Commentators
Martin Vander Weyer: A cautiously happy new year

Published: 01 January 2006
Tom Shakespeare: Still seeking the elixir of life? Just don't expect it at the doctor's

Published: 01 January 2006
Geoffrey Lean: Why I'm always suspicious of politicians who bear green gifts

Published: 01 January 2006
Melanie McDonagh: Lord Sir Seb - just how many honours does a man need?

Published: 01 January 2006
Marcus Berkmann: Is Tom Cruise really better - or am I getting old?

Published: 01 January 2006
Rupert Cornwell: Out of America

Published: 01 January 2006
Maurice Frankel: It's Britain, so some doors are locked
Published: 31 December 2005
The Freedom of Information Act has begun to open doors - but is yet to be fully tested against those the Government is determined to keep locked.
Sa'id Ghazali: The Palestinian Authority is a donkey with a load too heavy to bear

Published: 31 December 2005
This new fashion of kidnapping in Gaza is just a symptom of the combination of economic failure, rotten politics, and international hypocrisy.
Rupert Cornwell: The American Century that never was

Published: 31 December 2005
John Lidstone: The New Year Honours List is a corrupt farce
Published: 29 December 2005
Jenny Watson: For too many, children put paid to equality
Published: 29 December 2005
Today marks thirty years since the Sex Discrimination Act came into force. The Act, which created the Equal Opportunities Commission, outlawed discrimination on the grounds of sex, ushering in a degree of "formal" equality. Yet three decades later, women still face a poverty penalty. The pay gap between men and women remains at 17 per cent for full-time workers and more than 38 per cent hour-for-hour for those working part time. The latter has barely changed since 1975.
Richard Askwith: Bring back National Service - but not for the young

Published: 29 December 2005
Joanna Briscoe: The Sharp End

Published: 29 December 2005
Oliver Gillie: World is waking up to medicinal power of the outdoors
Published: 28 December 2005
The discovery that vitamin D is vital for the health of 30 or more different tissues and organs of the body has been one of the most significant medical discoveries of the last 10 years but, until very recently, only a few dozen scientists scattered round the world were interested. Most scientists and doctors thought that vitamin D was important only for the healthy bones.
DJ Taylor: Why we find Sienna and Kerry so inspirational

Published: 28 December 2005
Michael Perry: 'I felt compelled to write her name in the sand'
Published: 27 December 2005
"My daughter, Hannah Tugwell, was killed by the tsunami last year while staying staying at a beachfront bungalow in Khao Lak. She was with her husband, Matthew, who survived. She was a special needs teacher, and we were very proud of her.
Richard Dowden: Fairer trade, more aid and debt relief are not really the answer to Africa's problems

Published: 27 December 2005
Danielle Demetriou: How the tsunami changed our lives

Published: 27 December 2005
The Third Leader: Holiday hardship

Published: 27 December 2005
One of the principal purposes of this space, dogged readers may have noticed, is to promote optimism, offer consolation and market harmony. That is why today, at the start of this uncertain period between the gloomy certainties of the old year and the nervous promise of the new, I want to appeal for unity in a divided nation. Yes, I know during the coming week many of you will be on holiday; and I know, too, many of you will be back at work: and I recognise this can cause tensions, feelings of injustice, and, in extreme cases, muttering. And that's just over the washing up.
Charles Nevin: News from Elsewhere

Published: 26 December 2005
Kathy Marks: The end of innocence at Bondi beach

Published: 26 December 2005
Jan Egeland: Will we be ready when a tsunami strikes again?
Published: 26 December 2005
The Third Leader: How was it for you?

Published: 26 December 2005
So, here we are, made it. A little sensitive this morning, perhaps, but, with luck, you eschewed toast, which can be loud, and adjusted the altitude from which to pour milk on to the cereal down to its lowest possible level. Excellent. A quiet moment, then, with your newspaper, as ever an aid to sober reflection.
Richard Ingrams' Week: Where is Dickens when you need him?

Published: 24 December 2005
Christmas inevitably reminds people of Charles Dickens who is seen, rightly or wrongly, as the inventor of Yuletide cheer and jollity and its reverse side represented by the mean old miser Ebenezer Scrooge.
Rupert Cornwell: Could George Bush end up impeached?

Published: 24 December 2005