What do cyclist Lance Armstrong, the record-breaking sprinter Ben Johnson and the prize-winning dairy cows of Yorkshire have in common? The connection sounds unlikely, but they’ve all been accused of using banned substances to lay waste to the competition in their fields.

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Childcare bloggers Darren Coleshill, left, and Lewis Lippiatt look after a friend’s daughter, nine-month-old Lexi-Arizona Knowles-Smith, at the Brit Mums Live blogging conference in London

Dads offer their answer to Mumsnet – by joining the blogging craze

Fathers bring a new perspective to online diaries – and are the next big advertising demographic, says Susie Mesure

The 10 Best high chairs

Set your sights - and your seats - high with this colourful collection of seats for little ones at the dinner table

Start-Up Loans aid thousands of young businesses

More than 2,000 young entrepreneurs have signed up to the Government's start-up loans scheme, which offers Britons under 30 about £4,500 to help them start businesses.

Becket was physically and morally courageous – and imperious: one glance could bring a room to order

Maria Becket: Resistante who fought the Greek junta then became an ecological activist

Maria Becket was a lifelong fighter for justice and sanity. Sometimes she fought by persuasion, as when she organised a decade of "symposium" voyages to confront the international elite with the growing threat to the world's waters. But sometimes, above all in resistance to the Greek military dictatorship between 1967 and 1974, she took part in clandestine armed struggle, including the smuggling of weapons and explosives. It was hard to believe that this dignified lady bore on one leg the scar of a grenade ill-thrown during guerrilla training in Syria.

Postcard from... Berlin

The east Berlin district of Prenzlauerberg is famous for being hip, environmentally conscious and for having one of the highest birth rates in Germany.

Album: Tori Amos, Gold Dust (Deutsche Grammophon/ Mercury Classics)

On Gold Dust, Tori Amos revisits her old songs in the company of Amsterdam's Metropole Orchestra.

Sales fall brings more woe to Mothercare

Mothercare has posted another set of dire, domestic trading figures as it pushes ahead with its store closures programme in Britain.

Lisa Markwell: What to expect when she’s expecting

The news that Peaches Geldof is expecting her first baby has been greeted with the usual array of positive and encouraging commentary. Oh, who am I kidding?

Ikea alert over faulty high chairs

Parents who bought a certain batch of high chairs from Ikea are being urged to get in touch after several children were injured due to a faulty belt.

The 10 best baby monitors

Want the reassurance of knowing that your infant is safe and happy in bed, without having to creep into their room? These gadgets are just the job...

The ten best high chairs

Getting your little ones to settle down for dinner can be a struggle at the best of times. These versatile seats should help bring them to attention...

Click on the image on the right to launch the gallery

Other mums are the word when it comes to baby tips

For advice and moral support in the early days, turn to those who've been there already, says Kate Hilpern

Europe tightens 'gender bender' chemical rules

Europe has tightened controls on a "gender bender" chemical present in food and drinks which has been linked to breast cancer, fertility problems and other illnesses.

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Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

The great war photographer was not one person but two. Their pictures of Spain's civil war, lost for decades, tell a heroic tale
The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

Someone, somewhere has to write speeches for world leaders to deliver in the event of disaster. They offer a chilling hint at what could have been
Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Think comedy’s a man's world? You must be stuck in the 1980s, says Holly Williams
Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

The Dr Feelgood guitarist talks frankly about his terminal illness
Lure of the jingle: Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life

Lure of the jingle

Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life
Who stole the people's own culture?

DJ Taylor: Who stole the people's own culture?

True popular art drives up from the streets, but the commercial world wastes no time in cashing in
Guest List: The IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Guest List: IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Before you stuff your luggage with this year's Man Booker longlist titles, the case for some varied poolside reading alternatives
What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

Rupert Cornwell: What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

The CIA whistleblower struck a blow for us all, but his 1970s predecessor showed how to win
'A man walks into a bar': Comedian Seann Walsh on the dangers of mixing alcohol and stand-up

Comedian Seann Walsh on alcohol and stand-up

Comedy and booze go together, says Walsh. The trouble is stopping at just the one. So when do the hangovers stop being funny?
From Edinburgh to Hollywood (via the Home Counties): 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Edinburgh to Hollywood: 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Hugh Montgomery profiles the faces to watch, from the sitcom star to the surrealist
'Hello. I have cancer': When comedian Tig Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on

Comedian Tig Notaro: 'Hello. I have cancer'

When Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on
They think it's all ova: Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Our chef made his name cooking eggs, but he’s never stopped looking for new ways to serve them
The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

With its own Tiger Woods - South Korea's Inbee Park - the women's game has a growing audience
10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

Here are the potential stars of the World Championships which begin on Saturday
The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

Briefings are off the record leading to transfer speculation which is merely a means to an end