Last updated: 9/9/2010 11:24:26 AM GMT

Poor children deceived into taking 'worthless qualifications'
Posted on January 22, 2010
Allowing teenagers to apply for jobs armed with “soft” GCSEs and A-levels is the same as allowing an X-Factor contestant to believe she can be the next Britney Spears when she cannot sing, it was claimed. Barnaby Lenon, the headmaster of Harrow, warned that the drive to arm pupils will growing numbers of specially-tailored qualifications was simply “dumbing down” the education system.
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Jack Straw turns up the heat on Blair by telling inquiry: I could have stopped Iraq war
Posted on January 22, 2010
The former Foreign Secretary told the Iraq Inquiry that, unlike Mr Blair, he would not have written cosy letters to the U.S. President promising that Britain would 'be there' when America went to war. In an explosive day of evidence, Mr Straw said the dodgy Downing Street dossier was an 'error' that has 'haunted us ever since'.
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Can Apple’s Jesus Tablet deliver a miracle?
Posted on January 22, 2010
Next week’s launch is creating more than the usual buzz. That’s because it may be the potential saviour of the written word
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Middle East review
Posted on January 22, 2010
How Israel put the brakes on another Palestinian dream
  • Caribbean communism v capitalism
    Posted on January 22, 2010
    With a social safety net but fewer freedoms, is life better in Cuba than in its capitalist Caribbean basin neighbours?
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    Today's Comments
    Posted on January 22, 2010
    Andreas Whittam Smith: Don't be surprised if a protest movement flowers in Britain
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    The Sports Report
    Posted on January 22, 2010
    Football:
  • Tennis:
  • More Sport:
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    Taliban Overhaul Image to Win Allies
    Posted on January 22, 2010
    KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban have embarked on a sophisticated information war, using modern media tools as well as some old-fashioned ones, to soften their image and win favor with local Afghans as they try to counter the Americans’ new campaign to win Afghan hearts and minds.
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    • Aussies try to bring down anxious English batsman Prince William
    Posted on January 22, 2010
    It was like the Ashes all over again — one anxious English batsman about to face the cream of the Australian bowling line-up. Except that the batsman was Prince William and the bowlers were a succession of small children out to see if they could bring down the monarchy (or at least get him out for a duck).
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    • Foreign Office mandarins pick up bonuses while intelligence budget is cut
    Posted on January 22, 2010
    Three-quarters of Foreign Office mandarins were given bonuses last year despite cuts in intelligence budgets made necessary by the plunging value of the pound.
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    Johann Hari: The age of the killer robot is no longer a sci-fi fantasy
    Posted on January 22, 2010
    When the US invaded Iraq in 2003, they had no robots as part of their force. By the end of 2005, they had 2,400. Today, they have 12,000, carrying out 33,000 missions a year. A report by the US Joint Forces Command says autonomous robots will be the norm on the battlefield within 20 years.
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    • Haiti reports
    Posted on January 22, 2010
    Haitians flee shattered, barren city for new life in countryside.

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    • Hospitals must cut services to stay afloat, watchdog warns
    Posted on January 22, 2010
    Hospitals will have to reduce services, sell off buildings and move into smaller premises to cope with financial pressures in the next few years, the head of the foundation trusts’ regulatory body has warned.
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    Tories plan green taxes to pay for generous marriage tax breaks
    Posted on January 22, 2010
    Taxes on driving, flying and other environmentally-damaging activities are to be increased by the Conservatives to fund tax breaks for married couples with children, the Daily Telegraph can disclose.
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    Cameron: UK in 'social recession'
    Posted on January 22, 2010
    Tory leader David Cameron will warn that Britain is in a "social recession" even deeper than its economic one as he steps up pre-election campaigning.
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    • Hillary Clinton criticises Beijing over internet censorship
    Posted on January 22, 2010
    US secretary of state backs Google threat to withdraw from country after email hacking
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    • Gordon Brown to appear at Iraq inquiry before next election
    Posted on January 22, 2010
    Gordon Brown will appear in front of the Iraq inquiry before the general election, Downing Street sources confirmed last night.
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