Features

The doctor will see you now: Who does Vernon Coleman think he is?

He's frank, fearless and prolific. He's outrageous, outspoken and iconoclastic. He's a best-selling author, strident campaigner and unashamed cross-dresser. Dr Vernon Coleman is many things – and he's written books about most of them. Esther Walker takes his pulse

Inside Features

The other national lottery: the real guide to hospitals

Wednesday, 14 May 2008

OVERALL CARE

Surf wars: a killing that made waves

Wednesday, 14 May 2008

It is a year now since the town of La Jolla, a surfers' paradise north of San Diego, has struggled with karma lost. The sun still catches the plumed crests of the waves as they roll toward the beaches of Windansea and Bird Rock and the bleached hair of the ocean athletes who wait patiently to ride them. But nothing has been the same since Emery Kauanui died, his skull split in three places.

Pride & prejudice: How the far right muscled in on middle England

Tuesday, 13 May 2008

'Billy Blair? Yeah, he's a friend of ours. He's a good bloke." It's not unusual to hear local shopkeepers back their newly elected councillor straight after an election. What is extraordinary is that here in Maltby, Rotherham, Will Blair has just won the seat for the BNP and the shopkeeper in question is Birmingham-born British Asian Kaz Singh.

The Prix de Barcelona: My favourite building is ...

Tuesday, 13 May 2008

Some of the world's most magnificent public buildings may meet their match this year as part of a new international prize which pits the established greats of contemporary architecture against smaller gems whose delicate designs and demure charms are often overlooked.

A papal mystery

Tuesday, 13 May 2008

On the streets of Rome the centuries stand still. Everything seems to have been here for ever, the tightly twisting cobbled lanes, the high tenements, the gorgeous piazzas, the baroque churches; yet nothing has ever been as it appears, and intrigue succeeds intrigue down the hidden passages of the centuries, the hand of power fleetingly discerned behind the arras of history.

Suit you, sir: The art of male attire

Monday, 12 May 2008

The bow-ties are suspended, symbolically, in a glass case like butterflies. One is white and fluffy like a kitten; one is made of fake pearls; one is in a kind of delicate pink and white tartan. The most startling is deep turquoise and edged with fur. Do people – men – wear such things? Yes, apparently they do.

Has the Conran era come to an end?

Monday, 12 May 2008

The name of Sir Terence Conran is so evocative of smart restaurants and stylish shops selling modernist goods to discerning customers that it seems odd that his long, fabulous career – now apparently coming to an end – began in the years of austerity and ration books.

Things ain't what they used to be: Whatever happened to the season?

Monday, 12 May 2008

As last week seemed to herald the beginning of the English summer, so this Thursday – the opening day of the first Test at Lord's – brings the start of "the Season", the loosely grouped chain of events in which sport, opera and gardening have traditionally met social snobbery, hidebound dress codes and British and international royalty.

Death in Chelsea: How did Mark Saunders come to die in a shoot-out with police?

Sunday, 11 May 2008

We seem to have been here before: a young man is shot dead by police, and the next day's papers fall over themselves with lurid headlines accompanied by pictures of armed officers in balaclavas and ballistic vests.

Has Gordon Ramsay bitten off more than he can chew?

Saturday, 10 May 2008

As one of Britain's fieriest, loudest-mouthed celebrities, Gordon Ramsay has never lacked targets. Over the years, his machine-gun rants have been trained on vegetarians, female chefs, Scottish chefs, rival chefs, restaurant critics, and almost everyone he has ever worked with.

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