IT IS hard to understand how anybody in his or her right mind could ever try to justify what happened in Beslan last week.

WITH the American presidential election campaign about to start officially on Monday, the nightmare of Vietnam looms ever larger.

SOME weeks ago I wrote about a persistent rumour that the gardaí involved in the raid on Judge Brian Curtin's home had actually checked with the relevant authorities beforehand and were told to go ahead with a flawed search warrant.

AS usual, swimming took pride of place during the first week of the Olympics and one of the features has been Germany’s failure to win a gold medal. As of yesterday they were reduced to just one bronze.

DURING the Cold War, governments used sport for political ends. The communists pointed to the successes of their athletes as proof of the superiority of their system.

PRIVATE Lynndie England, 21, was brought before a court in North Carolina this week to decide whether to court martial her for abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison. She could face up to 38 years in jail.

AN ARGUMENT being put forward to justify the impeachment of Judge Brian Curtin is that circumstances have rendered it impossible for him to continue on the bench.

WAS Charlie McCreevy rewarded or shafted? It would seem that he was both. He was offered the velvet shaft and invited to jump for the reward of a plum job in Europe.

FIANNA FÁIL came to power in 1997 promising zero tolerance on crime — but this week we have been witnessing a policy of extreme tolerance in relation to the Lorcan Allen affair and the smoking ban.

“ON the eve of his recent sojourn in Europe, President Bush had an unpleasant run-in with a species of creature he had not previously encountered often — a journalist.”