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ObituaryJohn Stephen'King of Carnaby Street' who changed attitudes to male fashionJohn Stephen, "King of Carnaby Street", who has died aged 69, was a crucial link between trad England, where male flamboyance was sexually suspect, and mod Britain, where peacock display became a right - even a rite - for all men. He was the first to mass-market what had been transgressive gay style to straight lads. At 18 he arrived in London from Glasgow to work in the military department at Moss Bros; for the rest of his life he kept to the gentlemanly uniform of that era, well-tailored suit, white shirt.

Brian Rix in 1984. His farces usually involved a lie, a comic deception and someone being caught with his trousers around his ankles. Photograph: ANL/Rex/ShutterstockView image in fullscreenBrian Rix in 1984. His farces usually involved a lie, a comic deception and someone being caught with his trousers around his ankles. Photograph: ANL/Rex/ShutterstockTheatreObituaryLord Rix obituaryBrilliant comic actor and manager best known for his Whitehall farces who became a dedicated campaigner for people with learning disabilities

FairytalesThe fairytale of RumpelstiltskinThere was once a miller who was poor, but he had a beautiful daughter. Now it so happened that he came to speak with the king, and to make himself seem important he said to him: "I have a daughter who can spin straw into gold." The king said to the miller: "That's an art much to my liking; if your daughter is as skilful as you say, bring her to my palace tomorrow and I will put her to the test.

GermanyThousands of tractors block Berlin as farmers protest over fuel subsidy cutsEstimated 30,000 protesters bring city centre to a standstill as they call on government to reverse decision Thousands of tractors have brought Berlin’s city centre to a standstill as farmers from across Germany protested on parliament’s doorstep over rising costs and a plan to phase out agricultural fuel subsidies. An estimated 30,000 protesters, including farmers supported by a wide range of representatives from other industries from fishing to gastronomy to logistics, blocked the streets around the government quarter on Monday with their vehicles, including lorries and forklift trucks, and even children’s toy tractors.

Women This article is more than 13 years oldThis article is more than 13 years oldSouthern India's devadasi system, which 'dedicates' girls to a life of sex work in the name of religion, continues despite being made illegal in 1988Beeban Kidron on the devadasi system Parvatamma is a devadasi, or servant of god, as shown by the red-and-white beaded necklace around her neck. Dedicated to the goddess Yellamma when she was 10 at the temple in Saundatti, southern India, she cannot marry a mortal.

Country diaryWalkingAiredale, West Yorkshire: The heather here hides bronze age settlements and late Palaeolithic ‘cup and ring’ rock art The stones seem to hum in the heat. There’s something about this sweep of grass, boulder, beech and self-seeding oak that makes it seem a little closer to the sun than the places around it. Perhaps it’s to do with being at eye level with the treetops: beyond the outcropping boulders on the south shoulder of the hill, the land falls so steeply down towards Loadpit Beck that the topmost leaves of the tall beeches on the slope flicker in the wind no more than 20 yards from where we stand.

Harvey Weinstein This article is more than 10 months oldHarvey Weinstein sentenced to 16 additional years for LA rape convictionThis article is more than 10 months oldDisgraced producer was previously convicted of rape and sexual assault in New York and is serving a 23-year term Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 16 additional years in prison on Thursday in Los Angeles, three months after being convicted of rape and sexual assault.

The ObserverFictionReviewDespite its minimalist style, the American writer’s experimental novel tracking the life of a would-be jockey in the midwest is brimming with life Fiction – so close to lying – has always been a suspicious enterprise, not least to those undertaking it: from the elaborate frame narratives of the 18th century (all those found texts and epistolary novels) to the research expeditions of Victorian realists to the autobiographical turn of the present, authors have long found ways to avoid seeming to make things up, or what Rachel Cusk once called the “fake and embarrassing” business of “making up John and Jane and having them do things together”.

‘Mum’s wearing the nightgown she died in’ … the picture taken in Fantasy Land Hotel. Photograph: Naomi Harris‘Mum’s wearing the nightgown she died in’ … the picture taken in Fantasy Land Hotel. Photograph: Naomi HarrisMy best shotArt and design‘When I told Americans I was Canadian, they used to say, “Oh, do you live in an igloo?” So when I saw this hotel room in Edmonton, I knew we had to book it’