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The Ireland players react after Namibia scored their second try of the game at Stade Chaban Delmas, Bordeaux. Ireland eventually won the match 32-17.

Photograph: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile.

Bush hopes to buy time on Iraq with report to Congress
The top American military and political figures in Iraq will today seek to persuade Congress that the current military strategy is working, at the start of two days of hearings and a report that could determine the future of the US presence in Iraq.
Ahern set to be questioned on cash as tribunal resumes
The Mahon tribunal's public hearings into the finances of the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern resume tomorrow with the Taoiseach due to give evidence on Thursday and Friday.
Investigation continuing as McCanns fly to England
Detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are expected to consult local prosecutors today, and have warned that they may ask the missing girl's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, to return for further questioning.

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Ireland

Deaths of four schoolboys 'worrying'
The sudden deaths of four schoolboys last week may be just a chance cluster of cases but is nonetheless worrying, the medical director of the Irish Heart Foundation said yesterday. p
GAA urged to 'embrace' modern Ireland
The GAA should update its rules to embrace the challenges of living in a modern, multicultural Ireland and should take a more proactive approach towards combating sectarianism and racism, one of the association's leading administrators has urged. p
Paisley to step down as head of church he founded
First Minister Dr Ian Paisley will not seek re-election as moderator of the church he founded more than 50 years ago, following a meeting of its governing body in Belfast at the weekend. p
Fringe lunatics on the loose
The Dublin Fringe Festival launched itself in typically raucous fashion on Saturday night, with a number of shows that veered between the bold and the beautiful, the ethereal and the erotic, the hilarious and the horrifying. p
Cork set for jobs announcement
Cork is set for a jobs boost today with the announcement that up to 170 jobs will be created in the city and county. p
Flat seas but sun shines for bands making waves
The vagaries of an Irish autumn threw up one of the sunniest weekends of the year, but no surf, for the 20,000 people who descended on the west Clare resort of Kilkee for the inaugural Cois Fharraige festival. p
Three held over hit-and-run death
Gardaí were last night questioning three men in connection with the hit-and-run death of an 89-year-old Co Clare pensioner who died after being struck by a car as he crossed the road after attending Mass. p
US keen to reopen Exoo extradition case
Federal prosecutors in the United States want to reopen an extradition hearing for George Exoo, a Unitarian minister wanted in Ireland for aiding and abetting the suicide of a woman in Dublin five years ago. p
Newspaper executive killed in crash
Tributes have been paid to a director of the company which publishes the Sunday Business Post, who died in a motorcycle crash in France on Friday evening. p
Deep sea creatures can't hide from climate change
Ocean life: Even in the deep dark ocean where sunlight never reaches, life cycles are still governed by the seasons. And despite being remote from human activity, species living on the ocean floor may not be as safe as we think. p

Finance

US credit crisis may not affect euro zone
Although Irish construction activity is at a four-year low, EU monetary affairs commissioner Joaquin Almunia has said the US subprime lending crisis will not have a major impact on economic activity in Europe. p
3 Ireland has 134,000 clients, ComReg reveals
Mobile operator 3 Ireland has just 134,000 subscribers and commanded just 3 per cent of the €509 million in revenues generated by mobile operators in the second quarter of the year. p
Banks will ensure Dunne will get his two towers
Business Opinion: Builder Sean Dunne finally took ownership last week of the Jurys Hotel site in Ballsbridge, and early next month he takes over the adjoining Berkeley Court site. p
Trudge goes on
Despite radical working-from-home moves by the UK's largest bank, most Irish employees still face the grind of the daily commute to the office, writes Getchen Friemann p

World

Maliki seeks help from neighbouring states
Iraq: Iraq's Shia prime minister Nuri al-Maliki said yesterday that his government had made progress on all fronts and urged neighbouring countries to work together to stop what he called "evil" from destabilising the region. p
Tears flow at Pavarotti's last standing ovation
Italy: Luciano Pavarotti earned the last standing ovation of a glittering operatic career on Saturday afternoon when a recording of the great Italian tenor and his father Fernando singing César Franck's Panis Angelicus was played during his funeral service in Modena cathedral. p
Pope calls for return of 'Christian' Sunday
Austria: Pope Benedict has said that an increasingly secular Europe still needs "the truth of Catholicism" and has urged a return to a "Christian" Sunday. p
McCann tale twists amid growing hostility
Portugal: The good will enjoyed by Madeleine's parents has been slowly slipping away, writes Mary Fitzgerald . p

Sport

No excuse for 'horror' show
RUGBY: If France wanted a pick-me-up when they were down on the ground, Ireland's dreadful performance by Ireland in Bordeaux provided it in spades. Not alone did the scarily close margin of 32-17 - itself only embellished by a slightly contentious late try - mean that Ireland's chances of progressing in the event of a three-way tie in the shark-infested Pool D are paper thin; on this evidence Eddie O'Sullivan's team would not beat Georgia, never mind the other two contenders. p
Staunton looks at options as Ireland ruled out
SOCCER: Manchester City midfielder Stephen Ireland flew home yesterday following a bereavement. The 21-year-old Corkman, who scored the first goal of Saturday's 2-2 draw in Slovakia, will not be available for Wednesday's Group D qualifier against the Czech Republic in Prague. p
Leacy paves way for Model win
Camogie/All-Ireland Senior Final/Wexford 2-7 Cork 1-8: Brian Cody's controversial assertion that Henry Shefflin is the best hurler ever has evoked similar debate in the camogie arena. p