Does Hillary keep going?
Does Hillary Clinton keep going? In a - victory? concession? – speech that started on a deeply graceless note (crowing about a win in Indiana that was by no means settled at the moment she was speaking) but did improve from there, writes Michael Tomasky, Clinton alternatively indicated that she was going to continue fighting tooth and nail for the Democratic nomination and that she was mentally preparing herself to start burying the hatchet and accepting that she will not be her party's nominee. As of Tuesday morning, most people were expecting a narrow Obama win in North Carolina and a handy Clinton victory in Indiana. But just the opposite happened, and dramatically so. Her campaign had been building up expectations that they had Obama on the run and the momentum was all her way. Now she has no momentum. Or, as it happens, money. Michael Tomasky Guardian Unlimited
It's all but over for Hillary Clinton 
Personalities, not policies
The legacy of Tony Blair and his court to the British constitution was the electoral supremacy of persons over programmes, of likeability and familiarity, vision and abstract nouns, over the machinery of the governmental engine room, writes Simon Jenkins. When David Cameron took over the Conservative party in 2005, he was advised to steer clear of policy. Every pollster asserted that, with democracy no longer about some great clash of class or economic interest, voters wanted their leaders to be reassuring, celebrated, pleasant on television and somehow therefore trustworthy in a crisis. This was a truth, not some transient Blairite quirk. Watch any American election. Yet when Gordon Brown wakes up in the morning, so he told BBC radio, he first thinks of people's hardship and mortgage rates. Most people think of a cup of tea. Simon Jenkins The Guardian
The Mole: Will Gordon go for the good of the party? Or can he turn it around?
Trying to help Burma
It is very difficult to separate the effects of conflict, natural disaster and the overall political situation in Burma, writes Conor Foley. The country has experienced several decades of conflict, and there has been a number of ethnically based insurgencies, which the regime has dealt with through coercion and cooption. This has led to the creation of military fiefdoms which are in effect ruled by former warlords. Even when humanitarian agencies have obtained central government permission to operate in a particular area, they often have to negotiate it again at a local level. The opium trade has done much to fuel the conflicts, and both warlords and the army are accused of conscripting labour and levying taxes. This creates a further dilemma for humanitarian agencies, whose staff often witness such violations. Ignoring them might be seen as tantamount to condoning them, but speaking out could bring loss of access. Conor Foley The Guardian
News in Pictures: Burma, the cyclone
Latest from Burma
Israel at 60
Israel says it can't afford to legitimise Hamas, even indirectly, for fear of undermining the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, says Jonathan Freedland. Fine. In which case, surely, Israel would be doing all it could to bolster Abbas's credibility - by, say, removing West Bank outposts deemed illegal under Israeli law, or offering compensation to those Jewish settlers ready to leave occupied territory voluntarily and return to Israel-proper. Yet Ehud Olmert has done no such thing. In this, the PM is doing no more than follow the national mood. Few Israelis like to say this out loud, but they believe they can get by without peace. Thanks, they whisper, to the separation barrier or wall, terror attacks have dwindled: Palestinian violence is contained. In an economy that enjoyed 5.1 per cent growth last year, the majority of Israelis will celebrate the 60th anniversary of their country contentedly. Jonathan Freedland The Guardian
News in Pictures: Israel, birth pangs of a nation
How to stop drunken disorder
Alcohol abuse has become a national scandal, writes Magnus Linklater. When visiting tourists describe negotiating our town centres as a danger to life and limb; when the cost of crime and drink-related illness is calculated at £20 billion a year; when getting "wasted" every weekend is regarded as a legitimate, not to say essential, leisure activity, then standing back and doing nothing is not a serious option. In a West Lothian village, for the past six weeks, no one under 21 has been able to buy alcohol from off licences between 5pm and 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays. The results have been dramatic. The number of calls to the police reporting vandalism by youths has come down by half, and cases of assault have reduced by 57 per cent. Effective local action can be taken against booze culture.
Magnus Linklater The Times
