In comics, novels and films, the modern cult of the 'New Gothic' reveals a keen hunger for non-religious rebirth.

The German-American actor Günther Kaufmann was brought to the screen by the director Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

Revised deadline from new French regime does not mean 'rush for exits', says Secretary General

Controversy has erupted over the publication later this week of an anthology of Taliban poetry designed to “shed light on who these people actually are”.

A gunman killed a top member of the Afghan peace council in Kabul, authorities said today.

My second week of hidden camera filming around the UK is over and it has taught me a lot about three of our most visited tourist towns.

A deal to release five Taliban prisoners from Guantanamo Bay has broken down

The mortar rounds came in from the hills, spraying shrapnel and debris as they sank into the red earth; long bursts of machinegun and Kalashnikov fire followed, all aimed at the helicopter landing strip. The attack just missed its target – the helicopter in which the local governor was leaving after a public meeting to celebrate the defeat and expulsion of the Taliban from this area.

At a meeting to celebrate the Taliban's 'retreat', what could possibly go wrong?

A British publisher has defended its decision to release a collection of poems penned by members of the Taliban.

Debunking literature's untouchables

Robbers angered by a crowd burning one of their colleagues alive attacked a cattle market in north east Nigeria, killing at least 34 people in the latest violence fanning across the bloodied region, witnesses and an official said.

A bombing in a Pakistani market close to the Afghan border killed 16 people today, a day after the US released a letter written by Osama bin Laden that criticised similar attacks for killing too many civilians.

Two of the most notorious libel cases of modern times have involved defendants called Singh. Singh 1 was Simon Singh, an author and journalist who was sued by the British Chiropractic Association over an article that criticised what he described as bogus practices. After the case had dragged on for two years, three law lords warned that "this litigation has almost certainly had a chilling effect on public debate which might otherwise had assisted potential patients".