Mothers will makes sacrifices for their children, whether they believe in God, karma, or a mindless evolutionary process The question: What can Darwin teach us about morality? Is morality meaningless when its natural foundations are exposed? No, unlike the naked emperor there is a clear substance to the genius of human ethical intuitions. Ancient man believed that this vigour must have been imparted by the gods, but modern man has attempted to trace back its origins to our animal past. ..

7 hrs ago

Emergence of techies and venture capitalists prompts questions of whether the event has turned away from musical roots It began in 1987 as a small-scale festival with just 700 attending and it was about one thing: the music. Since then, South by Southwest has grown to become a global focal point for the coolest new bands in its unlikely setting of Austin, Texas, annually drawing thousands of people over 10 days. While the acronym SXSW continues to be a byword for emerging musical talent, the ..

8 hrs ago

The ancient British art of industrial brinkmanship that is playing out between British Airways and the Unite union causes pre-election heartache for the government The ancient British art of industrial brinkmanship is risky for managements and unions that try to force each other to blink first. For a government impotently seeking to steer both sides towards a deal during an election campaign it is a hiding to nothing. No wonder that Gordon Brown and his transport secretary, Lord Adonis, say ..

8 hrs ago

Leak to media about BA losses and Walsh and Woodley's combative characters helped dash hopes of resolution The fraught history of industrial relations at British Airways will have its darkest day in 13 years tomorrow when a three-day cabin crew walkout begins. Sources close to the last-ditch talks between Willie Walsh, BA chief executive, and Tony Woodley, Unite joint general secretary, said significant differences remained between both sides, with no hope of a resolution by tonight's midnight ..

15 hrs ago

When Terri was diagnosed with cancer, Lionel Shriver was doting – at first. But as her condition worsened, there always seemed to be a reason not to call… I met Terri in the early 1980s at an arts camp in Connecticut. We were both in the metalsmithing workshop, and this sharply featured, appealingly surly Armenian taught me some new tricks. Her speciality was rivets and other "cold connections", an apt expression in her case. She was a wilful, stubborn woman, more fiercely so than I first ..

15 hrs ago

In 1994, in Trondheim, five-year-old Silje Redergard was beaten to death by two little boys. Today, the girl's family still suffers and one of the boys is in trouble again – the echoes of the Bulger case are clear. So why has the public reaction in Norway been so startlingly different? On the afternoon of 15 October 1994, three young children, a girl aged five, and two six-year-old boys, were playing on a football field covered in freshly fallen snow. Their parents were neighbours who did not ..

Oscar Romero died 30 years ago. Yet he can still teach us much about good Christian values In four days' time I will be among millions of people around the world remembering a man gunned down in El Salvador by a government-sanctioned bullet. In the early 1980s in El Salvador, a single death in an era of disappearances, repression and massacres was not remarkable. But this death was. The murder of archbishop Oscar Romero – by a bullet to the chest as he said mass at the altar – was not just ..

15 hrs ago

John Crace on on the people hitting the headlines this week Oscar curse Michelle McGee The curse of the best actress Oscar struck again as this year's winner, Sandra Bullock, found herself in the company of Halle Berry, Julia Roberts and others whose red carpet glory coincided with their private lives going belly-up. Michelle McGee, a tattoo model (a line of work which will shortly dry up as there seems precious little blank skin left to ink) claimed that she had an 11-month affair with ..

15 hrs ago

Lawyers and human rights groups to give evidence in cases of four women held at Yarl's Wood detention centre Lawyers have been granted permission to challenge the government's detention policy, which they claim amounts to "cruel, inhumane and degrading" treatment of women and children. The high court has given the go-ahead for a judicial review into the cases of four women held at the Yarl's Wood detention centre after lawyers claimed their treatment breaches articles three, five and eight of ..

15 hrs ago

At its première in 1926, Bulgakov's play about the Russian intelligentsia caused members of the audience to faint in recognition of their plight. As The White Guard opens in London, Will Self considers the shadow cast over the writer's work by a phone call from Stalin On 18 April 1930, Mikhail Bulgakov ate his lunch in his Moscow flat and then lay down for his customary nap. However, he was soon roused by the telephone ringing, and shortly after that his second wife, Lyuba, came in to tell him ..

15 hrs ago

Compensation for staff at Ground Zero who suffered ill-health is not a fair deal, federal judge rules A judge has rejected a $657m (£437m) deal to compensate workers who suffered ill-health after helping out at New York's Ground Zero after the 9/11 attacks, ruling the sum is not adequate. Federal judge Alvin Hellerstein said the proposed payout was not a fair deal for about 10,000 police officers, firefighters and labourers made sick by the dust and debris. Under the settlement, the amount ..

16 hrs ago

Rains swamp camps for survivors of January disaster as officials warn of need to move refugees to safer places Associated Press Port-au-Prince One of the heaviest rainfalls since Haiti's 12 January earthquake swamped camps for the homeless yesterday, sweeping screaming residents into the water and causing panic. The overnight downpour sent water flowing down the slopes of a former golf course that serves as a temporary home for 45,000 people. There were no reports of deaths in the camp, a ..

Little Angel, London Patience is often considered a womanly virtue. But think of all that sewing you have to do. If only Penelope had been a little less handy with the needle and a little more proactive, she might have had more than a bit role in the Odyssey. But even in the 21st century, patience is being preached to the wives of soldiers who are deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Inkfish's meditation on the women who wait, a US army wife offers tips to those whose husbands are about to be ..

16 hrs ago

The strikemakers The BA strikers come across as a highly-disciplined block. More than 80% of Unite cabin crew members backed strike action when balloted last month, on a turnout of 79%. Footage on YouTube from the results of a previous ballot, which would have seen a 12-day walkout last Christmas, showed delirious celebrations among staff. But any impression of solidarity belies a more complex web of factions within Unite. The union's largest BA staff group is the British Airlines Stewards and ..

17 hrs ago

Scandals and crises are never far from the doors of the Vatican. They stretch as far back as the Renaissance, when the corrupt and licentious activities of popes contributed to the development of the Protestant Reformation. In his book Saints and Sinners, professor Eamon Duffy writes that this papacy invokes "images of a Hollywood spectacular, all decadence and drag … Contemporaries viewed Renaissance Rome as we view Nixon's Washington, a city of expense-account whores and political graft, ..

17 hrs ago

Dramatic escalation of dispute as three-day strike begins tomorrow morning British Airways tonight threatened to suspend co-operation with Britain's largest trade union after last-ditch talks failed to prevent a three-day strike by cabin crew starting today. In a dramatic escalation of the bitter industrial dispute with Unite, BA warned that it will scrap an agreement that gives shop stewards the use of company offices and time off to represent members – unless a new framework is drawn up. ..