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

Civil rights activists gesture from a police vehicle after their detention in Lahore yesterday. Police detained hundreds of Pakistani opposition figures as President Pervez Musharraf tried to stifle the outcry over his state of emergency.

Photograph: Mohsin Raza

Support for EU reform treaty has halved
Support for the treaty designed to enable the EU to act more efficiently has halved over the past two years. The Government will have a big task on its hands to persuade people to vote Yes in next year's referendum, according to The Irish Times , TNS mrbi opinion poll.
West increases pressure as Musharraf detains activists
The US and Britain are today expected to demand that Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, honour pledges to hold elections in the next two months and step down as the army chief, or face a cut in western support.
New nursing home scheme will include levy on estates
The Government will this week announce the details of new plans for financing nursing home care which include levying charges on the estates of older people after their death.

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Ireland

19 women await result of cancer scans
A further 19 women who had breast cancer scans at the Midland Regional Hospital in Portlaoise and who were given the all clear, will find out this week if they were correctly diagnosed. p
Cash-in-transit jeep held under €1m before raid
Seven men are due to appear before the courts in Dublin this morning to face charges in relation to the attempted robbery of money from a cash-in-transit vehicle last Friday in Co Kildare. p
Durkan says SDLP will not rush into an alliance
Mark Durkan used his leader's address to insist that the SDLP would not be rushing into a formal alliance with any one party in the Republic in the near future. p
Casual drug users encourage violence - primate
Recreational drug users were sharply criticised yesterday by Archbishop of Dublin Dr Diarmuid Martin. He said that the drug trade was, in its own right, violence, a trafficking in death and the ruination of lives, many of them young and vulnerable. p
Focus on key issues in North brought peace, says Rev Paisley
Northern Ireland First Minister the Rev Ian Paisley chose to defer the resolution of a number of issues in relation to the governance of Northern Ireland to allow for the foundations of peace and prosperity, he said. p
Bike in canal leads gardaí closer to gang killers
Gardaí investigating the double murder of Brian Downes and Edward Ward last month believe they have found the motorbike used in the attack. p
Operation to salvage trawlers continues
Salvage experts were last night slowly lifting the wreck of the Maggie B trawler from the seabed hoping the sunken hull would be at the surface early today. The vessel sank off the Co Waterford coast in March 2006, with the loss of skipper Glynn Cott (30) and Polish crewman Jan Sankowski (45). p
Government will not revisit pay rises
There are no plans to revisit the large salary increases accepted by Ministers at the next Cabinet meeting, a Government spokesman said yesterday. p
New legislation permits you to marry almost anywhere
Hotels, castles and country houses are queuing up to cash in on changes to marriage laws which will allow them to become official venues for civil marriages from today. p
British envoy salutes move to honour Irish wartime sacrifice
The British ambassador, David Reddaway, watched as mayor of Co Galway Councillor Sean Canny and mayor of Galway City Councillor Tom Costello unveiled a plaque in memory of Galway's first World War dead at the weekend. p

Finance

Eirgrid warns of increased risk of power cuts
Eirgrid, the operator of the national electricity grid, has warned that frequent breakdowns at three ESB power stations will increase the risk of power cuts during periods of peak demand this winter. p
Prince departure unlikely to shift Citigroup strategy
Citigroup is unlikely to pursue a major change in strategy following the expected resignation of Chuck Prince, chairman and chief executive, according to people close to the bank. p
Gowan Group pays €12m for DG Opel
Gowan Group has acquired the DG Opel dealership on the Navan Road in Dublin for €12 million in a deal that increases the footprint of its motor business. p

World

Chad frees seven held in child abduction scandal
Chad: Seven Europeans held in Chad in connection with a French charity's attempt to illegally transport African children to Europe were yesterday flown out of the country on a plane with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. p
TUTANKHAMUN: first public glimpse as boy king moved into new home
Egypt: Eighty-five years after the archaeologist Howard Carter first walked into Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings, the rest of the world got its first glimpse of the most famous pharaoh in history. p
All-out war looms after killing of top Tamil Tiger
Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka is braced for further fighting with the foreign minister insisting conflict cannot be solved militarily, writes Tom Farrell . p

Sport

Anderson blocks flow from Arsenal
SOCCER: You can't kick Arsenal out of a game any more. That was last year. As Arsène Wenger said on Saturday night, after watching his side salvage a draw that felt like a victory, "Character-wise there is something special about this team, which you don't see at first. There is some resilience and character that is well hidden, disguised by the players' easy technique." p
Merit in Masters win for Rose
GOLF: The road to greatness is rarely a smooth one, as Justin Rose discovered in a roller-coaster final round of the Volvo Masters yesterday. If there were occasions when it seemed as if he had taken a wrong turn, or times that he'd blindly stumbled into unknown territory in his quest to win the tournament and with it the PGA European Tour Order of Merit, Rose eventually reached his final destination in safety to achieve his dual targets. p
Souness says Rangers ties are 'not a stumbling block'
SOCCER: Graeme Souness once again expressed his interest in succeeding Steve Staunton as Republic of Ireland manager when asked about the position on RTÉ on Saturday, this time insisting that his past association with Glasgow Rangers, where he was both a player and manager, should be no hindrance to his candidature, despite having earlier said he "would be a bit concerned at how some people might perceive me in Ireland". p