28 March 2005

From the Editor…

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Cover story

Inside Islam's ''terror schools''

Madrasas are Islamic colleges accused by the US of incubating terrorism and the attacks of 9/11. From Pakistan, William Dalrymple investigates the threat

Features

Our man in Blackburn

Paul Routledge meets the ex-ambassador who wants to bring down the Foreign Secretary

Essay

NS Essay - Does sex make us happy? Don't talk about it . . .

Our satisfaction in bed is not rising in relation to the public obsession with open sexuality - in fact, quite the opposite

Regulars

Howard goes back to the night

Politics - John Kampfner tells Labour to stop the silly stunts

Labour's problem is its core support. The danger, according to the polls and the focus groups, remains a refusal to vote rather than a switch to the Tories

Mark Thomas finds torture for sale on the web

The NS uncovered a UK company selling torture equipment worldwide. It was advertising openly on the web - but the government had not even investigated it

Darcus Howe explains a teenage gun crime wave

My son wrote: "Pull out my shot gun ten slugs left in your jaw"

Mark Kermode - Tragic comedy

Woody Allen's latest offers lots to chew on, but leaves us empty, writes Mark Kermode Melinda and Melinda (12A) Maria Full of Grace (15)

Competition

Win vouchers to spend at any Tesco store

Culture

The snore of the crowds

As Billy Elliot: the musical hits the West End stage, hot on the heels of Mamma Mia! and Mary Poppins, a night at the theatre seems more a comfort blanket of familiarity than an adventurous excursion into original art

Simply the best

Visual Arts - The international arts and crafts movement reveals all its beguiling contradictions to Richard Cork

Aye, there's the nub

Amnesia - Michael Coveney on the persistence of a noble theatrical tradition

Michael Portillo - Devil woman

Theatre - Ibsen's anti-heroine exercises all her demonic power. By Michael Portillo Hedda Gabler Almeida Theatre, London N1

Andrew Billen - Run for your life

Television - A battle for ratings upstages the fight for survival, writes Andrew Billen Doctor Who (BBC1)

The fan - Hunter Davies yearns for the Corinthian spirit

When a player gets sent off, shouldn't we fans get some money back?

Books

Paradise found

Matisse the Master: a life of Henri Matisse - the conquest of colour, 1909-1954 Hilary Spurling Hamish Hamilton, 512pp, £25 ISBN 0241133394

Here we go

Those Feet: a sensual history of English football David Winner Bloomsbury, 274pp, £14.99 ISBN 0747547386

Ladies' man

Cary Grant: a biography Marc Eliot Aurum Press, 436pp, £18.99 ISBN 1845130731

Two nations

Being Indian: inside the real India Pavan K Varma William Heinemann, 217pp, £17.99 ISBN 0434013919

Elusive thoughts

Emotional Rollercoaster: a journey through the science of feelings Claudia Hammond Fourth Estate, 417pp, £15.99 ISBN 0007164661

Secret self

26a Diana Evans Chatto & Windus, 230pp, £12.99 ISBN 0701177969

Observations

The snobs hold their noses

Observations on school dinners. By Brendan O'Neill

Why it should be an election issue

Observations on abortion

Not so far from heaven

Observations on mobile phones

A woman breaks a taboo

Observations on Islam

All play together!

Observations on Etonian nostalgia

Blood and gore on the web

Observations on teenage cults

Green heroes

The top ten

20 green heroes and villains: Heroes

Green villains

The top ten

20 green heroes and villains: Villains

Bjorn Lomborg

Cloud control

Cloud control

Interview

Omar Bin Laden

The NS Interview: Omar Bin Laden

James Macintyre

Brown at war

Like it or not, Brown’s a war leader

What if...

Hugh Gaitskell lived

What if... Hugh Gaitskell had lived

Will Self

On brands

We’re all with the brand

Film review

A Serious Man

A Serious Man (15)

Vote!

Will Baroness Ashton be an effective EU foreign minister?

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