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Lifestyle gurus: Odes to recovery

Do artists, musicians and writers make for good lifestyle gurus? A new project asked leading cultural figures to contribute their personal take on addiction for a series of self-help guides with a difference

Discussing the disabled: Readers' views

Last week, Ian Birrell wrote calling for an end to the casual use of words such as 'retard' that reveal the bigotry with which disabled people are treated. Here, readers offer their views

Inside Life & Style

Microsoft's Bing teams up with WolframAlpha

Microsoft's new search engine Bing, which is seeking to chip away at Google's dominance in Internet search, is teaming up with WolframAlpha, another rival for the Google crown.

Private Viewing: Pick of the property market

We hunt out the best places on offer

Don't miss...

The guilty secrets of palm oil
Are you unwittingly contributing to the devastation of the rain forests? Martin Hickman investigates the production of the 'invisible ingredient', palm oil

Ready to wear
'Everything from vintage dresses to fine furnishing fabric is dissected.' Read Fashion Editor Susannah Frankel's column every Monday

Medical Life
'My niece had world-class emergency care – but now what?' Read Health Editor Jeremy Laurance's column every Tuesday

mydeco
Kit out your home in style with the help of our one-stop shop
Retro rides
The A to Z primer of classic cars

Chef's special
From fried egges with cima di rapa to Eton mess... Tuck into our A-to-Z of recipes

Love sick
Make a date with Catherine Townsend
Private View
Our pick of the property market

French website offers luxury shopping spree

A Paris-based website has launched a competition offering the winner a one-month tour of seven world cities with a shopping budget of 10,000 euros (15,000 dollars), business class travel and luxury accommodation.

The ten best grinders

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Volvo shows first pictures of crisp new S60

These are the first official pictures of the forthcoming second-generation mid-sized S60 Volvo saloon. The first S60 made something of an impact when it was first introduced in 2000 but has had a very low profile in recent years, at least since the arrival of the slightly smaller but fresher S40 saloon and V50 estate in 2004.