The Observer: Main section

Prime Minister sets out modern version of 1930s New Deal in bid to combat effects of recession

Plans set to become heavily controversial issue facing Northern Ireland Assembly

Scenes of carnage as Israeli shells strike crowd of civilians who were leaving evening prayers

Poll for Fabian Society suggests recession has hardened attitudes towards wealthy

Crowd of angry demonstrators gather outside London embassy after earlier rally in Trafalgar Square

New study suggests conscientious types live up to four years longer than those with more impulsive personalities

The playwright's notorious sex life was more shocking than his many fans know, argues a historian of his seaside town

Double outbreak could make thousands of pupils and staff ill for weeks after start of new term

26-year-old actor becomes 11th Time Lord - and the youngest Doctor in the history of the show

Peaceful demonstration in Trafalgar Square ends with police protecting Israeli embassy from crowd of 5,000

Gaby Hinsliff talks to an upbeat Gordon Brown about his extraordinarily tough political journey

Gaby Hinsliff asks the prime minister about climate change and green construction projects

'I am angry at the way some of our financial institutions have been run'

Gaby Hinsliff asks the prime minister about Israel and British involvement in Afghanistan

Experts believe that 'WiTricity' could do for battery life what WiFi did for internet

Publishing and TV sensation is being adapted for the stage and is set to tour the UK this spring

More news from around the UK

Boys killed when vehicle in which they were travelling left road and hit a tree

Campaigners feel 'alienated' by ministers' failure to seek views on necessity of changes

Restoration funded by Gower Heritage Centre revives La Charette, one of the world's smallest cinemas

Travellers in UK benefit from price drop of 4% in third quarter of 2008, according to hotel price index

Schools in Northern Ireland defy Education Minister by deciding to hold their own entrance examinations

Hair piece surprise bestseller over festive period at stores like Harrods and Selfridges

Barbara Ellen: The last time I looked, 'nice; and 'good at scoring goals' had yet to rank as synonyms for 'not guilty'

Executives deny character from In the Night Garden had been lightened for commercial reasons

Transport secretary likely to be offered four-year post later this year in place of Lady Ashton

Scottish Labour chief David Stewart to launch consultation on creation of champion of victims' rights

Trio negotiate follow-up to bestselling debut album and share line up with Prodigy and Rod Stewart

The credit squeeze is seen as providing a tourism bonus for the Year of Homecoming

Counterfeiting gangs based in China produce copies of world's bestselling pharmaceuticals

Designer brands turn to celebrity models in their 40s and 50s to sell their exclusive lines in 2009

Staff cuts at Chanel provide first sign of the global recession's impact on the luxury goods industry

Latest technology enables villagers in Katine to bypass middlemen and find out accurate prices for their crops

New pesticide regulations could lead to collapse of UK's £300m carrot industry, warn farmers

David Cameron to visit town after residents challenge him to explain condemnatory newspaper article

Government refuses to disclose the fees paid to TV and pop celebrities for healthcare publicity

Navy medical officer's journal talks of the 'omnipresent danger' of nuclear radioactivity

Conservative Party in West Midlands faces inquiry over alleged failure to declare use of facilities as donation

Government in Jerusalem spent months laying groundwork at home and abroad for assault

Organisation received £1.4m from donor whose father made fortune manufacturing arms

Obscure song recorded 10 years ago inspires thousands of girls who suffer from eating disorders to seek help

Tristram Hunt: Roosevelt's call to arms against recession is resonating today, but his followers would do well to consider all its implications

Jay Rayner: That's the thing about January. It's where good intentions go to die

Editorial: The prime minister is determined to use the economic crisis to re-establish his credentials

Editorial: After eight days of bombing, Israeli troops have entered Gaza

Chris Riddell on Israel's war in Gaza

Editorial: The British clearly like to see a bit of themselves in Park's creations, with their bungling inventiveness and laconic stoicism

Lionel Shriver: Helen Suzman's legacy will last far longer than the enemies who called her a 'vicious little cat'

Peter Oborne: But just as Mrs Thatcher courted unpopularity to achieve her ideals, he must do the same if he wants to gain office

The Observer panel: A hip-hop artist and a man who poisoned three bald eagles are among those to receive a pardon at the end of Bush presidency

Letters, the big issue: Your leader about Gaza was right about the crucial need for talks with Hamas but critically misconstrued the overall political context.

Letters: Your article does the postwar new town programme a disservice. The headline confuses the planning of the mixed communities of new towns with poorly built postwar local authority estates

This week's corrections

Catherine Bennett: Those who argue for the reintroduction of lost species must understand it will devastate a landscape we love

Peter Beaumont: A memory of the long history of Jewish persecution is deemed a necessary compass to its culture, identity and nationhood

Government reports claims a new generation of extremists will soon launch a wave of sabotage and bombings

China launches a tough crackdown on Charter 08, a new network of political activists

Country tells United States it will not resettle Guantánamo detainees when camp is closed

Islamic militants seize police stations in Mogadishu as Ethiopian troops begin to pull out of capital

John Atta Mills declared Ghana's next president in the country's closest electoral race

Rachida Dati gives birth to first child, baby girl named Zohra, at age of 43

Gethin Chamberlain in Kerala reports on the remarkable rise of a confident, goal-getting 14-year-old

Paul Harris analyses the tests facing the new president of a shattered nation where greed is no longer good

Government says it will end island's 25-year war this year and hopes to take rebel leader alive

David Mitchell: A survey has found that Britons are now worrying for more than two hours a day ... This is obviously very worrying

The Observer profile: Trainspotting kick-started a new phase in British cinema, while The Beach bombed and 28 Days Later rebuilt his career. Now Slumdog Millionaire could bring Danny Boyle the Academy Award he deserves

Victoria Coren: Posting photographs on Facebook of women breast-feeding may be bizarre but censoring it is worse

Joy Lo Dico: rounds up the week's news and gossip