Leading Articles
Leading article: One last, desperate, throw of the dice
Published: 10 January 2007
At any other time in the past six years, the nationwide television address that President George Bush is to make tonight might justifiably have been described as make-or-break
Leading article: An incentive to diversify
Published: 10 January 2007
The winter oil crisis between Russia and Belarus seems to be approaching a resolution. A delegation from Minsk has been dispatched to Moscow
Leading article: A situation fraught with confusion and tension
Published: 09 January 2007
The last months of Tony Blair's time in office as Prime Minister were always going to be an uncertain time in British politics. Quite how uncertain is now becoming awkwardly apparent.
Leading article: A welcome rethink on testing
Published: 09 January 2007
The Education Secretary, Alan Johnson, deserves some credit for yesterday's blueprint for reforming national curriculum testing. It is the first serious attempt to get to grips with the problems that the current testing and league table regime has produced.
Leading article: Israel should give diplomacy more time to work
Published: 08 January 2007
As sure as night follows day, the West is being led into a military confrontation with Iran with imponderable, but certainly terrifying, consequences. The cycle of leak followed by denial should fool no one. The Israelis are the source of both.
Leading article: A matter of choice
Published: 08 January 2007
No prizes for guessing why David Miliband should have decided to deliver some pretty waspish remarks about the organic food industry. As minister for food, among other things, Mr Miliband is playing to the gallery.
Leading article: Cartoon character
Published: 08 January 2007
Oh Lord, Tigger has hit someone! A child, no less. Strange how life in all its grittyness has a habit of breaking into our artfully-created dream worlds, of which Disney World is a classic example.
Leading article: The oil rush
Published: 07 January 2007
"The oil can is mightier than the sword," said the 19th-century US Senator Everett Dirksen. Nowhere does this seem more true than in contemporary Iraq where, despite widespread despair about the war's costs, US corporations look set to be some of the conflict's few winners
Leading article: Bush's reshuffle prepares the way for a sharp change of course in Iraq
Published: 06 January 2007
Leading article: A minister's hot air about cheap flights
Published: 06 January 2007
Michael O'Leary, the brash boss of the low-cost airline Ryanair, is not perhaps the man to turn to for judgements on the environment. His response to the landmark Stern review was, after all, that it was "a report by an idiot economist". But it was disingenuous of the environment minister Ian Pearson to brand Mr O'Leary "the irresponsible face of capitalism" for refusing to take climate change seriously.
Leading article: Lessons from the whitewash
Published: 06 January 2007
The 5-0 Ashes whitewash in Australia has been met with a trademark forward defensive shot from cricket's administrators in the shape of a " comprehensive and wide-ranging" review. If only England's batsmen had defended with such alacrity, there would not be any need for such a review.
Leading article: A historic bargain is still in prospect
Published: 05 January 2007
Tony Blair's decision to forsake the blue skies of Miami for the swirling grey mists of the Irish peace process can be seen as an effort to head off a looming problem rather than an admission of full-blown crisis
Leading article: Mr Cameron and Mr Brown share a problem
Published: 05 January 2007
The Conservative Party remains in a state of paralysis over Iraq. The Tory leader, David Cameron, yesterday described the leaked footage of Saddam Hussein's execution as "pretty grisly". That is putting it mildly
Leading article: A war that has made a martyr out of a tyrant
Published: 04 January 2007
By the time Saddam Hussein had been tried and condemned, there were surely few who still believed that his execution would solve anything
Leading article: Reaping what we sow
Published: 04 January 2007
Those attending the farming industry's annual conference in Oxford yesterday were treated to speeches from two politicians who have placed the environment at the heart of their political profiles
Leading article: Two failed states, united by a common grievance
Published: 03 January 2007
On the face of it, Somalia and Liberia have a considerable amount in common. Both nations, on either side of the African continent, have been classic " failed states"
Leading article: Pets, pests and their owners
Published: 03 January 2007
The family of Ellie Lawrenson, the five-year-old girl killed by her uncle's dog on New Year's Day, is said to be "absolutely devastated" by her death
Leading article: An expansion that will benefit all Europeans
Published: 02 January 2007
This is a moment for celebration. Yesterday two more countries from the former communist bloc - Romania and Bulgaria - joined the European Union.
Leading article: The right medicine
Published: 02 January 2007
Some might feel limited sympathy for the drug companies who lose out as a result of this fraud. Pharmaceuticals are increasingly focused on " blockbuster" drugs such as Viagra from which they are making hefty profits
Leading article: Giving the poor and weak a global voice
Published: 01 January 2007
With the new year comes regime change on New York's East River. At midnight Kofi Annan stepped down as United Nations Secretary General. From today Ban Ki-moon of South Korea takes over; the first Asian in three decades to head the organisation.
Leading article: The battle to come
Published: 01 January 2007
Last year was the warmest on record in Britain. Globally, it was the sixth hottest. Even those who live in temperate climes can sense the planet is getting warmer.
Leading article: A taste of honey
Published: 01 January 2007
Feeling delicate this morning? Headache? Upset stomach? Sense of guilt over last night's alcohol-lubricated festivities? Time for some toast and honey. According to the Royal Society of Chemistry this sweet snack is the ideal tonic for a hangover. Forget raw eggs, "hair of the dog" and whatever old wives' tale you've been clinging to over the years: honey provides the body with what it needs most after a night out. Syrup also does the job, although it is rather less appealing first thing in the morning.
Leading article: Victor's justice
Published: 31 December 2006
One of the hopes of a more enlightened rule of international law is the turning away of the world from the death penalty, even for the most serious crimes of genocide. From the Nuremberg trials of 1945-46 to today's apparatus for dealing with war crimes based on the international court at the Hague, one of the profound shifts in legal attitudes has been the gradual disavowal of capital punishment
Leading article: Execution will do nothing to quell the violence
Published: 30 December 2006
Leading article: Slow but sure change in Northern Ireland
Published: 30 December 2006
There has been something of a balance of anguish for Northern Ireland politicians of late, as both republicans and loyalists have been bringing themselves to the point of making groundbreaking moves.
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