Derek Scott obituary

Former Blair adviser who foresaw dangers from the European single currency

Gore Vidal obituary

Novelist, playwright and essayist with a complete mastery of the scene he described

Lord of the Rings director will add third film to turn JRR Tolkien adaptation into trilogy, with first set for release in December

Copyright fears stall talks on books being translated into braille for blind and visually impaired people in the global south

DC Comics holds back Batman Inc #3 owing to content 'too close for comfort' after The Dark Knight Rises shootings in Colorado

America's first female astronaut whose 1983 space flight captured the world's imagination

Edward Skidelsky: An economic system geared to the endless production of baubles and gadgets has led us to disregard our basic human needs

Japan's leading online retailer Rakuten is hoping to see off Amazon's Kindle and corner the world's second-largest publishing market

Horn of Africa's answer to Hay-on-Wye fills cultural void for young in country where 70% of population are under 30

Rory Carroll: The Con defies any overarching narrative, so I've simply picked out some favourite moments – and it'd be great to hear yours

Anne Deneys-Tunney: Through the concept of the 'general will', Rousseau believed that the alienation of man could transform itself into freedom

Billy Bragg: Woody Guthrie was shunned by his home state. Now Oklahoma can finally embrace the singer-songwriter's work

Guy Dammann: The Big Ideas: A fundamental tenet of Rousseau's The Social Contract is that it is human institutions that set mankind free

Roz Kaveney: How to believe: Devotions upon Emergent Occasions is accessible because it is the representation of a thought process