Last night, a minor vote in a spending bill made the first crack in the foundation of the US federal government’s firm opposition to marijuana. While an increasing number of state governments have approved medical marijuana, and Washington and Colorado have authorized recreational use of the drug, the federal government’s strict prohibition against possessing and distributing it has created legal tension and fraught circumstances for businesses.

If you're really contemplating divorce, take the time to think about all the consequences. Think about how your partner will feel, and how you will feel. Think about what you're leaving behind and ask yourself the tough questions.

Bookshops are closing down like nobody’s business. So do they need rethinking for the electronic age? Rosanna de Lisle asks four firms of architects and designers to create the bookshop of their dreams

When urban decay becomes a set piece to be remodelled or romanticised.

In October, the city council of Portland, Oregon, in between updating the payroll system for the police honor guard and changing the duties of the golf advisory committee, adopted a resolution banning Walmart—and Walmart alone— from the city’s investment portfolio. The resolution, unanimously approved, cited an anonymous executive who was quoted in Charles Fishman’s 2006 book, “The Wal-Mart Effect,” saying, “They have killed free-market capitalism in America.”