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Kosovo's Albanians celebrate in the Kosovan capital Pristina after parliament declared independence from Serbia yesterday, ending a long chapter in the bloody break-up of Yugoslavia. Serbia said it would not accept independence for the new country of two million people.
Photograph: Carsten Koall/Getty Images
Celebrations in Kosovo as independence is declared
Fireworks and celebratory gunfire crackled across Kosovo last night after it finally declared independence from Belgrade, bringing the joyous ethnic Albanian majority onto the streets and keeping fearful Serbs hunkered down in their heavily guarded enclaves.40,000 positive drug tests in prisons
Inmates in the Republic's prisons have tested positive for drugs 40,000 times over the past three years, according to figures obtained by The Irish Times . Detection rates are as high as 75 per cent in some jails.HSE may seek drug suppliers overseas
The Health Service Executive (HSE) has warned it may tender internationally for the supply of drugs and medicines to pharmacists if existing wholesalers fail to absorb the cost of planned reductions in profit margins.
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World
Pakistani opposition say today's vote will be rigged
PAKISTAN: Pakistani opposition politicians said yesterday the government planned to rig the vote in general elections today that could bring in a parliament keen to force the president Pervez Musharraf from power, writes Zeeshan Haider in Islamabad. pPresident knocked out of Cypriot election
CYPRUS: Cyprus's president Tassos Papadopoulos was yesterday eliminated in the first round of a photo-finish presidential election contest. p80 killed in suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan
AFGHANISTAN: A suicide bombing at an outdoor dog-fighting competition killed 80 people and wounded scores more yesterday in the deadliest terror attack in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. pObama's silver-tongued spell will end in broken promises
US Election/Opinion: There's no better path to success than getting people to buy a free commodity. Like the genius who figured out how to get people to pay for water: bottle it (Aquafina was revealed to be nothing more than reprocessed tap water) and charge more than they pay for gasoline, writes Charles Krauthammer . p
Finance
British government to nationalise Northern Rock
The British government plans to take over troubled bank Northern
Rock, saving €2.4 billion of Irish investors' money in the
process, writes
Barry O'Halloran . pPostpone rules on retirement funds, says FG
New rules that oblige holders of approved retirement funds (ARFs) to make withdrawals every year are illogical in the current investment climate and should be postponed, a Fine Gael TD will tell a Dáil committee this week, writes Laura Slattery . pTighter bank lending 'to hit high-value buyouts'
The credit crunch could hit the number of high-value management buyouts in the Republic this year, according to one corporate financier, writes Barry O'Halloran . p
Ireland
Children wait over a year to see psychiatrist
More than 1,000 children are waiting for psychiatric assessments for more than a year, despite evidence that delays in treatment can leave young people at a much higher risk of becoming chronically unwell, official figures show. p'Tudors' the big winner at film and TV awards
Dealing with the political machinations and active sex life of the young King Henry VIII, The Tudors was the big winner at the 5th annual Irish Film & Television Academy (Ifta) awards ceremony last night. pMinister shelves plan to privatise bus routes in Dublin
Plans to introduce competition to the bus market in Dublin to improve services for the travelling public have been shelved by Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey. pPrison drugs figures show extent of challenge ahead
Measures aimed at reducing drug consumption in Irish jails are
having little impact, writes
Conor Lally , Crime Correspondent pTwo Senators in contest for PD leadership
The leadership of the Progressive Democrats is to be decided in a postal ballot that is expected to take place at the end of April. pTDs deny they oppose affordable housing in Sandymount
Two of the four TDs for Dublin South East have denied they object to social and affordable housing in Sandymount after they opposed plans by developer Sean Dunne for the provision of 15 apartments in the area. pHigh uptake of gay support services
A report to be published today has found a very high uptake of mental health and emotional support services by gay, lesbian and bisexual people. p
Sport
Benitez is running out of time
English FA Cup: Quarter-final draw: Liverpool are
to review Rafael Benitez's position at the end of the season after
Saturday's home FA Cup defeat by Barnsley. pBattling Leinster survive double hit
Magniers League/Leinster 24 Cardiff 17: It would be an exaggeration to suggest it was a patchwork team but shorn of more than half a dozen front-line players, Leinster appeared vulnerable in taking on their nearest pursuers in the Magners League. p
