17 May 2004

From the Editor…

Welcome to the New Statesman website. Whether you are a new reader or an existing one - online or via the magazine - I hope you'll enjoy the great writing, fresh ideas and provocative debate that make the New Statesman Britain's award-winning current affairs weekly

Jason Cowley, Editor, New Statesman

Cover story

America's gulag

Stephen Grey uncovers a secret global network of prisons and planes that allows the US to hand over its enemies for interrogation, and sometimes torture, by the agents of its more unsavoury allies

By Stephen Grey

Features

Now even the Blairites talk about the PM's exit

By John Kampfner

Cabinet ministers are talking openly about when and how Blair will go, and what will happen afterwards. Some still want him to stay beyond the summer, but admit the chances are only 50-50

Facts that should change the world

By Jessica Williams

Out of the 300 million people in the world who suffer from obesity, one in three lives in a developing country, and the numbers are rising

Born free, showing the way

By David Cox

What is the secret of the hugely successful Metro? Could it possibly be that it gives the news straight?

Kyoto prospects 1: Russia

By Tom Burke

Kyoto prospects 2: America

By Geoffrey Lean

A goat's eyes are so beautiful

By Tanya Gold

Tanya Gold finds that love affairs with pets, as in the Edward Albee play, are not as unusual as you'd think

4 comments

Essay

NS Essay - Global warming: is it already too late?

By Mark Lynas

A forthcoming film that shows New York drowning may be based on dodgy science. But as the world gets hotter, climate change really could run out of control and we would be powerless to stop it

6 comments

Regulars

New Statesman Leader

Flaws in the American way of life

Darcus Howe sees blacks turn on each other

By Darcus Howe

We failed to get justice for the murder of 14 youths and, in defeat, turned on each other

John Pilger pays tribute to his mother

By John Pilger

My mother, aged 19, sold her books to pay the fare to her first teaching job in the bush. The currency of her generation was determination and courage

Competition

Win vouchers to spend at any Tesco store

Culture

The last primitivist

By Morgan Falconer

Sculpture 1 - Once Britain's most popular sculptor, Henry Moore has become deeply unfashionable. His iconic bronzes are overshadowed by inflatable ketchup bottles

Lost in space

By Richard Cork

Sculpture 2 - Richard Cork on how Antony Gormley continues to push the boundaries

Labour shortage

By Charles Saumarez Smith

Museums month - Charles Saumarez Smith on why museums, large and small, deserve more funding

Retro appeal

By Stephanie Merritt

Music - Stephanie Merritt on the new stars and old-stagers we'll be listening to this summer

Theatre

Michael Portillo - Pass master

By Michael Portillo

Theatre - David Mamet's PC satire has not lost its power to shock. By Michael Portillo Oleanna Garrick Theatre, London WC2

Film

Mark Kermode - Foul play

By Mark Kermode

Film - Two hard-hitting dramas about hacks and hooligans don't quite manage to score. By Mark Kermode Shattered Glass (12A) The Football Factory (18)

Television

Andrew Billen - In the right

By Andrew Billen

Television - Peter Hitchens's hatchet job doesn't pull its punches but inadvertently reveals a hero. By Andrew Billen Mandela: beneath the halo (Channel 4) Nelson Mandela: accused #1 (BBC2)