It has to be said we in the readed meeja were a little put out when we learned Roy Keane wouldn’t be in attendance for the grand unveiling today of Martin O’Neill as the new Ireland manager.

The one-match suspension for Tyrone's Martin Penrose still stands after his request for an appeal hearing was not submitted within the specified period.

FROM elation to frustration.

IN TERMS of symbolism, Jorge Mario Bergoglio hasn’t put a foot wrong since becoming the first Jesuit and the first South American to be elected Pope and taking the name Francis.

President Michael D Higgins has conveyed his sincere best wishes to the new head of the Catholic Church.

The abundance of L Tupa is welcome during the summer, Charlie Wilkins reports.

The US Anti-Doping Agency have confirmed they are to file formal doping charges against Lance Armstrong which could see the cyclist lose his record-breaking total of seven Tour de France titles.

Lance Armstrong has renewed his attack against the United States Anti-Doping Agency by once again claiming the agency’s allegations are based on old, unproved claims.

Lance Armstrong was facing the prospect of losing his record-breaking total of seven Tour de France titles after the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) confirmed they had begun legal proceedings against the former cyclist.

LLOYD’S of London recorded losses of £697 million (€799.4m) yesterday following the insurance industry’s costliest half-year on record for catastrophes.

Ospreys 27 Leinster 3

THERE is no evidence the security services could have prevented the 2005 London bombings, a coroner found while warning that changes were necessary to help prevent further such atrocities.

Wales centre Tom Shanklin has announced his retirement from rugby due to a knee injury.

JOHN HIGGINS claimed Shaun Murphy was in the form of his life after the world number one was knocked out of the China Open at the quarter-final stage yesterday.

Shaun Murphy won the inaugural Players Tour Championship title tonight when he whitewashed surprise finalist Martin Gould in Dublin.

Mark Williams cruised into the quarter-finals of the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals in Dublin with a 4-0 win over Anthony Hamilton.

Gavin Henson insists personal reasons are the driving force behind his desire to leave the Ospreys and join a club in London.

THE US was slow to take seriously the threat posed by homegrown radicals and the government has failed to put systems in place to deal with the growing phenomenon, according to a report compiled by the former heads of the 9/11 commission.

The US was slow to take seriously the threat posed by homegrown radicals and the government has failed to put systems in place to deal with the growing phenomenon, according to a new report.

Dozens of terrorists jailed in Indonesia are being given sentence reductions as part of the country`s Independence Day commemorations today.

US president Barack Obama will return to the Gulf of Mexico coast today, insisting he is in charge of efforts to shut down what is now estimated as the worst oil spill in US history.

Despite being worshipped, Clint Eastwood is very much a regular guy, his biographer tells Kathy Foley

England international Matt Stevens is set to relaunch his rugby career with Saracens in 2011.

Kim Clijsters moved into the US Open women's singles final in controversial circumstances as defending champion Serena Williams picked up a point penalty for a second code violation on match point against her.

SANDY LYLE yesterday issued an apology to Colin Montgomerie and said he hoped the pair were still friends – but there appears to be little hope of that.

STEPHEN JONES and Ronan O’Gara are used to going hammer and tongs at each other and this British & Irish Lions tour is no different.

Shaun Murphy was booed by a section of the Crucible crowd as he began his second-round match against Marco Fu today.

Shaun Murphy claimed a thrilling last-frame victory over Marco Fu to win the Maplin UK Championship in Telford.

Lewis Hamilton will start the most important grand prix of his Formula One career from a surprisingly lowly fourth on the grid.

GERMAN police commandos arrested two Somali -born terror suspects on a KLM aircraft yesterday who are reported to have had links to a group behind a foiled 2007 plot to attack US interests.

US President George Bush, whose administration came under fire for its handling of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, arrived today to inspect two of Iowa’s flooded cities, where families and businesses are knee-deep in the disheartening aftermath of severe floods.

Five Irish boxers will be involved in quarter-finals bouts at the final Olympic qualifier for European boxers in Athens, Greece today.

Stephen Hendry is not accustomed to playing matches at 10 o’clock in the morning but the seven-times world champion coped with the breakfast shift just fine in Newport.

Stevie Wonder is to take to the stage at the New Orleans Jazz And Heritage Festival for the first time in 35 years.

Twice Masters champion Mark Williams revealed he may retire at the end of the season after crashing out of this year’s tournament.

Shaun Murphy battled illness to book his place in the quarter-finals of the SAGA Insurance Masters at Wembley.

Stephen Maguire has booked his place in the final of the Maplin Electronics UK Championship snooker in Telford.

Rampaging youths threw Molotov cocktails and set fire to dozens of cars in troubled neighbourhoods outside Paris during a second night of street violence after two local teens were killed in a crash with a police patrol car.

Former GAA president Sean Kelly has expressed his gratitude to the FAI and IRFU for not getting involved in the debates prior to the abolishment of the controversial Rule 42 at the Association's Annual Congress in 2005.

West Ham fan Sam Little believes it will be a “Great Escape” to eclipse that of the Hammers in the Premier League last season if he can keep his European Tour card in the Mallorca Classic.

WHILE they celebrated at Clandeboye Golf Club last night after the inclusion of Jonathan Caldwell in the British & Irish team to play the US in the Walker Cup at Royal Co Down on September 9 and 10, there was disappointment at Banbridge when Richard Kilpatrick was omitted.

SIOBHÁN DERVAN will be the only woman in the line-up when Rás Mumhan gets under way with a prologue time trial in Killorglin this evening.

Dubliner Michael Judge will face Andrew Higginson in the third round of the Welsh Open today.

SIX-TIME winner Stephen Hendry avoided rewriting the record books for all the wrong reasons at the SAGA Insurance Masters yesterday afternoon.