How the 2010 election will be won by blogs and tweets
The rise of social networking sites such as Facebook on the internet has caused an enormous change in politicsThe setting could hardly have been more traditional as David Cameron launched the Conservative party's election campaign yesterday in a quiet...

Battle will be stepped up this year to save the tiger
Tigers top WWF list of 10 important endangered species as biodiversity campaign is launchedScientists and conservationists are to intensify their efforts this year to save one of Earth's most powerful, and threatened, creatures: the tiger.Biologists...

Stellar sales for John Lewis with takings up 30%
Shoppers defy downturn to buy beds, TVs and other big ticket items before VAT rise hitsJohn Lewis, the department store, will this week reveal a stellar Christmas trading performance, with takings in the past week up 30% on last year. Bumper sales of...

Time to ban cheap alcohol, say MPs
Costs of dealing with alcohol abuse 'overwhelming the NHS' say expertsThe government was under mounting pressure last night to introduce minimum pricing for alcohol in an attempt to cut abuse as a senior Labour MP called for an urgent change in...

Call for universities to charge well-off students £30,000 a year
Former member of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee says poor have been subsidising the rich for too longA leading economist has called for students from well-off families to be charged the "market rate" of up to £30,000 a year to go to...

A rise in fees would make university education fairer
IT IS A curious branch of Keynesian economics that, in the midst of a recession, bails out poorly performing industries while cutting funds for improving the nation's skills. Yet that was what business secretary Lord Mandelson announced last week. Happy...

Why Kafka's manuscript still speaks volumes
The Bodleian's collection of original papers offers priceless insights into the writer's mindThe future of book publishing glows like an LCD screen and it's digital.Random House, USA, now claims "exclusive" electronic rights in all its backlist...

@barrywellman the Sarnia, Ontario paper is The Observer http//www.theobserver.ca

Will e-books spell the end of great writing?
How much have our perceptions of reading and writing changed now that you can craft a novel on a laptop and scroll through it on a Nintendo games console? This Christmas could be the moment when our idea of curling up with a fat novel are transformed for...

Exploring human identity
Wellcome Collection, London NW1"The question of who or what the Me is is not a simple one at all," Mark Twain once remarked as he contemplated his own individuality. And you can see his point. The factors that produce a person's identity are elusive,...

Joe Sacco | interview
Colleagues laughed when a young journalist in Palestine announced his intention to tell the story of that region though cartoons. Twenty years later, Joe Sacco is one of the world's leading exponents of the graphic novel form…In his books, Joe Sacco...

Polanski arrest provokes US backlash
US women have attacked film world's backing for director who again faces threat of trial for unlawful sex with 13-year-old girl in 1977Hollywood stars flock to causes. An A-list name can boost the profile of a charity, highlight a far-off tragedy or...