GCSEs are a pointless waste of time
A few facts. Last year almost 70% of 16 year olds achieved at least 5 GCSE passes with grades A*-C. ...
Opinion blogs
Asylum seekers: When the questions tell us so much more than the answers
For the last four years I've been paying my karmic dues (I would say "contributing to the big societ...
Thanks to The Sun, for enriching each of our lives
Those at the super-soaraway Sun are, yet again, making outlandish claims that they’ve changed the wo...
Donald Macintyre: Exactly how is Tony Blair going to re-engage with British politics?
03 May 2012 12:00 AM
It was hard yesterday to find anyone quite sure about the meaning of Tony Blair “re-engaging” in UK politics, especially as he has already begun to do so quietly.
Donald Macintyre: Inhabitants of 'Area C' have been neglected
12 January 2012 12:00 AM
If nothing else the EU report is a sign that the international community has woken up to the problems of Area C – including what it describes bluntly as the "forced transfer" of Palestinians from their land.
Donald Macintyre: Why sincerity of Israeli leader is doubted
09 November 2011 12:00 AM
Exactly what Nicolas Sarkozy meant by describing Benjamin Netanyahu as a "liar" is not immediately clear, and the French President is unlikely to prolong the episode by explaining it. But it is safe to assume that Mr Sarkozy has become increasingly unconvinced of Mr Netanyahu's sincerity in saying he is willing to negotiate a two-state solution with the Palestinians. By insisting the Palestinians recognise Israel as a "Jewish state" and by resuming a surge in Jewish settlement building, Mr Netanyahu has given no sign that he envisages the minimum deal the Palestinians could accept.
Donald Macintyre: Whatever else happens, this represents a massive shake-up in the conflict
12 October 2011 12:00 AM
The prisoner swap foreshadowed in the deal approved by Israel's Cabinet last night is a huge shake of the kaleidoscope through which the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has long been viewed. For the majority of Israelis, including the parents of Gilad Shalit, the return of the young soldier after his five-year ordeal will be a cause of unalloyed celebration. So too – assuming the deal is realised as proposed – will it be for hundreds of families of Palestinian prisoners. But in terms of raw politics, its effect will be no less dramatic.
Donald Macintyre: In Gaza, opposition to the UN statehood bid is almost as fierce as in Israel
23 September 2011 12:00 AM
Our writer tests the mood on the ground in Gaza City
Hatred and division in the land that would be Palestine
21 September 2011 12:00 AM
Through the middle of the acrid clouds of eye-stinging, throat-burning tear gas we were trying to escape. One canister fired by the armed border police landed behind and another in front of us – it was hard not to reflect that the force the military was applying during this incident was not being directed at those who started it.
Donald Macintyre: A flurry of diplomacy, but outcome remains uncertain
17 September 2011 12:00 AM
If nothing else, the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's plan to apply for UN membership as a state has ensured an abnormally intense level of intercontinental diplomatic agitation. This week's shuttling between Jerusalem and Ramallah by the US officials David Hale and Dennis Ross, Tony Blair, envoy to the Middle East "Quartet" and EU representative Catherine Ashton, is only the most visible evidence of the hand-wringing in Western capitals over how to handle the Palestinian initiative.
Donald Macintyre: Now is the moment for Israel to talk
15 September 2011 12:00 AM
International Studies
Donald Macintyre: The Palestinian leader can't retreat now
08 September 2011 12:00 AM
International Studies
Donald Macintyre: Freedom in Libya is no longer a wild fantasy
25 August 2011 12:00 AM
International Studies
Donald Macintyre: This compound was the ultimate symbol of the tyrant's power
24 August 2011 12:00 AM
Bab al-Aziziyahh was a mixture of barracks, regime headquarters and holiday village
Donald Macintyre: If these strikes work, they'll buck a decades-long trend
16 June 2011 12:00 AM
Whenever national strikes have been threatened in this century, ears have been pricked to detect the distant echoes of those in the last one – especially now that there is the prospect of industrial struggle against a Conservative government.
Donald Macintyre: New realism pervades Hamas-Fatah negotiations
29 April 2011 12:00 AM
Israelis are willing to negotiate with a coalition including Hamas if it brings peace
Donald Macintyre: Between sanctions and propaganda lies a reality of shortages and ballooning prices
08 April 2011 12:00 AM
In the covered fish market inside the old souk in central Tripoli yesterday, Osama Ahmed Omar, a fishmonger as well as a fisherman, brandished a giant prawn. "You see there is not problem," he said proudly. "Before, these used to be 15 dinars a kilo, now they are 10."
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