Would you please advise or maybe remind your columnist Colette Browne that in the 2002 (25th Amendment) referendum that 49.58% of the people actually voted to exclude suicide as grounds for a termination.

Australian jockey Damien Oliver has described allegations that he backed a rival horse in a race in which he was riding as “hurtful”.

The last time Darren Clarke had walked up the 18th fairway in a British Open Championship it was on the way to collecting the Claret Jug.

When Waterford manager Michael Ryan appointed Pat Flanagan as physical trainer to the county hurlers, he mentioned Flanagan’s pilgrimage back to Dungarvan the night of the 2002 Munster final.

FIFA chairman Sepp Blatter believes England are still sore about failing to secure the 2018 World Cup.

REALLY, it was a surprise that Giovanni Trapattoni was even in Kiev for yesterday’s Euro 2012 draw.

EIGHT years ago today, Peter Canavan sat in the lounge of a Dublin hotel to catch the end of the rugby World Cup final.

NOW this is the kind of Eurozone contagion we can all handle.

IT WAS fitting that Robbie Keane spent most of Wednesday with his head in the clouds as he made his way back to his American dream after finally realising a European one.

A BURQA-CLAD female suicide bomber attacked police at the scene of an earlier explosion in northwestern Pakistan yesterday, twin strikes that killed five and broke a lull in militant violence in the country.

IN a way it’s fitting that Limerick and Waterford are scheduled to clash this Sunday.

BERTIE AHERN’S coalition governments ignored the Department of Finance’s pleas for restraint in order to fulfil election promises and deliver politically popular policies, a damning report has suggested.

IT MAY be headline news, the talk of political commentators and spin doctors, and the butt of jokes on Twitter.

The British National Party’s Adam Walker and other European right-wing politicians today visited a Japanese shrine that has drawn outrage for honouring war criminals.

JOHN ISNER and Nicolas Mahut’s first-round Wimbledon encounter will today go into a third day after a titanic battle yesterday that will go down as one of the most remarkable ever witnessed at the All-England Club.

MICHAEL Noonan kept details of his wife’s illness from his colleagues while fighting the 2002 general election, several members of the Fine Gael frontbench from that period have said.

Shay Given insists the Republic of Ireland have to believe they can upset the odds to edge past France into the World Cup finals.

INDONESIAN police have confirmed that regional terror outfit Jemaah Islamiyah were behind the twin suicide blasts at Jakarta hotels, and said one of the bombers had been identified.

Former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, embroiled in a broadening corruption scandal, died from a fall today in the mountains behind his rural southern home. He left behind a suicide note, his lawyer said.

Peter Ebdon thrashed Stuart Pettman 6-1 to ease into the final of the Bank of Beijing China Open.

Jacques Rogge has confirmed he will run for another term as president of the International Olympic Committee.

Three Islamic militants on death row for the 2002 Bali bombings will be executed next month, Indonesian prosecutors said today.

HUMAN Rights Watch said Venezuela’s record on human rights has worsened under President Hugo Chavez, particularly with regard to government critics.

George Bush gave US Olympians a rousing White House send-off to next month’s games in Beijing, urging them to “compete swifter, higher and stronger” but also remember they would be “ambassadors of liberty” to the people of China and elsewhere.

PETER EBDON last night became the first player into the quarter-finals of the 888.com World Championship with victory over Mark King in Sheffield.

STEVE FINNAN’S late volley against Cyprus at Croke Park last October will be his last contribution in a Republic of Ireland jersey after he announced his retirement yesterday.

AUSTRALIAN Prime Minister John Howard, pictured, battled yesterday to contain a last-minute scandal ahead of weekend elections, after campaigners for his Liberal Party were exposed distributing pamphlets accusing the opposition of sympathizing with terrorists.

Paul Casey hopes he will not need the help of Nick Faldo today as Britain and Ireland try to come from behind in the Seve Trophy at The Heritage west of Dublin.

A judge has ruled against a pilot who sued the US Air Force for allegedly ruining his reputation in a friendly-fire bombing in Afghanistan that killed four Canadian soldiers.

Israel has accepted calls to investigate a 2002 air strike on a Gaza City building, where a one-ton bomb killed not only a top Hamas operative and his bodyguard, but also 13 civilians, the justice ministry announced today.

THE Government has misled the public on how much it has spent on the health service, it has failed to meet healthcare promises made in the 2002 election and wants to waste taxpayers’ money on a private system, which will mean greater inequality.

The US military launched a strike against several suspected members of al-Qaida in Somalia.

Peter Ebdon broke the resolve of title-holder Ding Junhui tonight to secure a Maplin UK Championship semi-final against John Higgins.

Tamil Tiger rebels attacked Sri Lankan troops with heavy artillery today, the military said, a day after the top Tamil Tiger leader declared a 2002 ceasefire “defunct,” suggesting the insurgents would renew their violent struggle for an independent Tamil homeland.

Heavy fighting broke out in northeastern Sri Lanka today between Tamil rebels and government troops seeking to end a rebel blockade of a reservoir, and at least five soldiers were killed, officials said.

Mohammed Deif, the Palestinian militant who has been top of Israel’s wanted list for a decade, was wounded in an air strike on a house in Gaza City early today, the military said.

A special anti-terrorism court today sentenced three men to death after finding them guilty of involvement in a 2002 terror attack on a Hindu shrine in western India that killed 33 people, a news report said.

A SUICIDE bomber on a motorcycle rammed into a car carrying Sri Lanka’s third-highest ranking military officer yesterday and blew himself up, killing the general and three other people, officials said.

Militant cleric Abu Bakar Bashir lashed out at the US just hours after his release from jail today, as he headed to his home town to resume teaching at an Islamic school notorious for producing several deadly militants.

“SOMEDAY a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets.”

Four suspected Islamic militants went on trial today for their alleged roles in last year’s suicide bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, attacks a prosecutor said were aimed at avenging Muslims’ deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan.

David Beckham’s wife Victoria believes England can win the World Cup, despite Wayne Rooney’s foot injury.

Swede Niclas Fasth won the Spanish Open at San Roque today – after doing his best to lose it.