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Green Party chairman John Gormley and negotiator Dan Boyle contemplate the collapse of coalition talks with Fianna Fáil at a press conference in the Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin yesterday.

Photograph: Frank Miller

O'Brien questions expenses Independent pays O'Reilly
The undeclared battle for control of Independent News & Media (IN&M) has intensified after billionaire businessman Denis O'Brien questioned the expenses the group pays to Sir Anthony O'Reilly, its dominant shareholder and chief executive.

Coalition options open as FF and Greens fail to agree
The options for the formation of the next government were thrown open again last night after the breakdown of talks between Fianna Fáil and the Green Party and the disclosure that the Progressive Democrats have already begun talks on a new programme for government with Fianna Fáil.
Developing nations pledge to combat climate change
The G8 summit ended yesterday with a pledge by five developing industrial nations to do their "fair share" to combat climate change, the central focus of this year's meeting on Germany's Baltic coast.

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Ireland

Prison inspector rebukes McDowell
Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has been accused of behaving disgracefully by failing to fulfil commitments that sex offenders would be given incentives to undergo treatment. p
Developer alleges rival gave £80,000 to Bertie Ahern
Property developer Tom Gilmartin has told the Mahon tribunal that rival developer Owen O'Callaghan bragged he gave Bertie Ahern two payments totalling £80,000, (€100,000) in 1989 and 1993. p
Faulty pregnancy tests recalled from 22 hospitals
Pregnancy test kits delivered to 22 public and private hospitals across the State were recalled by their manufacturer yesterday after it emerged some kits in the batch they came from were faulty. p
Apartment opposite Taoiseach's office sells for a record €4.3m
It's not all gloom and doom in the housing market, particularly if you're selling a top-notch property with a bird's-eye view of Goverment Buildings. p
Call for radical review as buses slow to a crawl
Dublin Bus has called for a radical rethink of traffic management for the city after new research reveals that the speed of its vehicles in the city centre is at walking pace at rush hour. p
Concern over YouTube videos of assaults on gardaí
Representatives of rank and file gardaí have expressed concern after a number of video images appeared on the YouTube internet website purporting to show individuals assaulting gardaí and damaging Garda vehicles. p
Wheelchair youth living in garden shed because of lack of funds
A 16-year-old boy with leukaemia is living in a cold, converted shed in the garden of his family home in Dublin because his family cannot afford to renovate their house to make it wheelchair accessible. p
Suspended sentence for causing death of best friend
A man whose dangerous driving caused the death of his best friend has been given a two-year suspended sentence and disqualified from driving for 10 years at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. p
Member of gang that murdered Wright is found dead in prison
A member of a gang who gunned down loyalist Billy Wright in the Maze prison was last night found dead in his prison cell. p
Incinerator agents seek planning board talks
An Bord Pleanála has confirmed that agents for a proposed incinerator in Tynagh in east Galway have sought discussions with it under the new Strategic Infrastructure Act. p

Finance

Iseq down €7bn for week as markets falter
A further fall in the Irish Stock Exchange yesterday left investors with losses of more than €7 billion for the week. p
Port traffic in Republic up 2.2%
Close to 54 million tonnes of goods passed through the Republic's ports last year, an increase of 2.2 per cent on 2005. p
IrelandOffline lobby group to be wound up
The Secretary General of the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Brendan Tuohy, has confirmed that he is stepping down from the post in September. p

World

'Guardian' report claim denied by Goldsmith
BRITAIN: The British attorney general yesterday denied a newspaper report that he ordered knowledge of secret defence contract payments to be concealed from an international watchdog investigating corruption. p
Geldof and Bono spurn 'grotesque' summit
G8: Irish aid activist Bob Geldof has dismissed the G8 summit as a "grotesque, expensive pantomime", its leaders "creeps" and its aid to Africa promises as "bollocks". p
Paris Hilton sent back to prison
US: A weeping Paris Hilton was ordered back to jail yesterday after a day of relative freedom as a judge rescinded a Los Angeles sheriff department's decision to place the celebrity heiress under house arrest. p

Sport

Rafa's in the way again for Federer
TENNIS/French Open : In science they call it entropy, the tendency for the universe to attain a state of chaos. You drop a glass and it shatters. Stars explode and planets die, writes Johnny Watterson at Roland Garros p
CHC to resume on Monday
GAELIC GAMES: The GAA's Central Hearings Committee will resume its deliberations on Monday evening after a late night on Thursday failed to clear the matter of the Cork-Clare suspensions arising from the fracas before last month's Munster hurling fixture in Thurles. The decisions will be announced next Tuesday at lunchtime, writes Seán Moran, GAA Correspondent. p
Robben poised to sign a new deal
SOCCER: Arjen Robben is set to sign a new deal with Chelsea that will tie him to the club for another five years. The 23-year-old, linked with a move to Real Madrid earlier this week, will remain a Chelsea player according to his father and agent. p