Yet the timing was indeed bad. It came less than 48 hours after Mr Obama's envoy George Mitchell had finally been able to announce that indirect negotiations would go ahead – negotiations which an infuriated Palstinian leadership said it would not pa...

So the army of "gently channelled" graduates would then be "better tailored to the country's future requirements"; that is science and technology. This will diminish the essential universality of the university, boiling down its broad scope to traini...

A ban on the trade of bluefin tuna would have given this critically endangered fish a chance to recover. Instead, member governments of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) rejected the proposal....

As the Leaf shows, the electric vehicle has come a long way form the milk float; it joins the existing petrol-electric hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius in adding to the choice offered to the driver. There are others too, albeit less successful or fu...

It is hard for mainstream high streets to draw lessons from the British Indian approach to business, not least because of the idiosyncrasies of south Asian culture. But an analysis should provide them with food for thought. Most British Indian shopke...

And we reported last week that ministers are locking departments into commercial contracts for pet Labour projects that will be difficult and expensive to break, despite the rule that civil servants should not enact policies in the run-up to an elect...

When offered a financial reward for taking part in the study on whether they shop at "green" online shops or "normal" ones, those who bought green also helped themselves to a disproportionately high sum. So much for virtue being its own reward. And t...

It will put pressure on the inquiry into student finance, headed by Lord Browne, to recommend a substantial increase in the present cap on tuition fees of £3,240 a year. This is unlikely to be a major financial threat to students from the poorest bac...

But however untrue it feels, psychologists know differently; indeed, they have done for years. There is nothing new about the quasi-experiment broadcast on French television. Instead, it is a new twist on one of the most famous studies in the history...

As a creaky-jointed, dull-witted, ungainly fencer who only took up the sport at the age of 28 I'm not in any danger of bringing home Olympic medals for my country. I joined a new London club in January, one that uses a beautiful wood-panelled fencing...