The Irish Times, Irish News Online, International, Sports & Business News

Denis and Mary Murphy, the parents of Brian Murphy, at the Coroner's Court, Dublin, yesterday. A jury returned a verdict of unlawful death at the inquest of their son who died after an assault outside a Dublin nightclub

Photograph: Eric Luke

Fed cuts US interest rate by 0.5% to halt downturn
The US Federal Reserve has cut its key interest rate for the first time in four years in a dramatic attempt to stop the slump in the US housing market from turning into a full-scale economic recession.
Aer Lingus makes proposal to pilots over Belfast plan
Aer Lingus chief executive Dermot Mannion has written directly to all 500 pilots in the company with new proposals aimed at resolving the row over its planned Belfast base which almost led to a 48-hour strike at the airline last month.
Man crushed to death while sleeping in a wheelie bin
Gardaí are trying to contact the family of the homeless English man accidentally crushed to death in Limerick when the commercial bin in which he was sleeping was emptied into a refuse collection truck.

In Focus

Head2Head
Do we need more detailed food labelling?
Business poll
Will Hibernian pay a price for offshoring some of its customer service operations?
Education
Full education coverage

Ireland

Hospital patients sent to hotel
A shortage of beds at a Dublin maternity hospital has forced it to arrange overnight accommodation for some of its patients at a nearby hotel. p
Teachers among highest paid in OECD - report
Teachers in the Republic are among the highest paid in states comprising the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and, at second level, enjoy much longer holidays than their counterparts in other industrialised nations, according to a new report. p
Dockland scheme to express 'vitality of Dublin'
The revised master plan for Grand Canal Square in Docklands, with a diamond-like 2,000-seat theatre as its centrepiece, will provide "an architectural expression of the vitality of Dublin", according to its designer, perky international "starchitect" Daniel Libeskind. p
Nun urges church to give up running schools
The founder of the Immigrant Council of Ireland, Sr Stanislaus Kennedy, has called on the Catholic Church to "plan to withdraw from running schools" and focus on communicating its values. p
Two people thrown from funfair ride in Dublin
A safety inspector certified the west Dublin funfair ride in which two people were seriously injured earlier this week. p
Harney admits lack of isolation facilities in hospitals
There is still a shortage of isolation facilities in many hospitals around the country, Minister for Health Mary Harney admitted yesterday. p
Dublin bin service may be privatised
Dublin city's household waste collection service could be privatised under new proposals from Dublin City Council to allow companies to tender for waste collection contracts throughout the Dublin region. p
Night ban for tankers in tunnel
Petrol tankers are to be banned from using the Dublin Port Tunnel at night from next week under a new agreement between Dublin City Council and Dublin Fire Brigade staff. p
Serious air incident caused by rooftop lights confusion
An urgent warning has been issued after a pilot veered off course when he mistook roof-top lights on a high-rise building in Santry as Dublin airport runway approach lights. p
Four fail in attempt to take pub discrimination case
Four Irish people who claimed they were refused service in a Co Kerry pub because they were not locals have failed in their attempts to take a case for discrimination on the grounds of race. p

Finance

Claret to buy top US hotel for €121m
Dublin-based private equity group Claret Capital has acquired a 90 per cent stake in the prestigious five-star St Regis Hotel in Washington DC. The sale price was not disclosed but is thought to be about $170 million (€121 million). p
IN&M's operating profits rise by 4.5%
Independent News & Media (IN&M) has reported a 4.5 per cent rise in interim operating profits before exceptionals to €154.6 million. Pretax profits, however, fell 13.4 per cent to €94.1 million after accounting for one-off charges of €27.6 million. p
Eircom wins €100m North contract
Eircom has been awarded a €100 million contract to provide telecommunications services to the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) for 10 years. The contract was previously held by BT, the North's incumbent telecoms operator, which said it was "disappointed not to secure the contract on this occasion". p

World

Poles block plan for day against death penalty
EU: Poland has vetoed plans to create a European day against the death penalty because other EU states would not agree to broaden the event to celebrate the right to life. p
Comedian Grillo gives Italian politicians a grilling
ITALY: Bring on Mr Bean. Nothing quite sums up so accurately the current air of frustration, anger and disenchantment felt by Italians about their politicians as the fact that an online movement led by a comedian has developed into a serious challenge for mainstream political parties, on the right and even more so the left. p
Chinese president's ideas to enter party charter
CHINA: China's Communist Party leadership is busily setting out the order of business for its five-yearly congress next month, and the politburo said yesterday that a key item on the agenda would be changing the party constitution to include the ideas of Chinese president Hu Jintao. p

Sport

Efficient Liverpool do enough
SOCCER/FC Porto 1 Liverpool 1 Form deserted Liverpool on their return to the Champions League last night but their customary efficiency in the competition did not. Outplayed and out-numbered for much of their opening Group A contest against FC Porto, Rafael Benitez's men were a pale imitation of the team that has driven Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho to distraction by appearing able to walk to a European Cup final in its sleep, yet still they returned home with a valuable point. p