Ronnie O’Sullivan is back on the green baize

Ali Carter believes his big opportunity to topple Ronnie O'Sullivan at the Crucible may have arrived.

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Fashion Audit: Going postal, shoe people, and straps for saps

What we love, we're not sure about, we're buying and can't wait for...

This Christmas nobody has more front than Harrods

Fans of the BBC period drama The Paradise, or indeed of Emile Zola's 1883 novel The Ladies' Paradise, on which the series is based, will know that presenting a fantasy to customers is half the luxury retail battle.

Sous Chef is a beautifully designed new destination-website for serious foodies
Face to watch: Alison Brie steals the show from Emily Blunt and Jason Segel in Judd Apatow's The Five-Year Engagement

Agenda: Miu Miu; Alison Brie; 'The Master'; Propstore; The National/'Game of Thrones'

Fashion: Diamonds on the soles of her shoes

Louboutin flash: the designer recently tried - unsuccessfully - to stop other makers using his signature red sole

Christian Louboutin, Design Museum, London

But they are designed to transport wearer and onlooker alike into a world rich with suggestion

French shoe designer Christian Louboutin attends a preview of an exhibition celebrating 20 years of Christian Louboutin designs at the Design Museum

One small step for a shoe designer Christian Louboutin, one giant leap into the history books

Shoe designer Christian Louboutin celebrated his twentieth year in business yesterday with the launch of a retrospective exhibition at London's Design Museum.

1. Mother of Pearl and Pierre Hardy, £405, motherofpearl.co.uk

The hot list: 30 of the most fashionable things to do, see and wear this spring

1. Mother of Pearl and Pierre Hardy

Syrian First Lady Asma Al-Assad, with her husband, President Bashar Al-Assad

Syrian First Lady's caring image unlikely to recover

Anger at leaked details of extravagant shopping in midst of bloodshed

A Christian Louboutin shoe at the Design Museum

Fashion at the museum brings in the crowds

Prepare to queue for glimpses of finery created by top designers

Sir Chris Hoy has at least four major endorsements paying at least £150,000 each annually

How much is a British gold medal worth? £2m

Home athletes on the podium will earn riches beyond their wildest dreams from sponsors, TV shows and a host of other deals

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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