A REPORT in The Independent (London) last weekend suggested that the authorities in Saudi Arabia are targeting the birthplace of the prophet Mohammed in the holy city of Mecca for destruction.

“AS THE night progressed the party mood was dampened as fights broke out among several rowdy, drunken louts. Punches and kicks were thrown. Abusive language was hurled back and forth in attempts to provoke confrontation.

The US media is struggling to reconcile two cherished values. One is the idea that journalists must not be forced to reveal their sources. The other is much less noble, but no less cherished: get Bush.

OUR minister of state with responsibility for equality matters, Frank Fahey, was put through the wringer last week when he updated the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on Ireland’s progress in the field of women’s rights.

“GOD is good,” said the old tramp one icy night as he made his way unsteadily over a narrow bridge.

Ronan Mullen YOU might have thought the ability to drink alcohol and shake hands was essential for the smooth running of the EU, but you’d be wrong.

AS THE sky grew dark over Croke Park on Monday night it all became clear.

CAFÉ MAO is the name of not one, but two, restaurants in Dublin. This column does not review restaurants, however, and I will confine my comments to the strange choice of name.

ARE there questions to be answered about the questions they set?

WHEN you’re in a hole, the old saying goes, you should stop digging. Michael McDowell cited it recently, as he elegantly side-stepped public odium by allowing Nigerian student Kunle Elukanlo back into the country.