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Barack Obama makes a keynote speech on race and politics in Philadelphia. He rejected controversial statements by his pastor and spoke of the need to move beyond the racial divide.
Photograph: Getty Images
US interest rate cut eases fears of global credit crisis
A BIG US interest rate cut and better than expected results from two leading investment banks have buoyed markets and eased fears of a global credit crisis that could trigger a deep recession.Obama tackles America's race issue head on
DRAWING ELOQUENTLY on the experience of his own background, Barack Obama yesterday confronted America's racial divisions in the most sweeping speech on the issue by any major US politician for a generation.Children from poor areas 30 times likelier to face court
CHILDREN FROM the poorest parts of Dublin are almost 30 times more likely to end up in the criminal justice system compared with those from other parts of the capital, research shows.
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Ireland
Pair were in Rome for weekend visit
ELIZABETH ANN Gubbins, from Lisnagry, Co Limerick, and Mary
Claire Collins, from Ballintubbert, Athy, Co Kildare, had travelled
to the Italian capital for a weekend break with two college friends
with whom they used to share a house in Dublin. pIrish tourists in Rome killed by hit-and-run driver
TWO IRISH tourists, 28-year-old Mary Claire Collins from Athy, Co Kildare, and 27-year-old Elizabeth Ann Gubbins from Lisnagry, Co Limerick, were killed in a hit-and-run incident in the centre of Rome in the early hours of yesterday. pLaw to introduce student work permits
ALL STUDENTS from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) will have to have work permits if they wish to work here, under a new scheme to be introduced by the Government. p28 soldiers injured in multiple vehicle crash
THREE MILITARY trucks which were involved in a crash on the M50
yesterday, in which 28 young soldiers were injured, were not fitted
with any safety belts or harnesses, the Defence Forces has
confirmed. pQueen in North for 3-day visit
QUEEN ELIZABETH arrived in Northern Ireland yesterday evening
for a three-day visit that also coincides with a visit to Belfast
today by President Mary McAleese. pDrowned fishing brothers buried
HUNDREDS OF mourners attended the funerals in Co Donegal
yesterday of the two brothers, both of them grandfathers, who
drowned after their fishing boat sank when they were tending their
lobster pots off Inishowen Head last Friday night. pOmbudsman using secret methods, says Garda group
AGSI ANNUAL CONFERENCE: GARDA SERGEANTS and inspectors have launched a strong attack on the Garda Ombudsman Commission, accusing it of operating in a secret manner. pSpiderwick's magical effect on young boys
GOBLINS, BROWNIES, griffins and sprites, mixed with a sprinkling
of magic and a puff of mystery, seem to be what catches the
imagination of that timid creature, the boy reader. pCoughlan pressed on distributing extra EU milk quota
PRESSURE IS being exerted on Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan on how she should distribute the extra 24 million gallons of milk Irish dairy farmers will be allowed produce from April. pPension fund to remove money from bomb firms
THE NATIONAL Pensions Reserve Fund (NPRF), set up by the
Government to finance the State's future pension requirements, is
preparing to withdraw €27 million in investments from six
international companies which are listed as being involved in the
production of cluster munitions. pAhern's comments on undocumented Irish in US criticised
FINE GAEL, SDLP politicians and a leading Irish-American campaigner for immigration reform have criticised the Taoiseach for comments he made on the position of the undocumented Irish in the US. p
World
Chinese premier Wen blames Dalai Lama for unrest in Tibet
CHINA: AS CHINA tightened its grip on Tibet, its
premier Wen Jiabao launched a vitriolic attack against the Dalai
Lama, accusing the exiled Tibetan leader of orchestrating last
week's riots and of trying to wreck the Beijing Olympics. pUN officer dies after Serb riots
KOSOVO: NATO PLACED the Kosovan town of Mitrovica
under de facto military law yesterday after riots by a Serb
population hostile to independence killed one UN policeman and
forced the pull-out of UN personnel. p'English Patient' director Minghella dies at age of 54
BRITAIN: BRITISH FILM director Anthony Minghella, who won an Oscar for The English Patient , died in a London hospital yesterday after a short illness, his agent said. He was 54. p
Finance
Interest rate reduction to put extra pressure on dollar
THE FED'S decision last night to cut interest rates by
three-quarters of a percentage point to 2.25 per cent will
accentuate the downward pressure on the US dollar, making life
harder for Irish exporters to the US. pRyanair can keep Aer Lingus voting rights
AER LINGUS has failed in its bid to have voting rights removed from Ryanair's 29.44 per cent shareholding in the airline. pIrish broadband take-up praised, but cost criticised
EU TELECOMS Commissioner Viviane Reding has praised the Republic's recent leap forward in the take-up of broadband but has insisted that retail prices need to come down. p
Sport
Given likely to miss rest of season
SOCCER: SHAY GIVEN looks unlikely to play any part
in Ireland's first games under new manager Giovanni Trapattoni
after undergoing surgery on a groin problem in Munich
yesterday. pGrants scheme gets final approval
GAA: THE GAA has released the final document pertaining to the much-debated Government intercounty players awards scheme, which instead of any direct grant aid, is based on vouched expenses only. p
