If the left wins in France, a critical battle of ideologies must surely...
Socialist presidential candidate François Hollande's high-spending manifesto could rock the rest of EuropeThree decades after its greatest postwar political triumph, the French left is shaping up for...
View ArticleHajj: Journey to the Heart of Islam – review
British Museum, LondonThe hajj – the once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage of Muslims to Mecca – is very much a growth industry. In 1932, 20,000 pilgrims made the symbolic journey, the fifth pillar of Islamic...
View ArticleJohn Naughton: With friends like Facebook, who needs sociopaths?
Facebook's reaction to proposals to tighten up on privacy rights shows its lack of respect for othersHere's an interesting coincidence. Last week, the European commission announced plans for a...
View ArticleSpare me from the whining women who are giving feminism a bad name | Julie...
The 'girls' night in' antics on Celebrity Big Brother highlighted all that is wrong with female friendshipI'm well aware that saying: "As we saw on Celebrity Big Brother the other night…" is about as...
View ArticleAttacking the church is a cheap shot | Victoria Coren
Has everyone forgotten these are men of God? It's actually their job to stand up for the poorDo you ever wish you were on Question Time? Do you shout answers at the screen as if it were a quiz? Do you...
View ArticleFast food chains prosper as cash-strapped consumers shun retailers
US fast food chains Subway and McDonald's announced plans to open hundreds of new stores creating more than 8,000 jobsMealtimes used to revolve around the kitchen table, but the fast-food boom is...
View ArticleThanks, Joan Rivers, you're an object lesson to us all | Catherine Bennett
Calls for regulation of cosmetic surgery mask a deeper scandal of the weak and vulnerable being exploitedIn the absence of a control Joan, we can't be certain that the face of the comedian Joan Rivers,...
View ArticleIf you're going to quote Shakespeare, make sure you get the right one |...
François Hollande got a little confused between two ShakespearesBe not afear'd. For those of us whose competitive spirit will ignite, and probably expire, in a tussle over the TV remote from the...
View Article'Human safaris' in India: tour operators face prison
Two men are in court after the Observer investigation into tourist visits to view tribes peopleBritish and international tour operators have been warned that they will face prosecution if they continue...
View ArticleGlobalisation can work, but only with a unified international plan | Will Hutton
We desperately needs economic and social institutions working across national bordersBritain has become a hub in the global web of car and engine production. This year, 1.4 million cars and more than 3...
View ArticleApple hit by boycott call over worker abuses in China
US writers attack conditions at Foxconn plant and call for consumers to actApple, the computer giant whose sleek products have become a mainstay of modern life, is dealing with a public relations...
View ArticleThe camera does sometimes lie. Ask a female politician | Barbara Ellen
Australian prime minister Julia Gillard cut a pathetic figure crushed against her security manIf you watch the clip of Australian prime minister Julia Gillard being bundled away from Aboriginal rights...
View ArticleWe can now see the true cost of globalisation | Observer editorial
The worldwide public realises there is something deeply wrong with today's world economic systemWhen Karl Marx called for the workers of the world to unite, it seems unlikely he had in mind an iPhone...
View ArticleSandy Gall: 'I fear Afghanistan will become like Vietnam'
Veteran TV correspondent Sandy Gall on his adventures in Afghanistan, the Taliban and his family's charity clinic in KabulYour new book, War Against the Taliban, is really the third instalment of your...
View ArticlePolice use tear gas on Occupy Oakland protesters
Police said they used tear gas after protesters pelted them with bottles, rocks, burning flares and other objectsPolice have used tear gas and "flash" grenades to break up hundreds of Occupy protesters...
View ArticleFire kills 27 at drug rehabilitation centre in Peru
Patients from the The Christ is Love centre for drug and alcohol addicts have been killed in the fireA fire swept through a two-storey private rehabilitation centre for addicts in a poor part of Peru's...
View ArticleHerman Cain endorses Newt Gingrich for president
Herman Cain, who ended his bid in December, endorses Gingrich three days before the Florida primaryRepublican US presidential candidate Newt Gingrich received the endorsement of former rival Herman...
View ArticleYemeni president arrives in US for medical treatment
Ali Abdullah Saleh flew to New York via London in the latest stage of an effort to help ease the transition from his ruleYemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh arrived in the United States on Saturday,...
View ArticlePolls predict Gingrich defeat in Florida
Mitt Romney ahead in polls despite Herman Cain, who dropped out of the contest, backing Gingrich at late stageThe Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich appears to be heading for defeat in the...
View ArticleFeeling more positive about the eurozone crisis? Don't
Psychologists may say today is the happiest Monday of the year, but for the eurozone this early spring euphoria smacks of desperationNervous investors are willing the euro crisis to solve itself. They...
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