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Local residents carry the charred body of a victim from the scene of a car bomb attack in Sadriya in Baghdad, yesterday. Some 140 people were killed in the mainly Shia area. There were four other explosions in the capital.

Photograph: Ceerwan Aziz/Reuters

Up to 200 people killed in day of carnage in Iraq
US efforts to subdue the insurgency in Baghdad suffered a setback yesterday when the Iraqi capital endured one of its most wretched days in four years of slaughter, with some 200 people killed and more than 200 injured in afternoon bomb attacks.
Growth will fall to 4% next year, Central Bank warns
Economic growth will fall to 4 per cent next year, according to the latest forecasts from the Central Bank. The bank also expects that the economy will grow by only 5 per cent this year, compared with its earlier prediction of 5.75 per cent.
Panel of judges to be set up to deal with juveniles
A specially trained panel of judges will be established to adjudicate on cases involving children in conflict with the law, under a package of youth justice reforms to be announced today.

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Ireland

Nurses plan stoppages at 50 facilities
Up to 50 hospitals and mental health facilities will be hit by work stoppages over two days next week under a plan devised last night by members of the Irish Nurses' Organisation (INO) and the Psychiatric Nurses' Association (PNA) to escalate their campaign of industrial action. p
Compensation and settlements cost Garda €10m
An Garda Síochána has paid out over €10 million in compensation and settlements to civilians for assaults, unlawful arrests and other reasons such as malicious prosecution in the past five years. p
Schemes aim to help women at home and work
A new agency to tackle domestic violence and a €148 million package to foster gender equality have been unveiled by the Government as part of the National Women's Strategy 2007-2016. p
Belated Recognition: a medal at last for Congo survivor
Nearly a half-century after surviving the single deadliest event in Defence Forces history, Joseph Fitzpatrick has been officially recognised for his service on a 1960 UN peacekeeping mission in Congo. p
Greens rule out pact with FG/Labour
The Green Party has ruled out entering any vote transfer pact with Fine Gael or Labour before the general election, saying it will campaign as an independent party. p
NTL drops plan for €2 charge on existing customers
Cable firm NTL has abandoned plans to charge customers €2 extra per bill for not paying by direct debit, The Irish Times has learned. p
Fundamentally Femine: Helen Cody show
A transport warehouse on Sir John Rogerson's Quay, its interior transformed with black drapes, glitter balls and gilt-edged chairs, was the venue last night for Helen Cody's spectacular couture fashion show for an invited audience of 500 people. p
Ireland 'lagging' on flexible working
Tax breaks should be given to companies that stagger their working hours outside the rush hour, a transport expert has said. p
Overtime bill for Garda more than €100m
The Government's battle against gun crime resulted in the annual Garda overtime bill for 2006 exceeding €100 million. p
Merger to create second biggest union in Ireland
Ireland's second largest trade union is to be created by the merger of the British parent unions of Amicus and the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU). p

World

Security handover continues amid Iraqi bloodshed
IRAQ: It should have been a rare good news day for Iraq's government, as it took control of a fourth province in the south, writes Ross Colvin in Amara p
US Supreme Court backs late-term abortion ban
US: A divided US Supreme Court yesterday narrowly upheld the first nationwide ban on a controversial late abortion procedure. By a 5-4 vote, the highest court rejected two challenges to the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act that President Bush signed into law in 2003 after its approval by the Republican-led Congress. p
SNP head launches withering attack on Brown
BRITAIN: Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond has launched a withering attack on a "counterfeit" Gordon Brown while pitching for English backing for a new "social union" with Scotland. And he has again confirmed his view that Queen Elizabeth could perform a vital role as a "common head of state" for both England and Scotland as independent countries. p
Poland opposes change to EU voting weights
POLAND: Poland is on a collision course with its European partners over the relative voting weight it should have when the EU takes decisions. It has also dismissed criticism from MEPs of its treatment of homosexuals and its purge of former communist collaborators from state positions. p

Finance

Airtricity plans €800m investment
Irish energy group Airtricity plans to invest €800 million in building wind farms in Portugal that will produce enough electricity to power up to 360,000 homes. p
Shadows on economic horizon
The Central Bank's economic views inevitably have consequences in the political arena, writes Marc Coleman , Economics Editor p
Weak car sales hit February retail figures
Sales on the high street dipped in February due to weak car sales, the latest retail sales figures have revealed. However, a leading analyst described the development as temporary and has predicted strong retail sales growth for the full year. p

Sport

Chelsea receive a right fillip
SOCCER/West Ham Utd 1 Chelsea 4: Chelsea showed all the attributes that have made them Premiership champions in the past two seasons. West Ham, for all their early spirit, displayed the failings that will almost certainly see them relegated. With four games to play, the side are five points adrift of the safety of 17th place, occupied by Sheffield United. p
Shock as Uefa look to east
SOCCER: The 2012 European Championship will be co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine after Uefa's executive committee delivered a major surprise yesterday, awarding the tournament to the unfancied joint bid with a two-thirds majority which signals a shift to the east in European football's centre of gravity. p
Ireland humbled but not bowed
CRICKET: Ireland emerged from yesterday's World Cup humbling by Sri Lanka, hatching an audacious plan to safeguard their cricket future by arranging all international fixtures in the British close season. p