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Jenni Murray: Robin Gibb didn't lose any 'battle'

What impact would it have had on more virulent cases if I'd crowed about my 'victory'?

Virginia Ironside's Dilemmas

Dear Virginia,

I am friends with a couple and I get on with each of them very well individually. The problem is that they are always bickering. I know it doesn't mean anything, but I feel most uncomfortable when they do it. They've been married for more than 10 years, and it seems to be a way of life for them, but I hate the way he puts her down, and her spiteful responses. I don't know where to look, and I don't like to take sides. Should I say something? I'm an old friend of theirs and see them often.

Yours sincerely, Sally

The modern fix: Do self-help books really work?

Few subjects are quite so divisive – but self-help books have become a billion-dollar business. With four 'classics' of the genre about to be republished, Nick Duerden goes searching for enlightenment.

Novak's regime and pain is hard, but is worth it

Get fit the Djokovic way (it is as hard as it sounds)

The Serb's victory in an epic Australian Open final has been hailed as one of the great feats of sporting endurance. Robin Scott-Elliot reveals the unlikely secrets of his extraordinary stamina

Young monks run back to class at the Dechen Phodrang monastery in Thimphu

Is Bhutan the happiest place in the world?

Andrew Buncombe visits Bhutan to find out if its people really are as content as they claim to be.

Rubin says: 'The more you pay attention to what makes you happy, the more you see the opportunity for change in small things.'

How to be happy: Gretchen Rubin’s guide to everyday contentment

Gretchen Rubin's blog is one of the web's most popular self-help destinations. Clare Dwyer Hogg meets the first lady of good cheer and presents her top tips for a positive outlook.

Laughter triggers 'funny memories' that help us to feel positive

The best medicine: The power of laughter

Laughter is the most obvious outward sign of happiness. But is it better for our health than we ever imagined?

The politics of positivity: Why is the Government measuring our happiness levels?

Statistics that measure how content we all are might not be as silly as they sound, argues sociologist William Davies

Being Modern: January detox

Blood, yellow bile, black bile and phlegm. Now, we know that's not what you want to be reading on a New Year's Day hangover, but that's what a lot of our Januarys will be based around, so don't go getting light-headed on us now.

Shape up: 10 ways to get fit without spending hours on a treadmill

New Year may be a time for taking stock of everything in our lives, but it's our health and fitness that are the focus of our most penitent promises. Though we ignore dust thickening on our trainers during the festive season, January demands action. But before the dutiful search for your gym pass, it's worth considering that if your mind-numbing treadmill routine hasn't worked thus far, it's probably time to try one of the ever-multiplying alternatives for getting – and staying – active.

Porshe bike RS
Amanda Holden is due at the beginning of next year and the subtext of every tabloid picture of her seems to be: will she be able to carry it to term?

Great expectations: Why are we as a society obsessed with "outing" celebrity pregnancies?

Is she? Isn't she? And is it any business of ours? What our obsession with celebrity mums-to-be says about us

From the heart: French do-gooder Amelie

Cool to be kind: The advantages of being altruistic

Sunday is World Kindness Day, but just how good for you is being kind? David R Hamilton explains...

Dressing table: Men's moisturisers

Compiled by Dominique Major

Eavesjogging: Half the fun of running is listening in to other people's conversations

Running isn't only about fitness and beating stress, says Philip Norman
Career Services

Day In a Page

Is Ridley Scott the most macho man in movies?

Ridley Scott: The most macho man in movies?

His cinematic CV is unparalleled. Yet the Alien director is still obsessed with beating his rivals.
Being Gary Lineker: The clean-cut anchorman is this summer's Mr Sport

Being Gary Lineker

The clean-cut anchorman is this summer's Mr Sport...
Gallic gourmets are putting French cuisine back on the culinary map

Gallic gourmets put France back on culinary map

Overdone, out of touch and old-fashioned: French cuisine has never been at a lower ebb...
So Moorish: Mark Hix offers his own take on classic Moroccan dishes

So Moorish: Mark Hix's Moroccan dishes

Why not create a north African-inspired feast to share with your friends?
Sin and the single mother: The history of lone parenthood

Sin and the single mother

Maureen Paton explores the history of lone parenthood.
The outsider: Margaret Howell is British fashion's queen of minimalism

The outsider: Margaret Howell

The designer tells Susannah Frankel why she has never felt part of the fashion industry.
The 50 Best luggage

The 50 Best luggage

From chic cases to compact baggage, pack it all in this summer
For men only: A pilgrimage to Mount Athos in Greece

For men only: A pilgrimage to Mount Athos

On a secluded peninsula in north-east Greece lies an enclave that's way off the tourist map, especially for women...
48 Hours In: Faro

48 Hours In: Faro

More than just the gateway to the Algarve, this city has much to tempt you off the beach.
Here, the coast is always clear: Celebrating sixty years of Pembrokeshire's National Park

60 years of Pembrokeshire's National Park

Mick Webb reveals a land of puffins, tanks and Hollywood blockbusters.
Free Range: Meet the designers of tomorrow

Free Range

Meet the artists of the future
Feeding a hungry world – or meddling with laws of nature?

Feeding a hungry world – or meddling with laws of nature?

As scientists at Rothamsted's GM trials plead with activists not to sabotage their work, Michael McCarthy visits the battle field
Monkey meat that could be behind the next HIV

Monkey meat that could be behind the next HIV

Deep in Cameroon's rainforests, poachers are killing primates for food. Evan Williams reports from Yokadouma on a practice that could create a pandemic
Catcalls, whistles, groping: just another day for a young woman

Catcalls, whistles, groping: just another day for a young woman

Government urged to take abuse more seriously as London study shows 41 per cent are harassed
Jailing of Maori separatists stirs colonial-era resentment

Jailing of Maori separatists stirs colonial-era resentment

Militant Tuhoe tribe members defiant amid claims race relations had been set back 100 years