list of people who have turned down a Queen's honour, including Roald Dahl, Lucian Freud and LS Lowry. If the Queen called you to the palace, would you say 'no thanks, m'am'?

• W.E.'s a royal scandal! Madonna fails to read all about it

  Alex von Tunzelmann

  26 Jan 2012 | 5:43 am

  The queen of pop's film about the Duke and Duchess of Windsor ignores the evidence, dismissing allegations of Nazi sympathies and recasting the needy Edward as a brooding hunkW.E. (2012)Director: MadonnaEntertainment grade: D+History grade: D–In 1936, King Edward VIII abdicated to marry his lover, Wallis Simpson. They became the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.StyleDespite its critical panning, not everything about W.E. is terrible. The costumes are very nice. Andrea Riseborough gives a decent performance as Wallis – though admittedly the brittle, self-conscious dialogue is better suited to…

• Ascot gives tieless racegoers refund after marking them with orange stickers

  Greg Wood

  22 Jan 2012 | 10:26 am

  Racecourse pays back £28,000 to Premier enclosure customers after admitting mistake over dress code warningAscot racecourse has refunded approximately £28,000 to racegoers after it attached orange stickers to around 50 spectators in its most expensive enclosure who had arrived at the track without a tie on Saturday.The stickers were designed to warn racegoers that they had failed to adhere to a new dress code, which was operating at Ascot for the first time on Saturday, and prevent them being bothered by track officials throughout the day.However, Ascot, which is owned by the Queen, was…

• Martin McGuinness prepared to meet Queen in future

  Henry McDonald

  22 Jan 2012 | 8:00 am

  Sinn Féin deputy first minister of Northern Ireland says visit by monarch to Irish Republic last year made impact on himMartin McGuinness, the Sinn Féin deputy first minister of Northern Ireland, has said he is prepared to meet the Queen in the future.In a break with Republican tradition, McGuinness attended a meeting at St James's Palace in London to promote Northern Ireland last week.He told the BBC's Inside Politics programme that the Queen's visit to the Irish Republic last May had made an impact on him.Sinn Féin did not take part in any of the official events during the monarch's…

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  Education: Mortarboard blog | guardian.co.uk

• Exams make our hands sore, say students

  Rebecca Ratcliffe

  25 Jan 2012 | 9:32 am

  A generation that grew up typing and texting is struggling to write essays in exam hallsNormal life can be resumed now that January exams are drawing to a close. But as budding scientists and mathematicians stroll carefree to their lectures, humanities students are left nursing a rather ugly legacy – the writer's bump. Held aloft in pride and anguish, the bulbous callus caused by prolonged use of a pen is proof of exam exertion.Essay-style exams have always been onerous, but for us, the MSN generation – raised on a diet of vowel-free touch typing and smiley emoticons – three hours of…

• Secondary schools more reticent to become academies, figures show

  Jessica Shepherd

  23 Jan 2012 | 11:00 am

  Figures from the Department for Education reveal excitement for academy status may be on the wane.The number of secondary schools applying to become academies is slowing down considerably, official figures show.In April, 143 secondaries applied to become academies – state-funded schools that are accountable to central government, rather than their local authority. In December, the number fell to just 38.It's not surprising that in August there were only eight applications – schools were closed for the summer holidays. But it is interesting that the number hasn't picked up much since then.

• Students: can you afford to be interns?

  Tabatha Leggett

  19 Jan 2012 | 9:23 am

  Internship is a good route to employment, we're told. But if employers won't pay interns, it's a route open only to affluent studentsYou know you're nearing the end of your degree when you get back to university after the Christmas break and your friends don't ask how your holidays were, but how your internship went.Anyone who is serious about getting employed after they graduate won't think twice about forgoing four weeks of sleep for four weeks of work experience. After all, the world of a graduate is a very scary place. Jobs are scarce and if you haven't gained work experience during your…

• Drink, not fees, is the biggest problem at universities

  Simon Murphy

  18 Jan 2012 | 5:56 am

  Debt won't kill you, but alcoholism might, warns a student who knows what it is to pass out dressed as a ladyYou might wonder how I came to find myself slumped against a wall, dressed in a frock with lipstick smeared across my face, slowly regaining consciousness at god knows what hour one Wednesday night.It could only happen at university, and it could only happen after consuming copious amounts of alcohol.My Lily Savage moment is not one I am proud of, but I share it because it highlights the extreme lows of student nightlife. Never mind tuition fees, alcohol abuse is the overwhelming…

• Digital literacy campaign – best of your comments and ideas

  Paul Owen

  17 Jan 2012 | 4:02 am

  As Michael Gove allows schools to write their own ICT and computing curricula, here are some of the most interesting ideas you put forward during our Digital Literacy campaignLast week the Guardian launched a campaign to improve the teaching of computer science and IT in schools.Businesses had complained that poor quality courses in schools, colleges and universities had led to a shortage of workers with programming skills, even as these skills become more and more relevant for a wider variety of jobs.Michael Gove, the education secretary, agreed, and last Wednesday made a speech in which he…

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  Music news, reviews, comment and features | guardian.co.uk

• My favourite music venue - in pictures

  28 Jan 2012 | 6:05 pm

  Just like fans, musicians have their special places. Here, Johnny Marr, Hayden Thorpe, Roots Manuva and Anna Calvi celebrate the venues they love

• Maya Jane Coles Q&A

  Sam Richards

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:06 pm

  The rising star of British house music empties the contents of her psychic record bagThe track I'll be opening my next DJ set with Deetron: CroqueIt really builds to create the perfect mood in the room. You can take your set anywhere from there.The track I always play to rescue a dancefloor K-nto: Easy LifeThis has been a recent favourite to fix up any dodgy dancefloor. It's a re-edit of Billy Stewart; you can't go wrong with it.The track that currently gets the most rewinds Bahamadia: SpontaneityThis has been getting the most rewinds on my iPod, anyway. Bahamadia has always been one of my…

• Clubs picks of the week

  Marc Rowlands, Sam Richards, John Mitchell, Patric Baird

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:06 pm

  Zombie Pirate School Disco, GlasgowThis is a bit like that old Alan Coren book Golfing For Cats, which had two of the bestselling book subjects in the title in a cynical attempt to shift a few more copies. Zombie Pirate School Disco combines three favourite fancy dress outfits – worn, invariably, on a weekend night out – to offer an all-encompassing experience for that particular type of person for whom no 70s night is complete without titting around the dancefloor in the kind of outfit that apparently has to include a comedy Afro wig. There will, of course, be those adventurous enough to…

• This week's new singles

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:06 pm

  MetallicaHate Train (Mercury)Who rides the Hate Train? Where does it stop? And have the fares gone up 7% since the new year? Intriguing questions to which the answers are: James Hetfield; "the sorrow"; and, well, to be honest, haven't a clue as have been too busy bashing head against a wall in time to a monstrous riff thank you very much. This track, part of an EP of offcuts from the band's Death Magnetic LP, may never make up for the booboo that was Lulu, but it goes about its business 29.2% harder than anything else on this week's "slate". And it sells Jägermeister in the buffet…

• Live music booking now

  The Guide

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:06 pm

  Philadelphia's Kurt Vile returns with his Violators for a few dates (19 Feb, Whelan's, Dublin; 20 Feb, The Haunt, Brighton), including one NME Awards Show (21 Feb, KOKO, NW1) where he'll be joined by Real Estate, also on tour (17-21 Feb, starts at The Deaf Institute, Manchester) …Vile's old bandmates The War On Drugs carry on without him, touring their latest, Slave Ambient (23 Feb-1 Mar, starts at Kazimier, LIverpool) …Andrew WK fans should get pumped to party hard on his I Get Wet 10th Anniversary Tour (12-14 Apr, starts at HMV Forum, NW5) …Tickets for this year's Green Man festival…

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  Music: Music blog | guardian.co.uk

• Music Weekly podcast: Celtic Connections

  Alexis Petridis, Scott Cawley, Rebecca Nicholson, Dorian Lynskey, Colin Irwin

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:00 am

  Celtic Connections is known for promoting traditional Scottish music but it also has a reputation for ambitious collaborations. Even so, pitching Cream guitarist Jack Bruce with folk trio Lau is a bold step. Lau – who are Aidan O'Rourke on fiddle, Martin Green on accordion and Kris Drever on guitar/vocals – met Bruce last year and, after hitting it off, decided to work together. Colin Irwin spoke to them between soundchecks at the Old Fruit Market in Glasgow.Also this week, Alexis Petridis, Dorian Lynskey and Rebecca Nicholson review tracks by Rotifer, the Mark Lanegan Band and…

• What's your favourite UK music venue, and why?

  Killian Fox

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:20 am

  As legislation going through parliament seems set to allow small venues to host live gigs without a licence, tell us what you think the ingredients are for the perfect performance spaceFor Anna Calvi, it's a place where every tiny detail of the music can be heard and appreciated, whereas for Roots Manuva it's somewhere with a grimy, semi-illegal flavour that turns him on. Johnny Marr gravitates towards a space with a rich legacy and a sense of grandeur – and history matters too for Wild Beasts, who would rather taste the dust of the world's oldest music hall than play somewhere functional…

• Jonathan Harvey's Electric Dreams

  Tom Service

  26 Jan 2012 | 4:51 pm

  Jonathan Harvey has fused electronics with orchestras more sensually, and spiritually, than any other British composer. But he has a challenge to his fellow musicians: why doesn't more contemporary music take advantage of the new worlds of sound that electronics offer?As you'll read and hear if you follow the links in my interview with Jonathan Harvey, you'll discover how he fuses electronics with acoustic instruments more seamlessly and sensuously than pretty well any other composer around. As I say in the piece, he uses electronics not to find new realms of abstraction, but to realise the…

• Readers recommend: songs about photographs

  Jon Dennis

  26 Jan 2012 | 4:00 pm

  Let us put you in the picture about this week's topic: we want your favourite songs that view life through a lens. Shoot …Music paints the best pictures, I always think. But that's not to question the power of a photograph. It can capture a moment, bring a Proustian rush of memories. Most people have images they cherish. A photograph can be a treasured keepsake.That's not to say the camera never lies, of course. Photographs by definition offer a partial view, and can raise more questions than they answer.What have photographs meant to songwriters and musicians? How have photos inspired…

• Is Lady Gaga just trying too hard?

  Peter Robinson

  26 Jan 2012 | 2:00 pm

  The singer's early hits felt fluid and instinctive. Now it all looks a bit like hard work – and she's not hitting the sweet spotAt the end of last year I held a poll of pop fans and in one of the categories asked what people wanted from Lady Gaga in 2012, with two options: more or less. The promo campaign around last year's album release had not, shall we say, been one characterised by its subtlety.The result of the poll was a 44%-56% split, which at first seemed contradictory and useless, but then it occurred to me that these two demands did not necessarily present Gaga with a dilemma. It…

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  Art and design: My best shot | guardian.co.uk

• Photographer Zarina Bhimji's best shot

  Sarah Phillips

  25 Jan 2012 | 1:24 pm

  'These shoes were in a Ugandan guesthouse. They seemed important, sculptural, like a still life'In 1999, I was in the British Library, researching what documents like birth and marriage certificates mean, and reading the poetry of TS Eliot and the American poet and activist Marge Piercy. I work very loosely: an artist's research is different to that of an academic. But it made me think that I no longer wanted to work in my studio. So later that year I went off to Uganda, where I was born, for a month.This shot was taken in a guesthouse in Masaka, near the equator. It was being renovated. I…

• Photographer Leo Maguire's best shot

  Sarah Phillips

  18 Jan 2012 | 3:30 pm

  'Fred was a bare-knuckle fighter who'd just been attacked by a guy brandishing a machete'I read a book called King of the Gypsies, by a bare-knuckle fighter called Bartley Gorman, who fought in mineshafts, quarries and at horse fairs. Its world of masochism struck a chord with me. Men are taught to be fighters in the Gypsy community – so they can defend themselves at school, or from other boys on Traveller sites. It was a world I didn't know existed, so I applied for a grant from the Getty photography agency to document it.I had no contacts, no way in, so…

• Simone Lueck's best shot

  Sarah Phillips

  8 Jan 2012 | 4:01 pm

  'I placed an ad: "Seeking striking older woman to pose as glamorous movie star." I got around 150 responses'There is an old Hollywood that still exists in Los Angeles, and I was interested in tracking down what remains of it. I wondered if there were women who had wanted to reach a level of stardom, but never did. So I placed an ad on Craigslist saying: "Seeking striking older woman to pose as a glamorous movie star for photo series." There were up to 150 responses, and I ended up shooting about 25 women.I wanted the photographs to be a collaboration with the models, so I needed people who…

• Photographer Lukas Strebel's best shot

  Sarah Phillips

  18 Dec 2011 | 4:31 pm

  'I took the table into the water, climbed on with my broom – and jumped. My girlfriend pressed the button'Forty years ago, I went travelling with a table. It was an incredible, animal-like object and I carried it around, taking its photograph in different landscapes. I also took along a broomstick in an instrument box. As you can imagine, it was quite amusing going through customs.I had two sets of horns in different sizes that I would screw on to it and have bullfights with it. At one point, I lost one of its legs: somebody stole it in a pub for fun, and I had to remake it. It was a…

• Photographer Ryan McGinley's best shot

  Sarah Phillips

  11 Dec 2011 | 4:30 pm

  'It reminds me of The Wizard of Oz – but my own version, where Dorothy gets her clothes ripped off in the twister'Working on this series, 15 of us travelled to a new location every day, camping at night. After three weeks we got to this barn in Marionville, Missouri. I had wanted to shoot with hay for a while, as I have fond memories of Halloween hayrides as a child. I like the saturated colour of hay in photographs: the way it can be gathered easily, yet fill the air wildly.The bales created a simple graphic background, and we had a gigantic inflatable air mattress, like the ones used by…

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  UK news: National Lottery | guardian.co.uk

• EuroMillions winners plan to buy new carpet with £41m jackpot

  24 Jan 2012 | 12:12 pm

  Gareth and Catherine Bull, from Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, won £40,627,241 with lucky dip ticketA self-employed builder and his wife who won a lottery jackpot of nearly £41m plan to splash out on an executive box at Manchester United – and a new carpet.Gareth and Catherine Bull banked £40,627,241 after matching the numbers from a lucky dip ticket on the EuroMillions draw on 20 January.Mr Bull, 40, bought the ticket on a whim after he was unable to start work one day because it was raining.The couple, from Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, said they wanted to take their two sons to…

• UK film-makers divided on David Cameron's support for box-office hits

  Andrew Pulver

  12 Jan 2012 | 10:16 am

  The prime minister's suggestion that lottery funding should be aimed at mainstream, money-making movies has been met with cautious optimism from the British film industryReaction continued to be divided across Britain's film world yesterday in the wake of comments by prime minister David Cameron, ahead of a visit to Pinewood studios, in which he suggested that lottery funding of cinema projects would be aimed towards "commercial" projects. Cameron was laying the groundwork for the publication on Monday of the report by the film policy committee, headed by Lord Smith.Veteran producer Andrew…

• Will Cameron's speech on funding only be fit for the box-office kings?

  Andrew Pulver

  11 Jan 2012 | 5:41 am

  David Cameron is set to call for UK lottery funding to go to films with big box-office potential. But what will that mean for small-scale, independent cinema?The plans to overhaul public funding of British cinema, which David Cameron will announce later today during a visit to Pinewood studios, has so far drawn divided reactions.According to early reports, Cameron will call for lottery funding to be aimed at big-budget, commercially successful films, and away from small-scale, independent cinema. Citing the box-office and awards success of The King's Speech and Slumdog Millionaire, he said:…

• Cameron calls for tighter focus from UK's film industry funding

  Allegra Stratton

  10 Jan 2012 | 6:07 pm

  PM visits Pinewood studios and backs review's call for lottery cash to go to those firms producing films with box office drawDavid Cameron will urge the British film industry on Wednesday to make more films with mainstream appeal.During a visit to Pinewood studios in west London, the prime minister will meet small and medium businesses in the £4.2bn UK film industry, and suggest he supports the expected findings of a review that aims to rebalance the industry's national lottery funding in favour of supporting independent pictures that have mainstream potential. Successful film companies…

• Rescue work saves the future of 'Wuthering Heights'

  Martin Wainwright

  16 Dec 2011 | 9:00 am

  The lonely farm which is thought to have inspired Emily Bronte is preserved from the weather and vandals. And it is getting an artist in (sort-of) residence tooWe may have lost the latest piece of Bronte family history to the increasingly stroppy French, but there is better news from Top Withens.The windy farmhouse thought to be Emily Bronte's most likely inspiration for Wuthering Heights has been carefully preserved against its notorious weather for at least another decade.Even Heathcliff at his most bad-tempered would be unlikely to want to live in the shell of a former chicken farm, but…

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  World news: Nato | guardian.co.uk

• Sarkozy and Karzai agree to press Nato for earlier Afghanistan handover

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:11 pm

  French and Afghan presidents call for withdrawal of all Nato troops in 2013 - a year earlier than US goalThe French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, said on Friday that France and Afghanistan have agreed to ask Nato to bring forward the handover of all combat operations to Afghan forces to 2013.Sarkozy also announced an accelerated exit for France, the fourth-largest contributor of troops in Afghanistan – marking a break from previous plans to adhere to the US goal of withdrawing combat forces by the end of 2014. The proposal comes a week after four unarmed French troops were killed by an Afghan…

• Iran faces 'fundamental choice' says top US diplomat

  Nick Hopkins

  23 Jan 2012 | 12:14 pm

  As the EU agrees sanctions against Tehran, US ambassador to Nato calls on Iran to negotiate rather than risk any further diplomatic and military escalationAs the EU was agreeing to ban oil imports from Iran, Ivo Daalder was at the US embassy in London, setting out the arguments for sanctions, and the hope that they might still bring Tehran to the negotiating table.Iran is not Daalder's responsibility, but his views are worth listening to because he is a smart man, and he knows about the subject.He didn't mention military action directly, but when asked about the alternatives to sanctions…

• Hillary Clinton: no indication France will pull out of Afghanistan - video

  20 Jan 2012 | 3:03 pm

  Reaction from the US and Germany after Nicolas Sarkozy threatened to withdraw all forces from Afghanistan after four French troops were killed by a rogue Afghan soldier

• France threatens troop withdrawal from Afghanistan

  Angelique Chrisafis

  20 Jan 2012 | 12:07 pm

  Nicolas Sarkozy says security conditions must be clearly established after four soldiers were shot deadNicolas Sarkozy has threatened to withdraw all forces from Afghanistan after four French troops were killed by a rogue Afghan soldier at a base east of Kabul. The move could jeopardise Nato's planned orderly pull out from the country.The incident, in which an Afghan man in army uniform suddenly turned and opened fire on unarmed French soldiers during a sports training exercise, is the latest of several attacks in which western soldiers have been killed by members of the Afghan security…

• France suspends Afghan training operations - video

  Anders Fogh Rasmussen

  20 Jan 2012 | 10:39 am

  French President Nicolas Sarkozy has suspended training operations, and is considering withdrawing early all French troops in Afghanistan after four French troops were shot on Friday by an Afghan soldier in Kapisa province. The shootings were the latest in which Afghan security forces turned their guns on Nato comrades.Anders Fogh Rasmussen

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  World news: Natural disasters and extreme weather | guardian.co.uk

• Climate change set to hit the UK hard and the poorest hardest | Damian Carrington

  Damian Carrington

  26 Jan 2012 | 2:00 am

  A gargantuan report reveals expected global warming impacts and - inadvertantly - a hidden but fundamental injusticeIf you thought global warming would bring little more to the British Isles than the inviting prospect of passing long, hot summers sipping chilled English wine, then the gargantuan catalogue of climate change impacts revealed on Thursday flattens that myth.It also reveals - inadvertantly - a buried but fundamental injustice. Those Britons with outsize carbon footprints, inflated by jet-setting and SUV-driving, will suffer far less than those with daintier environmental treads.

• Alabama storms wreak havoc - video

  24 Jan 2012 | 4:01 am

  The clean-up has started in Alabama after powerful thunderstorms killed three people including an 82-year old man and a 16-year-old girl

• Bangladesh: life after cyclone Aila – in pictures

  23 Jan 2012 | 9:16 am

  Cyclone Aila caused widespread devastation in south-west Bangladesh when it struck in May 2009, claiming lives, destroying homes and leaving tens of thousands of people stranded in flooded villages. Three years on, NGOs are still striving to rebuild communities and improve the climate resilience of local villages

• Tokyo 'has 70% chance of powerful earthquake within four years'

  Justin McCurry

  23 Jan 2012 | 6:18 am

  The Japanese capital's chances of a magnitude-7 quake within 30 years are 98%, according to Tokyo UniversityExperts in Japan have warned that the chances of a powerful earthquake striking Tokyo in the next four years could be as high as 70%, a more alarming scenario for the city's 13 million people than predicted by the government.The earthquake research institute at Tokyo University said that in the worst case, a quake of magnitude 7 would hit the southern part of metropolitan Tokyo by 2016, while the chances of a similar disaster occurring within 30 years are as high as 98%.The government,…

• Shelter key issue for survivors of tropical storm in Philippines

  20 Jan 2012 | 10:59 am

  Tens of thousands remain homeless in the aftermath of the tropical storm that hit the island of Mindanao before ChristmasOne month after tropical storm Washi pummelled parts of the southern island of Mindanao, in the Philippines, shelter remains the key challenge facing tens of thousands of survivors.Tropical storm Washi hit two major cities, Cagayan de Oro and Iligan in northern Mindanao, and 800 neighbouring villages on 16-18 December, triggering large-scale flooding and landslides that affected more than 1 million people.With more than 50,000 houses damaged or destroyed, 26,000survivors…

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  UK news: New Year honours list | guardian.co.uk

• Refused honours: who were the people who said no? (And help us find out)

  Simon Rogers, Guardian Research Department

  26 Jan 2012 | 9:44 am

  277 people said no to the honours list. Download the full list - and help us crowdsource who they were• Get the dataWho refuses honours? Well, authors Roald Dahl and Graham Green, and artist Lucian Freud are among more than 250 people who turned down honours between 1951 and 1999. We have the BBC to thank for this. The Cabinet Office had refused to publish the data in response to an FoI request from the great Martin Rosenbaum. In the end, the Information Commissioner ruled (you can see the judgement here) that the Cabinet Office would have to go ahead anyway and this is the result.It's a…

• Don't call me Sir: why do artists snub royal honours?

  Jonathan Jones

  26 Jan 2012 | 9:23 am

  From Lucian Freud to Roald Dahl, creative talents have long been rejecting honours from the Queen. But why? Maybe they just don't want to be part of an elite gang of Fred GoodwinsWhy are creative people so deeply sceptical of Britain's honours system? Previously top secret details revealed today show that artists including Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud and LS Lowry rejected honours from the Queen as well as such writers as Roald Dahl and Graham Greene. What made them so reluctant to be rewarded by the British establishment?None of these artists were known radicals. They were not on record as…

• Would you turn down an honour from the Queen?

  26 Jan 2012 | 5:44 am

  A freedom of information request has revealed an interesting list of people who have turned down a Queen's honour, including Roald Dahl, Lucian Freud and LS Lowry. If the Queen called you to the palace, would you say 'no thanks, m'am'?

• What's the point of stripping Sir Fred Goodwin of his knighthood? | Michael White

  Michael White

  20 Jan 2012 | 1:33 pm

  This campaign is a distraction. Untainted knights giving up their honours in disdainful protest would be more effectiveWhen Anthony Blunt, the distinguished art historian and official surveyor of the royal collection, was exposed as a long-standing Soviet agent by Margaret Thatcher in 1979, there was a successful campaign to strip him of his glittering public honours, including the old brute's knighthood. Yet MI6 had been in possession of Blunt's confession for 15 years and officials at Buckingham Palace had joked about "our Russian spy" as early at 1948. It suited the intelligence community…

• Seven days on stage – in pictures

  Alistair Smith

  6 Jan 2012 | 10:29 am

  Theatre folk make the New Year's honours list, Hugh Jackman plans to work more Broadway magic and David Cameron goes Ali Baba at his local panto. The Stage's Alistair Smith brings us the week in theatreAlistair Smith

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  Society: NHS | guardian.co.uk

• NHS 'faces peril' if reform plans are derailed

  Conal Urquhart

  28 Jan 2012 | 5:27 am

  Group of 50 GPs managing health services through clinical commissioning groups say they are 'already improving services'The NHS could be "in peril" if the government's plans to overhaul it are derailed by doctors and nurses' organisations, a group of GPs piloting the reforms has warned.The health secretary, Andrew Lansley, has proposed that the management of hospitals and budgets in England is reformed by allowing doctors rather than managers to control health services and budgets.The British Medical Association, the Royal College of Nurses and the Royal College of Midwives oppose the reform,…

• Andrew Lansley accused of presiding over 'utter shambles' on NHS reforms

  Nicholas Watt

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:43 pm

  Liz Kendall uncovers NHS document which outlines five layers of management for new GP-led commissioning systemAndrew Lansley is once again having a wretched time.The health secretary, whose NHS reforms are in severe trouble in the House of Lords, gave vent to his frustration on Thursday when he accused the BMA of being "politically poisoned" in the way it is opposing his health reforms. Denis Campbell noted that this echoed the language of Nye Bevan, Labour's founding father of the NHS, who famously had to battle against BMA claims that his blueprint looked "uncommonly" like a step towards…

• Up to 300 NHS Direct jobs 'at risk'

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:30 am

  Royal College of Nursing warns of job loses as new 111 number for non-emergency services is phased inUp to 300 frontline staff at NHS Direct could lose their jobs as the service tries to cut costs, according to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).New shift arrangements are being brought in as the new 111 number for non-emergency services is phased in, the union said on Friday.Workers unable to do the new shifts will lose their jobs, including those with flexible working arrangements, such as those caring for children or working less than 15 hours a week.The RCN also expressed fears for the…

• We need to move on from this polarised debate on the NHS bill | Chris Ham

  Chris Ham

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:54 am

  The time for grandstanding has passed. Compromise is a small price to pay for an outcome that is good for patientsThe latest storm over the government's health shakeup signals that the NHS may yet provide David Cameron with the biggest challenge of his premiership. Try as they might, ministers cannot dismiss the concerns of organisations representing doctors, nurses and midwives simply as an expression of producer self-interest, especially in a week in which Stephen Dorrell, a former Conservative health secretary, has joined the government's critics.It is now clear that the government was…

• Andrew Lansley calls BMA 'politically poisoned' for opposing NHS shakeup

  Denis Campbell, Randeep Ramesh, Nicholas Watt

  26 Jan 2012 | 1:53 pm

  Health secretary infuriates doctors' union by repeating description first used by founding father of the NHSRelations between the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, and Britain's doctors hit a new low on Thursday after he accused the British Medical Association of being "politically poisoned" in its opposition to his NHS shakeup.Lansley infuriated the doctors' union by repeating a description first used by Aneurin Bevan, the founding father of the NHS, at the time the service was created in 1948. The putdown came in a pre-prepared speech in Liverpool at the launch of a new children's health…

• 

  UK news: Northern Ireland | guardian.co.uk

• Northern Ireland terrorism suspect is just a trainspotter, lawyer says

  Henry McDonald

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:06 am

  Ryan Lavery accused of gathering information on cars going in and out of Ballykinlar army base in Co DownA man described by his defence lawyer as a "nerd" and "a trainspotter" has appeared in a Northern Ireland court on terrorism charges.Ryan Lavery is accused of gathering information likely to be of use to terrorists. The 27-year-old, who was arrested in Downpatrick, Co Down, on Wednesday, is accused of compiling photographs of cars going in and out of the Ballykinler army base.The Police Service of Northern Ireland alleges that the images were found on his computer at his home on the Model…

• Northern Ireland testing premature babies for bacterium

  Henry McDonald

  25 Jan 2012 | 8:12 am

  Infants at affected neonatal units screened for pseudomonas following three deaths during outbreak at Belfast hospitalAll premature babies being treated in Northern Ireland's neonatal units are being tested for the pseudomonas bacterium.The tests will be carried on those premature infants being treated in units where the bug was present, it was confirmed on Wednesday.Three babies died in an outbreak at the Royal Jubilee Maternity hospital in Belfast and seven other infants have the infection, which causes lung, blood and urinary problems. Another baby died of a related infection in the…

• Derry homes evacuated in bomb alert

  Henry McDonald

  24 Jan 2012 | 10:05 am

  Bomb squad sent to Shantallow area of Derry less than a week after two explosions in the centre of the cityResidents have been evacuated from their homes in Derry after a bomb alert in the city.The security operation began after the alarm was raised at Amelia Court in the Shantallow area of Derry on Tuesday afternoon. Army bomb squad officers have been sent to the scene and motorists have been advised to avoid the area.The security alert comes less than a week after two large bombs exploded at a tourist centre and a benefits office in Derry. The Police Service of Northern Ireland said it…

• Belfast hospital infection traced to taps

  Henry McDonald

  24 Jan 2012 | 10:04 am

  Health minister says taps at Royal Jubilee neonatal unit will be removed, after deaths of three babies in outbreakSink taps were the source of an infection that killed three babies at a Belfast hospital, Northern Ireland's health minister has said.Edwin Poots told the Northern Ireland assembly that the Pseudomonas bacteria originated in taps in the neonatal unit at the Royal Jubilee maternity hospital.The ward has been deep cleaned after six babies were found to be infected with the bug. Three babies have died due to the infection and a fourth died of a related infection at Altnagelvin…

• Belfast hospital deaths: seventh baby contracts infection

  Henry McDonald

  23 Jan 2012 | 2:26 pm

  Another child atRoyal hospital's neonatal unit believed to have caught deadly bug that has killed three babiesA seventh baby is believed to have contracted the bacterial infection that has led to the death of three infants in Belfast Royal hospital's neonatal unit.Three babies have died from Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and another one recovered after treatment but later died of unrelated causes. Two other babies who contracted the bug have recovered.Northern Ireland's chief medical officer, Dr Michael McBride, said another six infants had the bacteria on their skin and were receiving specialist…

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  Politics: Northern Irish politics | guardian.co.uk

• Martin McGuinness prepared to meet Queen in future

  Henry McDonald

  22 Jan 2012 | 8:00 am

  Sinn Féin deputy first minister of Northern Ireland says visit by monarch to Irish Republic last year made impact on himMartin McGuinness, the Sinn Féin deputy first minister of Northern Ireland, has said he is prepared to meet the Queen in the future.In a break with Republican tradition, McGuinness attended a meeting at St James's Palace in London to promote Northern Ireland last week.He told the BBC's Inside Politics programme that the Queen's visit to the Irish Republic last May had made an impact on him.Sinn Féin did not take part in any of the official events during the monarch's…

• Belfast, divided in the name of peace

  Sean O'Hagan

  21 Jan 2012 | 6:06 pm

  A 'peace gate' has been opened in the barrier that divides Belfast's Alexandra Park, allowing Catholics and Protestants to mix – during the day at least. But a walk to survey the city's 99 peace walls offers vivid evidence of communities riven by hatredAlexandra Park in north Belfast is a gently sloping expanse of green that looks, at first glance, like any other small, well-tended public park in any other British city. It has winding paths, tall trees, a pond and, down towards its lower end, a pleasantly leafy area that could easily be turned into a nature walk for local…

• Sinn Féin minister Gerry Kelly wins libel award

  Henry McDonald

  10 Nov 2011 | 12:54 pm

  Irish Sunday newspaper apologises to former Old Bailey bomber and Stormont minister for making false claimsGerry Kelly, the Old Bailey IRA bomber turned Stormont minister, won his libel action against a Sunday newspaper in Ireland that wrongly claimed he was once the Provisionals' chief of staff and was conducting an affair with one of Bill Clinton's senior aides.In Dublin high court on Thursday, the Sunday World apologised to the Sinn Féin minister over false allegations the paper made against him 15 years ago.Kelly, who was in court, also received an undisclosed sum after he settled his…

• New SDLP leader must ponder ins and outs of power-sharing | Henry McDonald

  Henry McDonald

  7 Nov 2011 | 5:54 am

  The key question for Alasdair McDonnell is whether he should take his party out of the power-sharing coalition at StormontWill the recently elected leader of the Social Democratic and Labour party become Northern Ireland's new Dr No? Specifically, will the South Belfast MP and family doctor say no to the SDLP's continued presence inside the five-party power-sharing coalition at Stormont?This is the key question now facing Alasdair McDonnell and his embattled troops as they seek to carve out a survival strategy over the next few months: to be inside the tent or out; to offer the electorate…

• South Belfast MP Alasdair McDonnell to lead SDLP

  Henry McDonald

  5 Nov 2011 | 3:55 pm

  Family GP defeated three rivals for the post and has pledged to make the party 'electable' againSouth Belfast MP Alasdair McDonnell is the new leader of the nationalist SDLP.The family doctor was elected head of the party at its annual conference on Saturday evening in Belfast. He will succeed Margaret Ritchie, who stepped down from the leadership back in September after poor results in the Northern Ireland assembly elections.After defeating three rivals for the post, McDonnell said it was "the proudest moment of my political life".The MP said he had been "brutally honest in spelling out how…

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  Business: Northern Rock | guardian.co.uk

• Virgin's Richard Branson visits rebranded Northern Rock branch

  9 Jan 2012 | 2:58 am

  Northumberland Street branch in Newcastle is the first of the 75 Northern Rock outlets to be rebranded as Virgin MoneySir Richard Branson will visit the first newly branded Virgin Money bank on Monday after the firm took ownership of Northern Rock.The entrepreneur will be toasting his latest acquisition with staff at a landmark branch in Newcastle's Northumberland Street - the heartland of the old Northern Rock.He will join Virgin Money chief executive Jayne-Anne Gadhia to meet employees and greet customers of the UK's latest high street bank.The tycoon vowed to challenge the banking…

• Hardly Virgin territory: Branson enters banking's already crowded market

  Jill Treanor

  7 Jan 2012 | 6:06 pm

  Virgin Money's relaunch of Northern Rock has got off to a good start - even sponsored team Newcastle beat Manchester United – but can it last?Sir Richard Branson is never known for a missing a publicity stunt – and so tomorrow the entrepreneur will be fronting the formal launch of his Virgin empire's takeover of Northern Rock. Braced for the chill January wind howling through the Newcastle headquarters of the former state-owned lender as he unveils his new bank – reminiscent of the howls of protest when Virgin won the bidding process – he will be comforted by the warm reception…

• Virgin Money launches best-buy savings accounts

  Rupert Jones

  6 Jan 2012 | 8:21 am

  First new savings products launched days after Virgin Money completes Northern Rock take-over dealVirgin Money has launched two new savings accounts, days after completing the deal to take over Northern Rock.But savers who already have cash in Northern Rock accounts need to be aware that the two brands count as one for the purposes of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which means only one set of protection applies.The new Virgin Easy Access Saver and Virgin Easy Access Cash Isa both pay 2.85% interest, propelling both into the Moneyfacts savings best-buy tables. The accounts…

• Virgin Money confident of watchdog approval over Northern Rock

  Jill Treanor

  1 Jan 2012 | 1:44 pm

  Virgin Money chief, Jayne-Anne Gadhia, said the company 'holds no fear' over scrutiny by the National Audit OfficeVirgin Money is confident that its £747m takeover of Northern Rock will be deemed good value for taxpayers despite concerns from some politicians that the nationalised lender was sold off too cheaply.Speaking as Virgin Money formally completed the deal, the chief executive of the combined business, Jayne-Anne Gadhia said the company "holds no fear" about scrutiny of the deal by the National Audit Office, amid disquiet from the Labour party, the Co-operative movement and some Tory…

• New Year honours include an award for tycoon jailed over stock market scandal

  Katie Allen

  30 Dec 2011 | 6:01 pm

  Business gongs include CBE for Gerald Ronson, one of the 'Guinness four', for charity work since serving jail term in 1990Gerald Ronson, the veteran tycoon jailed for his part in one of Britain's best-known stock market scandals as one of the "Guinness Four", is among those recognised in the New Year honours list.Ronson, who claims to have pioneered self-service petrol stations, served six months after his conviction in 1990 for involvement in a share-trading scandal. Once out of prison he embarked on a concerted campaign to clear his name, rebuilt his business empire, and devoted money and…

• 

  World news: Barack Obama | guardian.co.uk

• Mitt Romney outspends Newt Gingrich on ads ahead of Florida primary

  Ewen MacAskill

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:44 pm

  Romney takes lead in polls but is accused of dishonesty and negative campaigning as Republican nomination battle heats upRepublican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is outspending his main rival Newt Gingrich by almost four to one in advertising in Florida, having spent a staggering $13.8m so far.ABC reported that Romney had spent $5.6m and his super-political action committees $8.2m. Gingrich and his super-PAC has so far spent only $3.9m.On television stations from Jacksonville in the north to Key West in the south, as well as radio stations, negative ads about Gingrich are near…

• How Hillary Clinton surprised me | Lionel Shriver

  Lionel Shriver

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:29 pm

  I was disgusted when Obama appointed her secretary of state, but Clinton has been a credit to her country and her genderDuring the protracted tooth-and-nail tussle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in the 2008 Democratic primaries, I was one of those fierce partisans desperate for the first black candidate with a serious shot at the White House to win the nomination. Ever opposed to nepotism, I disliked the prospect of our first female head of state achieving the position through marriage to a previous president, a cheap shortcut I considered anti-feminist. Besides, I opposed…

• Obama wades into race, saying GOP candidates are 'wrong for America'

  Ewen MacAskill

  26 Jan 2012 | 4:59 pm

  President says that whichever candidate the GOP chooses, they represent a 'fundamentally different vision of America'Barack Obama, after months of sitting back to allow the Republicans to fight among themselves, waded into the nominating race by claiming that the entire GOP presidential field would be wrong for America.Obama was speaking on the Univision Spanish-language television network, broadcast only hours before the Republican candidates were scheduled to meet in Jacksonville, Florida.It is no coincidence that he chose to speak to Univision as the Latino vote in Florida is crucial not…

• Mitch Daniels: the best presidential candidate not in the GOP race? | James Antle

  James Antle

  26 Jan 2012 | 12:29 pm

  His Republican credentials as Indiana's governor are peerless. But conservatives are in no mood for a technocratic moderateThe Republican presidential race has featured many frontrunners. Mitt Romney. Michele Bachmann. Herman Cain. But the hottest candidate right now may be one who isn't even running.Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels gave a well-received Republican response to the state of the union address. The Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin, generally a Daniels critic, praised him as "poised and serious".Even before Daniels spoke, Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol touted a "groundswell of…

• Politics Weekly podcast: welfare reform, Newt Gingrich and Boris Johnson

  Jackie Ashley, Tom Clark, Richard Adams, Randeep Ramesh, Michael White, Phil Maynard

  26 Jan 2012 | 8:41 am

  The government suffered six defeats in the House of Lords this week as Iain Duncan Smith hoped to make progress with his controversial welfare reform bill. A rebellion in the House of Lords led by independent Church of England bishops and former Lib Dem leader Paddy Ashdown was successful (for now at least) in disrupting a government cap of £26,000 for benefit claimaints. The bill will get another push in the Commons, and the government - which has the weight of public opinion on its side - show signs of relishing the battle. In the studio to discuss the growing importance of the (unelected)…

• 

  The Guardian World News

• Liverpool v Manchester United | Scott Murray

  Scott Murray

  28 Jan 2012 | 7:36 am

  • Email nice things to scott.murray@guardian.co.uk• Hit F5 for the latest, or use the auto-doofer• Click here for live scores and fixturesHALF-TIME ENTERTAINMENT: A lovely gallery from this game.HALF TIME: Liverpool 1-1 Manchester United. Welbeck is this close from turning Skrtel down the inside-left channel, but the defender does well to hold him off. And that's the end of the action. United will wonder how they're not leading this game at the break; they've been the better side by some distance. Liverpool's midfield may need some tweaking. Carroll and Maxi have been worse than…

• Costa Concordia divers find 17th body

  Conal Urquhart

  28 Jan 2012 | 7:20 am

  Spokesman for Italian civil defence organisation says woman's body was found on submerged sixth deck of cruise shipDivers have found a 17th body on the wrecked cruise ship Costa Concordia, the Italian authorities have said.A spokesman for the Italian civil defence organisation said the body of a woman was found on the submerged sixth deck. Fourteen of the 17 bodies have been identified, and a further 15 people are still missing.Around 4,200 people were on board the Costa Concordia when it ran aground off the Tuscan island of Giglio on 13 January.Salvage workers have also postponed attempts to…

• Sun journalists and police officer arrested in corruption investigation

  Josh Halliday, Lisa O'Carroll

  28 Jan 2012 | 6:49 am

  Met police search News International's headquarters in Wapping as four current and former Sun employees are arrestedFour current and former senior Sun journalists and one serving police officer have been arrested as part of Scotland Yard's investigation into police corruption.The Metropolitan police have also launched a search at News International's headquarters in Wapping in a bid to secure any potential evidence relating to alleged payments to police by journalists.Officers were accompanied by lawyers who arrived at the Sun's offices between 6am and 8am this morning. They are there to…

• Decapitated body case: brothers remanded in custody

  28 Jan 2012 | 6:29 am

  Body of victim John Grainger was discovered by firefighters extinguishing blaze in Stockport, Greater ManchesterTwo brothers have appeared in court charged with the murder of a man whose decapitated body was found on fire.The body of 32-year-old John Grainger was discovered by firefighters in Stockport, Greater Manchester, in the early hours of Thursday when they extinguished a blaze on a verge opposite the Gala Casino in Wellington Street.Anthony Jenkins, 31, of no fixed address, and 29-year-old Joseph Jenkins, of Stockport, were remanded in custody until Tuesday, when they will appear at…

• 'Inexcusable' language on immigration alienating Latino voters, Republicans told

  Conal Urquhart

  28 Jan 2012 | 6:24 am

  Florida senator Marco Rubio and former governor Jeb Bush warn party's frontrunners not to use 'harsh and intolerable' languageSenior Republicans including the brother of the former president George Bush have warned the party to avoid using "harsh, intolerable and inexcusable" language about illegal immigration or risk alienating Latino voters.The Florida senator, Marco Rubio, and the state's former governor Jeb Bush made their appeal before Tuesday's primary, being contested by Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney.The Republican frontrunners clashed over illegal immigration in a debate earlier this…

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  Media: Ofcom | guardian.co.uk

• Ofcom chief: new regulatory regime could cover all media

  Mark Sweney

  25 Jan 2012 | 9:05 am

  Arguing for common standards across TV, web video and digital publishing is not call for 'super regulator', says Ed RichardsEd Richards, the chief executive of Ofcom, has called for a new regulatory regime covering all media, which would span TV, internet video services and the digital publishing activities of magazines and newspapers.Richards argued that the idea of a common set of principles and standards across media was "not as far-fetched" as some might think, although he said that Ofcom, which regulates broadcasting, was not calling for the creation of a "super regulator"."The Ofcom…

• X Factor judge Tulisa gets Ofcom's OK for arm gesture

  Mark Sweney

  23 Jan 2012 | 9:48 am

  Ofcom rules that N-Dubz star's signature salute does not illegally promote her perfume, but X Factor spin-off show did breach codeOfcom has given X Factor judge Tulisa the green light to continue to make her signature arm gesture to audiences at the start of each show, but has ruled that ITV broke the broadcasting code by promoting her perfume on spin-off The Xtra Factor.The media regulator launched an investigation into the N-Dubz star's salute, in which she greets the studio audience and viewers at home by holding her forearm across her chest flashing the tattoo The Female Boss, after…

• ITV breached audience trust over 'IRA' video game footage, says Ofcom

  Mark Sweney

  23 Jan 2012 | 7:42 am

  Regulator criticises ITV after video game clip was mistakenly used in a documentary sequenceOfcom has censured ITV for misleading viewers and breaking the broadcasting code after video game footage was mistakenly used in a documentary sequence purporting to show the IRA shooting down a helicopter with weapons supplied by Muammar Gaddafi.The regulator said the mistake, in the first episode of ITV1's new current affairs show Exposure broadcast in September, was a "significant breach of audience trust", particularly given ITV's role as a public service broadcaster.Ofcom also criticised ITV for…

• Iran's Press TV loses UK licence

  Mark Sweney

  20 Jan 2012 | 7:09 am

  Ofcom revokes English-language channel's licence for breaching the Communications ActPress TV, the Iranian state broadcaster's English-language outlet, has been forced off the air in the UK after Ofcom revoked its licence for breaching the Communications Act.Ofcom found that Press TV's practice of running its editorial oversight from Tehran, Iran's capital, is in breach of broadcasting licence rules in the UK."Ofcom has decided to revoke the licence held by Press TV Limited with immediate effect," the media regulator said in a statement.Ofcom wrote a letter to Press TV in November…

• Citroën ad banned after causing epileptic seizure

  Mark Sweney

  18 Jan 2012 | 3:32 am

  Advertising watchdog takes action after it receives 10 complaints about Citroën DS4 TV adA TV campaign for car manufacturer Citroën has been banned by the advertising watchdog after flashing images caused a viewer to have an epileptic seizure.The TV campaign, by Havas-owned ad agency Euro RSCG London, promotes the Citroën DS4 using a series of flashing lights and images of the word "Yes".One sequence in the commercial features a pattern of 304 alternating black and white versions of the word "Yes" flashing across the entire screen.The Advertising Standards Authority received 10 complaints…

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  Education: Ofsted | guardian.co.uk

• Letters: Morale matters

  25 Jan 2012 | 3:00 pm

  I was delighted to read the visionary words of Michael Wilshaw, the new, charismatic head of Ofsted (Education, 24 January). "If anyone says to you that 'staff morale is at an all-time low', you know you are doing something right." Has Wilshaw cracked the problem of how to motivate public-sector workers? Can his ideas be applied to the private sector? Has he presented his theory to the heads of Eton and Harrow? Will teachers have to pay for their own anti-depressants or will heads distribute them after morning assembly?Lawrence GloverBootle, Merseyside• If Michael Wilshaw believes that…

• Is the new chief inspector of schools just an instrument of government?

  Fran Abrams

  23 Jan 2012 | 2:00 pm

  Michael Wilshaw, the new Ofsted chief, comes with a reputation as a 'heroic' head, but is he now just an instrument of government, unsympathetic to schools more challenging than his?Walking through Mossbourne academy's long, high, glass atrium you have to speak in whispers, for every classroom door is left open to reveal rows of neatly uniformed children, heads-down in concentration. You could literally hear a pen drop.Sir Michael Wilshaw, the Hackney-based academy's first principal and now England's new chief inspector of schools, believes every school could be like this."There's a 'no…

• Schools that fail bright pupils to be named and shamed

  David Batty

  21 Jan 2012 | 4:48 am

  Schools minister to remove incentive for secondary schools to 'game' league tables by focusing solely on achieving C gradesSecondary schools that fail to push bright children will be named and shamed in a bid to prevent comprehensives from manipulating the league table rankings, the schools minister has said.Nick Gibb said he wanted to remove the incentive for schools to play the system by focusing only on pupils whose grades will affect their league table ranking.Gibb said the tables would include additional information to expose schools who fail to push bright students who were capable of…

• Michael Gove orders inspection of school in academy row

  Jeevan Vasagar

  17 Jan 2012 | 8:48 am

  Ofsted instructed to carry out inspection of Downhills primary, where the governors are resisting academy statusMichael Gove has instructed Ofsted to carry out an inspection of a primary school where the governors are resisting academy status.Lawyers representing the governing body of Downhills primary in Tottenham, north London, have accused the education secretary of illegally trying to force the school to become independent of its local authority and be taken over by a private sponsor.The school was given a "notice to improve" by Ofsted in January 2010 as inspectors judged it was doing…

• Ofsted 'satisfactory' rating to be scrapped

  Jeevan Vasagar

  17 Jan 2012 | 12:00 am

  Inspectors' grade to be replaced by 'requires improvement' to tackle problem of coasting schoolsThe Ofsted rating of "satisfactory" for schools – widely regarded as a euphemism for a poor school – is to be scrapped, the new chief inspector of schools, Sir Michael Wilshaw, will propose as he outlines new plans to tackle "coasting schools".Schools that fail to provide a good standard of education will be graded "requires improvement", and no school will be allowed to stay in this category for more than three years.These schools would face a fresh inspection within 12 to 18 months, rather…

• 

  Business: Oil | guardian.co.uk

• BP loses attempt to share Deepwater Horizon oil spill costs

  Terry Macalister

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:05 pm

  US court rejects BP's attempt to make rig operator Transocean pay part of compensation bill for Gulf oil disasterAn attempt by BP to offload a major part of its Gulf of Mexico oil-spill compensation bill on to the US rig operator Transocean has been thrown out by a US court.The setback comes in the run-up to the main legal case against BP and its partners on 27 February in New Orleans, which will rule over who is to blame for the Deepwater Horizon accident, in which 11 workers died.Shares in the oil group fell 2.7% after a federal judge upheld a clause in the drilling contract that shielded…

• Gulf of Mexico oil spill: BP loses bid to make others pay compensation

  26 Jan 2012 | 8:18 pm

  Judge rules contractors Transocean and Halliburton are not liable for compensation but they still face fines and lawsuitsA US federal judge has told BP that contractors Transocean and Halliburton do not have to help pay compensation over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill because they are protected by their contracts.More than 750m litres of oil spewed into the Gulf of Mexico after the undersea well blew out on 20 April 2010 and was not capped until July.BP, Transocean and Halliburton have been sparring over who was at fault for causing the blowout. Federal investigators have said BP, the well's…

• Coryton oil refinery restarts shipments

  26 Jan 2012 | 2:49 am

  Decision by Essex refinery's administrators eases fears of petrol shortages in the south-eastPetrol delivery trucks were once again rolling from the gates of Coryton oil refinery on Thursday after a shutdown triggered when the site collapsed into administration.The Essex refinery's administrators, PricewaterhouseCoopers, said after discussions with suppliers and customers, including BP, they had started shipments of refined oil products with immediate effect, easing fears over fuel shortages.The site, which supplies 20% of fuel in London and the south-east, halted sales after its Swiss owner…

• The crisis in European refining | Chris Cragg

  Chris Cragg

  25 Jan 2012 | 2:30 pm

  The lesson for the major oil companies – as Petroplus files for bankruptcy – is not to assume independents will take care of their refiningIf the sudden filing for bankruptcy of Swiss oil refiner Petroplus came as surprise to politicians, it was no surprise to the industry, or indeed to its own executives. As they themselves pointed out to analysts in a meeting on 8 December last year, some 15 European refineries had either closed, were under threat of closure, or gone on short time in the previous twelve months.The executives of Europe's largest independent refiner probably thought that…

• Record diesel prices expected after refinery goes into administration

  Graeme Wearden, Dan Milmo

  24 Jan 2012 | 12:51 pm

  1,000 jobs at risk after Coryton refinery in Essex stops supply, threatening disruption that could raise cost of foodMotorists have been warned to expect record diesel prices after the UK's largest independent oil refinery went into administration, putting 1,000 jobs at risk.The Coryton refinery, in Essex, stopped supplies after its parent company, the Swiss-based oil refiner Petroplus, announced it was insolvent.Administrators who took over the plant said on Tuesday that they hoped to resume deliveries following discussions with the facility's largest customer, BP, the former owner of the…

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  Sport: Olympic Games 2012 | guardian.co.uk

• The conversation: Are the Olympics too commercial?

  Oliver Laughland

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:03 pm

  The Olympics are a purely commercial enterprise and as such have been utterly devalued. True or false? Sports writer Mihir Bose and medal-winner Fatima Whitbread discussIt's six months until the Olympics, but should we be celebrating? With a series of negative news stories this week, sports journalist Mihir Bose, who has just written a book on the demise of the sporting spirit, tries out his theory on Olympic legend Fatima Whitbread. Oliver Laughland listens in.Mihir Bose: My journey on this subject began when I was in Calcutta. I saw premiership football being shown endlessly on TV, and…

• Mo Farah looks for last-lap speed improvement to land London gold

  Andy Bull

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:00 pm

  • World 5,000m champion will run 1500m in Glasgow• 'We are working on my weaknesses,' says British hopeIt takes Mo Farah a shade under 27 minutes to run 10,000 metres. But right now he is thinking only about the final 51 seconds. Farah is convinced that is all the time it is going to take to determine whether he fulfils an ambition he has been pursuing for seven years, ever since London was awarded the Olympics. All the miles he has run since then, all the thankless hours pounding the road and track while thinking about that gold medal, and Farah says that in the end "it is definitely all…

• Can London 2012's opening ceremony beat its predecessors?

  Sam Jones, Edward Gibbes

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:53 pm

  Danny Boyle is up against faked footprint-shaped fireworks, aliens in flying saucers and spectacles with artillery fire and pigeonsAnyone concerned that Danny Boyle faces a daunting, Newton-like climb on to the shoulders of choreographic giants in his role as the Olympic opening ceremony organiser needs only to glance at some of his predecessors' efforts for reassurance.Beijing 2008 saw computer faked footprint-shaped fireworks trek across the sky from Tiananmen Square to the Bird's Nest stadium, and a seven-year-old singer's vocals mimed by a more aesthetically-pleasing girl.In 1984, not…

• Danny Boyle unveils 'inclusive' London 2012 opening ceremony - video

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:32 pm

  The Slumdog Millionaire director and artistic director for the London 2012 opening ceremony unveiled a handful of carefully selected details of his vision for the first time

• Olympic organisers emphasise scale of the task facing them

  Owen Gibson

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:57 pm

  • 'This last six months is all about attention to detail'• Official handover of athletes' village housing 16,000London 2012 organisers emphasised the scale of the task facing them over the next six months, as they took control of the athletes' village and outlined details of the opening ceremony for the first time.Amid a blizzard of statistics about the size of the task at hand, the London 2012 chief executive, Paul Deighton, said there was a huge logistical challenge remaining, in particular to deliver the temporary facilities in the heart of the city that will host events such as beach…

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  Politics: Opinion polls | guardian.co.uk

• Trust and the red-tops? It's irrelevant to the millions who read them

  Roy Greenslade

  24 Jan 2012 | 8:20 am

  In the early 1990s, after some survey or other had discovered that people didn't trust the tabloids, I made a short film segment for BBC2.One part involved me interviewing tabloid buyers as they emerged from an Islington newsagent. After pointing out that the survey said the majority of people didn't trust them, I asked why they went on buying them.Invariably, they replied that it didn't matter because they could tell what was true and what wasn't. Some said they didn't care anyway. I lost count of the people who said: "It's only a bit of fun after all."A bit of fun? It was not long after the…

• Ken Livingstone leads Boris Johnson in second poll in five days

  Dave Hill

  23 Jan 2012 | 5:11 pm

  Today's ComRes survey of London mayoral race voting intentions for LBC, ITV London Tonight and the Evening Standard means, apart from anything else, that last Thursday's YouGov poll showing Labour's Ken Livingstone with a two-point lead over Tory incumbent Boris Johnson is harder for any so inclined to dismiss as a rogue. It shows Ken on course to scrape home by 51% to 49% after second preference votes are taken into account - exactly the same margin as the YouGov poll found.The surprised reaction of many pundits to the closeness of the race won't be shared by the pollsters themselves or by…

• David Cameron shrugs off welfare battles to soar in poll

  Tom Clark, Nicholas Watt, Jill Treanor

  23 Jan 2012 | 4:10 pm

  Conservatives' popularity hits 22-month high despite Lords inflicting defeat on benefit capsThe Conservatives have forged a five-point lead over Labour, according to the latest Guardian/ICM poll, suggesting David Cameron would stand on the verge of an outright majority if an election were held now.The Tories are on 40%, up three percentage points from December, while Labour has drifted down one to 35%. The Liberal Democrats are on 16%, up one.The Tories' standing is their highest since before the general election in the Guardian/ICM series – they last stood at 40% in March 2010. Their lead…

• Polls and politics: when the voters beg to differ | Editorial

  23 Jan 2012 | 2:50 pm

  The coalition is still making arguments that resonate better with many votersThere are three possible ways of explaining our striking ICM poll result today, which shows the Conservatives jumping into a five-point lead over Labour, 40% to 35%, compared with a single-point lead in December. The first is that the coalition parties, the Tories in particular but also the Liberal Democrats (who have risen to 16%), are now winning the key political arguments. The second is that the main dynamic of January 2012 is of growing Labour weakness and failure, rather than any Tory or Lib Dem strength or…

• Scottish referendum poll suggests Alex Salmond has mountain to climb

  Tom Clark

  23 Jan 2012 | 2:47 pm

  Majority are pro-UK, even in Scotland, but ideas vary either side of border on whether whole of Britain should have its sayA strong majority across the UK favours keeping the kingdom united, according to a new Guardian/ICM poll. But as Scotland's first minister Alex Salmond prepares to publish his plans for an independence referendum this week, there are very different ideas in England and Scotland about whether it should be for the whole of Britain or for Scots alone to seal the union's fate.Some 68% of respondents across Britain say "the UK is stronger together", as against just 24% who…

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  Film: Oscars | guardian.co.uk

• Oscars' big winners will be books

  John Dugdale

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:06 am

  Literary adaptations look set to sweep the board in Hollywood this yearSix of the nine nominations announced this week for Best Picture are based on books, reflecting a recent pattern in which the Oscar lists have consistently and gratifyingly affirmed cinema's dependence on literature. Apart from a modest lurch towards originality in 2010, the previous five years saw line-ups in which half or more of the shortlistees were adaptations, including the winners No Country for Old Men (2008), Slumdog Millionaire (2009) and The King's Speech (2011).It's not classic novels that attract movie-makers.

• Close up: The Oscar nominations, the Sundance film festival and Theo Angelopoulos

  Henry Barnes

  26 Jan 2012 | 11:57 am

  Three stories vied for our attention as the Oscar nominations were announced, Spike Lee stormed Sundance and director Theo Angelopoulos diedThe big storiesOscar nominationsThe glitz! The glamour! The gradual realisation that, as much as you wanted your small-time favourite (Melancholia / Drive / Take Shelter) to win, you can't fight the inevitable! Yes - it's Oscar time again. The nominations were announced this week, with Martin Scorsese's Hugo narrowly pipping The Artist with 11 nods to the silent wonder's 10. We live-blogged the announcement, explained why we think Michel Hazanavicius's…

• Film Weekly podcast: Oscar nominations, and Like Crazy director Drake Doremus - audio

  Iain Chambers, Xan Brooks, Jason Solomons

  26 Jan 2012 | 6:36 am

  This week Jason Solomons and Xan Brooks cast their critical eyes down the newly announced Academy Award nominations, and offer their suggestions as to whether Hugo or The Artist will come out top dog.The twosome will also be reviewing the Oscar-nominated George Clooney in The Descendants, Clive Owen in horror flick Intruders, Liam Neeson's crash-survival thriller The Grey, and Bertrand Bonello's brothel-set period movie House of Tolerance.We also speak to Drake Doremus, director of the improvised college love story Like Crazy, starring Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones, and the British…

• Uggie the dog to hang up his collar and retire after the Oscars

  Ben Child

  26 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am

  Hollywood's favourite canine actor, and star of The Artist, set to retire from movies after a triumphant end to his careerHe has been the canine star of awards season and looks likely to triumph at next month's inaugural Golden Collar awards, a ceremony for Hollywood hounds. But Uggie the dog's brief stint in the spotlight is coming to an end after it was revealed the chirpy Jack Russell and star of Oscars frontrunner The Artist is to retire from the movies later this year.Uggie will take a well-deserved rest after a whirlwind publicity tour to promote Michel Hazanavicius's silent, black and…

• The Muppets Q&A: send us your questions

  Henry Barnes

  25 Jan 2012 | 8:45 am

  With a new Oscar-nominated film to promote, Kermit and Miss Piggy are crossing the pond and working the UK press circuit. What should we ask them?Play the music, light the lights, tune up the banjo and reinforce the drumkit: the Muppets are back with a big-screen musical.The new movie sees small-town dreamer and lifelong Muppets fan Walter make a pilgrimage to the Muppet theatre in LA with his brother, Gary (Jason Segel). The pair find the theatre abandoned and the Muppets disbanded. Kermit is holed up in his Beverly Hills mansion; Miss Piggy has wriggled her way into the editor's chair at…

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  Education: Oxbridge and elitism | guardian.co.uk

• Why I sent Oxford a rejection letter | Elly Nowell

  Elly Nowell

  19 Jan 2012 | 9:00 am

  Withdrawing my application to the university makes perfect sense – it's a symbol of unfairness in our education systemA little over a month ago, I sent Oxford a rejection email that parodied the thousands that they send each year. Much to my surprise, it has become a bit of an internet hit, and has provoked reactions of both horror and amusement.In it, I wrote: "I have now considered your establishment as a place to read Law (Jurisprudence). I very much regret to inform you that I will be withdrawing my application. I realise you may be disappointed by this decision, but you were in…

• Labour leadership 'too narrow' says Ed Miliband's guru

  Nicholas Watt

  29 Dec 2011 | 1:42 pm

  Blue Labour thinker Lord Glasman says Oxbridge background of leaders mean it struggles to connect with working classLabour's leadership is drawn from "much too narrow a group" of Oxbridge graduates who struggle to relate to Britain's working class communities, one of Ed Miliband's intellectual gurus has claimed.Lord Glasman, who has kept a low profile in recent months after embarrassing the Labour leader on immigration, has popped up again to say that the backgrounds of senior figures such as Miliband are a "crucial" problem for the party.The claim came after the Tory thinker David Skelton…

• 'I was interviewed for Cambridge… by Kingsley Amis'

  Fielding

  8 Dec 2011 | 8:34 am

  It's Oxbridge interview season. Fielding recalls the day he was mowed down by the wuthering scorn of the world's greatest satiristTis the season of the Oxbridge interview.Ah, the tyranny of those dreaming spires. Why do they hold such malign sway?Perky eggheads still seek my dotard wisdom: "How can I prepare? What will they ask?"Who knows, eh?I certainly didn't…It is December 11, 1962. 6.20pm.I am standing outside Room 13, Peterhouse College, Cambridge. I'm about to be interviewed by a learned fellow in the English department – a Mr Amis.That's Kingsley Amis, famed scourge of pretentious…

• Why do Oxbridge graduates dominate theatre's top roles?

  Jonathan Holloway

  7 Nov 2011 | 8:58 am

  Of the nine previous artistic directors at the National and the RSC, six attended either Oxford or Cambridge – neither of which offers drama as a degreeWhy does a cult of amateurism seem to dominate the top ranks of British theatre?Discussions about who should succeed Michael Boyd as artistic director of the RSC once again prompts one to consider the reality of what it means to be a successful theatre director in the UK.Assuming most people think that leading the RSC or the National are the twin career pinnacles for a UK director, what does it say that of the nine artistic directors of the…

• Alexander Crummell, Cambridge's first black graduate

  Stephen Bates

  19 Oct 2011 | 6:01 pm

  Story of long-obscure 19th-century American student to be told at university's festival of ideasAlexander Crummell is not a name that resonates in any list of black pioneers but his story as the son of a former slave who became almost certainly the first black student to graduate from Cambridge University will be told tonight at a lecture in the university's Festival of Ideas.The resurrection of the long-obscure 19th-century American student comes months after Cambridge and Oxford once again had to fend off accusations about low admission rates for students from ethnic minorities. In 2009,…

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  Stage: Panto season | guardian.co.uk

• Seven days on stage – in pictures

  Alistair Smith

  6 Jan 2012 | 10:29 am

  Theatre folk make the New Year's honours list, Hugh Jackman plans to work more Broadway magic and David Cameron goes Ali Baba at his local panto. The Stage's Alistair Smith brings us the week in theatreAlistair Smith

• From the archive, 24 December 1940: 'Aladdin' – only pantomime in the West End

  24 Dec 2011 | 3:00 pm

  Originally published in the Guardian on 24 December 1940LONDON, MONDAYThere is an unexpected dearth of new songs, but none of the expected dearth of splendour in the West End of London's only pantomime, Francis Laidler's "Aladdin" at the Coliseum. We looked for makeshift settings, compensated by much tuneful wit and topicality. Instead we were delightedly fobbed off with a positively pre-last-war excess of bewitching scenery and costume and blessedly granted a bare minimum of contemporary references. The Widow Twankey did, it is true, join the Chinese Waacs for a single scene that hardly…

• Best pantomimes and Christmas shows 2011 – interactive map

  20 Dec 2011 | 5:47 am

  Zoom region by region, browse every Christmas show our critics have rated, and click through to read the original review

• Hansel and Gretel – review

  Lyn Gardner

  19 Dec 2011 | 12:24 pm

  Junction, CambridgeCannibalism is all the rage in family shows this year, and never more so than in New International Encounter's retelling of one of the Brothers Grimms' grimmer fairytales.This is a folksy affair, done with just the right touch of nastiness and warm-hearted playfulness; the horror is always intercut with comedy, and beastly desires are offered with a giggle. The witch is scary, but her gruesome ditty about the pleasures of gobbling small children is great fun.The actor-musician cast may come from across Europe, from Scandinavia to Spain, and draw on several different…

• The York Family Robinson – review

  Alfred Hickling

  18 Dec 2011 | 11:43 am

  Theatre Royal, YorkMaking his entrance for no apparent reason atop a green dinosaur, York's grand dame Berwick Kaler ominously announces: "This year, there have been changes to the format." It creates a stir of anxiety that, after 33 years of no-expense-spared entertainment, the Theatre Royal pantomime has succumbed to austerity measures. In the end, it's pretty much business as usual, though economies have to be made and this year Kaler has decided to cut down on the water bill.The York pantomime is famed for its wet slap sequence, for which the musicians in the orchestra pit…

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  World news: Pakistan | guardian.co.uk

• Pakistan 'memogate' witness refuses to testify

  Saeed Shah

  23 Jan 2012 | 2:44 am

  Mansoor Ijaz, who claims Pakistani ambassador to Washington wrote secret memo to US military, says he fears for his safetyThe US businessman at the heart of Pakistan's "memogate" political scandal will not come to the country to testify, blaming concerns for his own safety, according to his lawyer.After proclaiming he was prepared to give evidence even at the risk of his own life, Mansoor Ijaz will not turn up for the court appearance on Tuesday.Ijaz claims the then Pakistani ambassador to Washington, Husain Haqqani, dictated and asked him to deliver an anonymous "memo" to the American…

• Pakistan's culture of honourable corruption | Anatol Lieven

  Anatol Lieven

  19 Jan 2012 | 2:09 pm

  President Zardari faces accusations that could oust him. But patronage is part of the system, and more difficult to removeIf Pakistan's chief justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry, manages to press his charges of corruption against the president, Asif Ali Zardari, he will bring down the existing Pakistani government. If he extends his anti-corruption campaign to the political elites as a whole, he will bring down the entire existing political system – and replace it, his critics say, with a dictatorship made up of an unelected (and equally corrupt) judiciary.The corruption charges against Zardari date…

• Pakistan prime minister Gilani refuses to give in to court order

  Saeed Shah

  19 Jan 2012 | 5:33 am

  Yousaf Raza Gilani appears on contempt of court proceedings but says he will not follow order targeting President ZardariPakistan's prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, has appeared before judges in a battle of wills between the government and the judiciary, and refused to accept court orders targeting the president.The supreme court had called Gilani before it on contempt of court proceedings after the Islamabad government persistently ignored court orders to write to Swiss authorities and ask for a dormant money laundering case to be reopened against President Asif Ali Zardari.It had been…

• Pakistan's PM Gilani appears before supreme court - video

  19 Jan 2012 | 4:37 am

  Pakistan's supreme court threatens prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani with contempt for failing to investigate accusations of corruption levelled at the president, Asif Ali Zardari

• Pakistani prime minister faces supreme court accused of contempt

  19 Jan 2012 | 12:29 am

  Yusuf Raza Gilani summoned for refusing to pursue corruption charges against the president, Asif Ali ZardariA contempt case against the Pakistani prime minister, Yusuf Raza Gilani, has been adjourned by the country's supreme court after a hearing that took place amid tight security in Islamabad, the capital.The court has threatened Gilani with contempt for failing to pursue corruption accusations against the president, Asif Ali Zardari, and other officials. The case against Gilani will resume in February.The decision comes as the latest blow for Gilani's civilian administration, which also…

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  Fashion: Paris fashion week | guardian.co.uk

• Why power skirts are the talk of Paris fashion week

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:00 pm

  The look chosen by celebrities and editors on the catwalk front rows provides the most reliable fashion forecastEye-wateringly expensive elegance is in, 50kg dresses are go, and Air Chanel was the hot ticket. This week the headline trends from the haute couture shows in Paris emerged in all their hand-sewn glory. But off the runways, a more inclusive look dominated the week.If catwalk front rows offer the most accurate long-range fashion forecasts, then the next few months will be about the power skirt. Celebrities, editors and models were all seen this week in statement skirts. Or as Paula…

• Top 10 Paris fashion week spring/summer 2012 - in pictures

  Helen Seamons

  10 Oct 2011 | 10:13 am

  The Observer's deputy fashion editor, Helen Seamons, picks her 10 favourite moments from Paris fashion week spring/summer 2012Helen Seamons

• Highlights from Chanel, McQueen, Louis Vuitton and Valentino

  6 Oct 2011 | 4:54 am

  Simon Chilvers: Sarah Burton wowed the crowd with her Alexander McQueen collection, Chanel opted for an underwater theme and Valentino stuck to modern classic

• Alexander McQueen at Paris fashion week - in pictures

  5 Oct 2011 | 7:25 am

  The Observer's Jo Jones and Helen Seamons access all areas as Sarah Burton unveils a visually arresting show for Alexander McQueen

• Chanel at Paris Fashion week Spring/Summer 2012 - in pictures

  Helen Seamons

  5 Oct 2011 | 2:27 am

  The Observer's deputy fashion editor Helen Seamons, dives into the world of Chanel at Paris fashion week spring/summer 2012Helen Seamons

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  Media: PDA | guardian.co.uk

• Viral Video Chart: Kim Dotcom in Megaupload ad, dormouse snores

  Dugald Baird

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:30 am

  Watch the web tycoon living large with P Diddy and Kanye West, and a dormouse snoozing, in our rundown of the top clipsAs Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom becomes the anti-piracy movement's latest bete noire – not least due to his lavish playboy lifestyle – it's fascinating to look back at the heights he hit before the FBI took his empire down. One example is the big-bucks pop video that launched in December featuring a string of stars including P Diddy, Will.i.am, Alicia Keys, Kanye West and Snoop Dogg singing the praises of the cyberlocker service. After causing controversy last month…

• Tech Weekly podcast: What You Really Need To Know About The Internet

  Scott Cawley, Aleks Krotoski, Charles Arthur, John Naughton

  24 Jan 2012 | 11:09 am

  On this week's Tech Weekly, Aleks Krotoski is joined by Observer columnist and professor of public engagement with technology at Cambridge University John Naughton and Guardian technology editor Charles Arthur.The trio talk about the fallout of three of the biggest stories to rock the technology ocean this week. Making waves are the reshuffle at RIM - what happened in the last year that's seen this market leader take a dramatic tumble and cost the chief executives their jobs? What's the next for SOPA, now that the US Congress has shelved the current wording of the copyright bills, and what,…

• Guardian Viral Video Chart: Sopa protest, CES, dogs do Star Wars theme

  Dugald Baird

  20 Jan 2012 | 8:09 am

  Watch a song attacking the US anti-piracy law and dogs going over to the 'Bark Side' in our rundown of the best online clipsYou may have noticed some unhappiness online this week about the US Stop Online Piracy Act (Sopa) and Protect IP Act (Pipa). Wikipedia and other sites went "dark", while while Google censored its name. With its constant battle between copyright owners and people who want to use their content "creatively", YouTube is at the centre of online debate, so it's not surprising protest has surfaced on the site.Set to the tune of Don McLean's American Pie, The Day The LOLcats…

• Tech Weekly: highlights from CES

  Aleks Krotoski, Scott Cawley, Dan Catt

  18 Jan 2012 | 1:22 am

  Guardian Technology editor Charles Arthur takes us through some interesting trends from CES 2012 – 3D printing, ultrabooks and smart TV. Plus Aleks is joined by Matt Brian from The Next Web and Guardian developer Dan Catt to discuss this week's news – which includes Michael Gove's plans to revamp IT education in UK schools, Google's trouble with Kenya's business directory Mocality, and the latest on the US's proposed SOPA and PIPA legislation.Don't forget to...• Comment below• Email the producer techweekly@guardian.co.uk• Get our Twitter feed for programme updates or follow our…

• Guardian Viral Video Chart: the joy of books, the ugly face of beauty ads

  Dugald Baird

  13 Jan 2012 | 7:21 am

  Watch books dance around the shelves and a satire of the fashion industry in this week's rundown of the top online clipsDo you organise the books in your bookshelf alphabetically or by the colour of the sleeves? Possibly not. But Canadian ad man Sean Ohlenkamp and his wife do, and filmed the results using stop-frame animation to make a charming video. Now they have gone one stage further and rearranged the titles in a Toronto bookshop at night. The results are truly magical – books dance around the shelves, colours change and the shop comes to life. There are some witty nods to Tim Burton,…