Previous Day
Pressure mounts on Musharraf
Ms Benazir Bhutto moved decisively into new political territory yesterday when she called on Gen Pervez Musharraf to resign as president of Pakistan, declared she will not serve as prime minister under him, threatened to boycott the elections he has called for January 9th and demanded the United States stop supporting him. p
Hospital hygiene
The first national hygiene audit of publicly funded acute hospitals makes for distressing reading. Not a single one of the hospitals surveyed received a "very good" report, while management structures and hygiene standards at nearly one-in-five were rated "poor". Two-thirds of those assessed were rated "fair". There is a need for urgent improvement in view of the danger posed to the lives of patients by hospital-acquired infections. p
Opinion
Childcare regulation still in its infancy but developing
The State subsidy scheme for creches should be welcomed because it aims to help the disadvantaged most, argues childcare expert Geoffrey Shannon pDon't write off genre that can help victims turn a corner
'Misery lit'? It is about a victim's need to tell a story, sometimes in the absence of justice, writes Susan McKay , and it may also offer others the possibility of escape pJulia Kushnir case issues
The Julia Kushnir libel settlement tells us nothing at all about our libel laws but quite a bit about the newspapers sued. Julia Kushnir was the woman in a car with Liam Lawlor when it crashed in Moscow on October 22nd, 2005, killing Mr Lawlor and his Russian driver. p
An Irishman's Diary
Why are there no songs about the Dublin-Sligo train service? Maybe there are, and I've just missed them. Or if there were none before now, perhaps a passenger on the 5.05pm from Connolly last Sunday wrote one during the seven hours it took to reach the north-western capital. If not, I appeal to musicians to rectify the situation and honour this national treasure, however belatedly. p
