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Mrs Christine Keegan (centre), who lost daughters Mary and Martina in the Stardust disaster, during a protest and vigil last night. With her are daughters Antoinette and Lorraine.

Photograph: Matt Kavanagh

Joycean professor jailed and strip-searched in US over visa
A Dublin-born Joycean professor was handcuffed, strip-searched and locked overnight in Montgomery County Prison, Pennsylvania, after flying to the United States without properly completed visa documents, writes Seán O'Driscoll in New York

Surprise ministerial promotion upsets FF TDs
Fianna Fáil TDs were stunned and bewildered yesterday at the decision of the Taoiseach to reinstate Meath TD Mary Wallace as a Junior Minister, almost four years after he dropped her. Stephen Collins and Mark Hennessy report.
Ahern to meet Stardust relatives to discuss concerns
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will meet relatives and victims of the Stardust disaster to discuss their continuing concerns about the fire and its aftermath. Carol Coulter , Legal Affairs Correspondent, reports.

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World

MPs vote to ban smoking in pubs and clubs
BRITAIN: British MPs voted to ban smoking in all England's pubs and clubs yesterday, adding it to the growing list of countries taking a tough stand against tobacco. p
Man shot by Cheney has heart attack
US: The 78-year-old man accidentally shot by vice-president Dick Cheney has had a minor heart attack caused by birdshot lodged in his heart. p
MEPs in talks to agree services directive deal
EUROPE: Negotiators from the two biggest political groups in the European Parliament held talks last night to try to finalise a political agreement on the services directive. p
Sharon's son gets jail sentence
ISRAEL: An Israeli court yesterday sentenced Ariel Sharon's son, Omri, to nine months in jail for the illegal funding of his father's 1999 campaign for the leadership of the centre-right Likud party. p
Divided Lebanon honours slain Hariri
LEBANON: Many of the hundreds of thousands of Lebanese who yesterday converged on central Beirut to honour slain former premier Rafik Hariri used their presence in Martyr's Square to exert pressure on the country's political establishment to unite, initiate reforms and restore security. But pressure tactics are unlikely to work. p

Ireland

President defends visit to Saudi Arabia
On the first day of her state visit to Jordan yesterday, President Mary McAleese vigorously defended her decision to address an economic forum in Saudi Arabia, where women are denied basic rights. p
Firhouse schools offer help to grieving pupils
Educational psychologists counselled children, teachers and parents yesterday in the Firhouse schools attended by Glen and Andrew Keegan. The young boys were apparently killed by their mother Mary before she took her own life at their home in south Dublin sometime over the weekend. p
Pupils leaving school early have difficulty finding work
School-leavers who do not go on to further study are now more likely to become unemployed after leaving school than they would have been five years ago, according to the latest research from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI). p
Concern over MI5 expanded role
The SDLP and Sinn Féin have expressed concern about an expanded role for British intelligence service MI5 scheduled for late next year. p
Costelloe kicks off fashion week
London Fashion Week opened yesterday on Valentine's Day with a bunch of flowery British media reports claiming rosy new directions for an ailing venue on the international catwalk calendar. p
Cork deputies seek meeting with Minister on debt at Cork airport
TDs from all of the main political parties are seeking an urgent cross-party meeting with Minister for Transport Martin Cullen on Cork airport's €160 million debt. p
20% of secondary pupils 'depressed'
A study of almost 1,000 students attending post-primary schools in Cavan, Monaghan, Louth and Meath has found that more than 20 per cent of respondents had significant levels of depression. p

Finance

Company accuses ComReg of moving the goalposts
Smart's argument: Smart Telecom said in the High Court yesterday that it believed the communications regulator ComReg moved the goalposts at what should have been the final stage of granting the company a mobile network licence. p
An Post chooses Fortis as banking partner
An Post is to enter exclusive negotiations with Fortis, the Belgian-Dutch financial services group, on the formation of a new banking operation. The Government - who are the controlling shareholder in An Post - gave its approval for the talks yesterday. p
Broadcasting complaints advert ruling 'cracked'
The chairwoman of the National Consumer Agency (NCA), Ann Fitzgerald, has described as "cracked" a recent ruling against one of its advertisements by the Broadcasting Complaints Commission (BCC) and said it would make it extremely difficult for it to carry out its remit to inform consumers about ongoing issues. p

Sport

Nine players face wrath of GAA
GAELIC GAMES/Central Disciplinary Committee Tyrone v Dublin: After an anxious wait for the past 10 days, Dublin and Tyrone are now facing the wrath of the GAA's Central Disciplinary Committee (CDC). p
Garcia shows strikers the way to goal
Liverpool 1 Arsenal 0: There were only three minute left when Liverpool at last broke the resistance of the outstanding Jens Lehmann. His save from one substitute Dietmar Hamann was excellent but he could not prevent another, Luis Garcia, from converting the rebound from an angle. p