The Comment Channel
Leading article: Out of the 'bubble' with a new mood of contrition
George Bush's prime-time address from the Oval Office on Sunday and his press conference yesterday were not only intended to draw the line under his most miserable year in office. They were also the climax of an intense campaign by the White House to win back public support for the Iraq war. In the past three weeks, the President has delivered no fewer than five major speeches in a bid to convince Americans that he has a strategy for "victory" that will allow him to bring the troops home.
Leading article: A welcome absence of fuss
In the end, the location of Britain's first civil partnership was decided by a quirk of regional bureaucracy. The registration period for marriages is shorter in Northern Ireland than in the rest of the UK. So at 10am yesterday, amid the classical splendour of Belfast City Hall, the union of Grainne Close and Shannon Sickels became Britain's first "gay marriage". This becomes the first homosexual relationship to be recognised in the eyes of UK law.
