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An injured Lebanese boy holds his mother's hand after a rocket from an Israeli aircraft hit their van as they fled their village in Tyre, Lebanon yesterday. According to reports, at least 8 civilians were killed yesterday in Israeli airstrikes.

Dealers using mortgage fraud to launder drug cash
Gardaí investigating recent gangland murders in Dublin have uncovered evidence of widespread mortgage fraud through which drug dealers are laundering their drugs money unnoticed in some of the State's biggest banks, The Irish Times has learned.

Hizbullah rockets strike Israel as Beirut is hit again
Israeli aircraft yesterday again bombed targets in Beirut, as well as east and south Lebanon, killing eight civilians and wounding some 100, while in Israel two people were killed and dozens wounded as close to 100 rockets fired by Hizbollah pounded towns across the north of the country, write Peter Hirschberg in Jerusalem, Denis Staunton in Washington and Mark Brennock .
Policing Board refuses to vet community justice scheme
The Policing Board is refusing to participate in vetting arrangements devised as part of the British government's plan to regulate community-based restorative justice (CRJ) programmes in Northern Ireland, The Irish Times has learned.

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Ireland

More separated parents pay for childcare
More than three times as many separated parents are paying child maintenance to their former partner than was previously thought, new official figures show., writes Carl O'Brien , Social Affairs Correspondent p
Dunlop airport land claim to be examined
An allegation by lobbyist Frank Dunlop that he paid money to councillors to secure the rezoning of land near Dublin airport is to be investigated by the planning tribunal in the autumn, writes Paul Cullen p
EU divided on stem-cell research funds
The Government will seek to prevent EU funding being used for embryonic stem-cell research in Ireland but will not try to block the use of EU money in this area in other states within the EU when the issue is discussed today at a meeting of European science and enterprise ministers. p
Fears for future of famed Wicklow gardens
An Bord Pleanála is to rule this week on an appeal by the owners of the famed Mount Usher Gardens in Ashford, Co Wicklow, against a development plan which they claim would threaten the gardens' fragile eco-system, writes Frank McDonald , Environment Editor p
McDowell disagrees with parts of Barr report
Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has disagreed with the chairman of the Barr tribunal over a number of key findings in his report on the fatal shooting of John Carthy by gardaí in Abbeylara, Co Longford, six years ago. p
Judgment today on Meehan appeal
The Court of Criminal Appeal will give its judgment today in the appeal by Brian Meehan against his conviction for the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin 10 years ago. p
Barrett denies tribunal claims
Former Fine Gael minister Seán Barrett has said he is a wholly innocent man who has been traduced by unfounded allegations aired at the planning tribunal, writes Paul Cullen p

Finance

Cowen urged to intervene in pension stand-off
The largest union at Dublin Airport, Siptu, has written to the Minister for Finance Brian Cowen in a last-ditch attempt to get him to intervene in the row over the airport pension scheme which is facing a major deficit. p
UTV linked to £300m bid for Scottish group
Ulster Television (UTV) has been linked to a possible £300 million (€439 million) bid for Scottish Media Group (SMG), the owner of Virgin Radio, Grampian, Scottish TV and advertising company Pearl & Dean. p
Investors set to vote against Vodafone chief
Standard Life and Hermes are set to join Morley Fund Management in a protest against Arun Sarin, Vodafone's chief executive, at the mobile phone company's annual meeting tomorrow. p

World

Day of carnage as Maliki prepares to visit US
IRAQ: Car bombs killed at least 62 Iraqis yesterday as the prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, prepared for a White House visit expected to focus on halting what many see as Iraq's accelerating slide toward all-out sectarian civil war. p
Kosovo's leaders to push for independence in talks
KOSOVO: Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders will push for independence today at their first face-to-face meeting with Serbia's top officials since Nato bombing forced Belgrade's troops to withdraw from the region in 1999. p
Israel set to agree to international force
Israel's announcement that it would support the deployment of a temporary international force in south Lebanon may have signalled that diplomatic efforts to end the crisis had gone up a gear, but it has also raised speculation over whether Israel was beginning to scale back the goals it set when it launched its offensive against Hizbullah 12 days ago. p
US rejects talks offer and seeks end to Syrian ties with Hizbullah
The United States has played down suggestions that Syria could be isolated from Iran and persuaded to abandon its support for Hizbullah. US ambassador to the UN John Bolton yesterday dismissed Syria's offer of direct talks on the Middle East conflict, which some US analysts view as an opportunity to divide Damascus and Tehran. p

Sport

Woods overcomes - and overcome
GOLF/British Open: This one was for his dad. Tiger Woods, the world's greatest golfer, had shown no weakness - mental or physical - all day, until his last putt, the 270th stroke of the championship, fell into the tin cup on the 18th green at Royal Liverpool to ensure that he retained the claret jug as British Open champion. p