North African despot General Aladeen hates the West and is just weeks away from acquiring weapons-grade plutonium. No laughing matter - unless you're a Sacha Baron Cohen fan

Some advice for the outdoor types at the National Trust

Beach shots depict her as a curvaceous beauty queen. But 23-year-old Jenna Talackova was born male and that has led organisers to disqualify her as a finalist in the 61st Miss Universe Canada pageant.

Outlook: It might seem strange now, but business leaders sometimes used to complain about being excluded from popular culture. It was felt that bright and talented young people shunned their blandishments in favour of the professions because business was seen as, well, a bit grubby and best left in a ghetto.

As a founding father of modern advertising, Charles Saatchi clearly knows a thing or two about image. He understands how to influence public perception, and how to get a message across powerfully and effectively.

As 'The Apprentice' returns to BBC1 for its eighth series this week, Sarah Morrison discovers that the multimillionaire host has a softer side

Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown, particularly when it's gusting 25mph, you're “feeling flat” and a Blue Monster is rattling your cage. So it was for Rory McIlroy here at the WGC Cadillac yesterday as, on his first competitive day as world No 1, he shot over par for the first time in five months.

With panoramic views over Central Park, four bathrooms, a library and a chef's kitchen, it is not the average student accommodation.

After bubbling away for months beneath the surface of Republican discourse, the potentially tricky issue of Mitt Romney's religious faith is poised to come into play for the first time this weekend as the focus of the primary season shifts to Nevada.

The GOP is putting on a Tea Party-backed, smash hit revival of 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'

What do a female plumber from Somerset, an Arab property magnate with a fondness for buying English football clubs and an eco-friendly Los Angeles architect have in common? The answer is they all feature in an intriguing legal battle over just who gets a share of the $1m dollar prize money from a Middle Eastern version of The Apprentice.

Former House Speaker now leads favourite Romney in key states

On the eve of the Edinburgh Book Festival, its polymath star refuses to dwell on his back catalogue. Yet Alasdair Gray remains a decidedly retro literary hero. Anna Burnside meets him

So, that's the last time we will be hearing the phrase, "You're fired!" – until the next season of The Apprentice, that is. Meanwhile, hat's off to the winner, Tom, the brainy-looking one, or rather the one who appeared to be relatively brainy (was it just the specs?), until he started wondering out loud about whether Christopher Columbus was British, or whether Byron was a contemporary of Shakespeare's.