In our first issue of 2010 (which confusingly is on London news-stands today, elsewhere from tomorrow, but has a "4 January 2010" cover date) we look back at the war in Gaza 12 months on.

Donald Macintyre goes inside the Strip, a territory still under siege, while Richard Goldstone -- author of the UN's Gaza report -- insists: "I'm certainly a friend of Israel."

Elsewhere, there is a forensic piece by Peter Kellner, who tells Labour optimists to get real. James Macintyre plays fantasy politics and looks back at a dramatic 2010 in Westminster. And John Pilger examines Barack Obama's Orwell complex.

Finally, James Crabtree says 2010 will see the "rise of a genuinely powerful, left-wing blogosphere", ready to take on "the Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United of British politics" (aka Iain Dale, Guido Fawkes and ConservativeHome).

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