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The fast-growing US writing platform has come of age. But how do you find the good stuff? We pick some of the best by theme

This endless week of crumbling schools, poor public services and collapsing council finances has been 13 years in the making – and even loyal Tories now know the game is up

Freedom of information requests show such was haste to open new schools unsuitable buildings were purchased without checks for asbestos or concrete

Last year, research cast doubt on the dominant ‘chemical imbalance’ theory of depression. Now two persuasive books by scientists Philip Gold and Camilla Nord offer very different causes of the illness – though both are optimistic about our future treatment of the ‘cancer of the self’

Riding is added to the school curriculum, girls get the ‘pony habit’ and horse-powered vehicles – and food

Industry figures and the TUC warn of missed carbon reduction targets and lost jobs unless government boosts green investment

Exclusive: Rick Haythornthwaite was paid £200,000 a year by Saudi company, PetroSaudi, involved in 1MDB scandal

The Danish author on her new hybrid novel about maternal ambivalence, her debt to Doris Lessing, and attempting to read Freud aged 10

This Dutch apartment started life as a storage space, but a touch of toy design transformed it into a live/work eyrie

UN hopes to galvanise summit talks by persuading world leaders to commit to stop burning coal, oil and gas, despite industry lobbying

Violent fighting between Kurdish forces backed by the United States and local Arab fighters has gripped the Syrian province of Deir Ezzor since August 27. A total of 71 people died in just one week of the fighting, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on September 4. Our Observer…