Behind its strategic manipulations and sham alliance to tackle the likes of IS, a purported ally of the West’s official ideology forms the heart of the terrorist creed, writes Brahma Chellaney

There’s little in sport as distasteful, as sly and scurrilous sledging, yet little as smile-inducing as a bit of witty in-game trash-talking either.

LEINSTER SHC SEMI-FINAL:

Tiger Woods described his recovery from back surgery as a "very slow process" that offered him no timetable on when he can return for a summer filled with big championships.

He has never been one to settle for anything other than the top prize, but Mickey Harte is targeting an Ulster title with his emerging young team this summer.

Regrettably, most sports don’t lend themselves to glamorous exits and people tend to wind down in a low-key manner.

The question was being asked in hallway whispers and excited chatter in many languages this week at the Clinton Global Initiative conference. It’s the question that follows Hillary Clinton everywhere — will she run for US president in 2016?

Dr Rod McLoughlin was yesterday named IRFU’s Head of Medical Services with responsibility for managing a system which provides world-class care to professional players.

India has executed the lone surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.

An Indian court yesterday sent a cartoonist to jail to await trial on sedition charges over sketches that lampoon government corruption, triggering an outcry from freedom of expression campaigners.

The food riots of 2008 were a reminder of our infallibility and of how precarious life can be for the great swathes of humanity living at the very edge of subsistence.

As Rory McIlroy and Pádraig Harrington, like so many others around them, faded out of contention for the Open Championship yesterday, I was left wondering how they would interpret their day.

Mitt Romney is poised to clinch the Republican presidential nomination after today’s Texas primary, a largely uncontested election which will formalise the former Massachusetts governor’s status as President Barack Obama’s general election challenger.

Former US senator John Edwards has gone on trial on charges he used illegal campaign contributions to cover up an affair with a mistress who became pregnant during his failed bid for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

Ireland’s Padraig Harrington lit up the Transitions Championship in Florida today with a dazzling course-record 10-under-par 61, the lowest round of his career.

Wales 27 Scotland 13

Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum claimed the momentum a day after his shocking sweep of nominating contests in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri that dealt a blow to front-runner Mitt Romney.

DENIS BASTICK admits he had to clean up his act to become a first-team regular for Dublin.

A bomb hidden in a briefcase ripped through a crowd of people waiting to enter a New Delhi court today, killing 11 people and wounding scores more.

Dublin 1-12 Kildare 1-11

Clare will field a team containing three Championship newcomers when they clash with Tipperary in Sunday's Munster SHC semi-final at the Gaelic Grounds (throw-in 4pm).

The al-Qaida mastermind behind the 1998 bombings of US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania was killed this week at a security checkpoint in Mogadishu by Somali forces who did not immediately realise they had killed the most wanted man in East Africa, officials said today.

Pakistani commandos have regained control of a military base after Taliban suicide attackers occupied it for 15 hours, killing a dozen people.

GOLF: IRELAND’S Darren Clarke battled back from a double bogey at the third and a further dropped shot at the ninth, to shoot a level par 70 and lie just three shots behind leader Chris Wood at the Iberdrola Open in Mallorca.

Nato has failed for a second day to find new ground-attack aircraft for the fight against Muammar Gaddafi’s forces in Libya but its top official said he expects the additional planes soon.

US conservative favourite Sarah Palin is choosing sides in the latest conflict pitting the two Koreas against one another, but a verbal slip-up saw her make an unexpected pick.

Lewis Hamilton vowed to give it his all ahead of this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and the McLaren star certainly left nothing out on the track in today’s practice sessions.

US president Barack Obama endorsed India's bid to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, hoping to elevate the nation of a billion people to "its rightful place in the world" alongside an assertive China.

Barack Obama ended his last-minute campaign blitz through four states and returned to the White House to wait out tomorrow’s mid-term congressional election results.

Mark Webber today accepted full responsibility for the smash that has put his Formula One world title hopes on the line.

Two wives of a businessman convicted over the Mumbai terrorist attacks in India spoke to the FBI about their husband three years before, it has emerged.

USA captain Corey Pavin forgot to introduce 2009 Open champion Stewart Cink when he presented his team at the opening ceremony of the 38th Ryder Cup.

A SOMALI woman refugee was sentenced to nine years in prison in New Zealand after she pleaded guilty to trying to hijack a small domestic airliner.

INDIA may ask Google and Skype for greater access to encrypted information once it resolves security concerns with BlackBerrys, now under threat of a ban.

Tonight's draw for the All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals has thrown up four juicy pairings, with the meeting of Ulster champions Tyrone and Dublin arguably the tie of the round.

Former Hull manager Phil Brown would consider taking a job in the bottom tier of the Football League to revive his managerial career.

Voters in Georgia went to the polls in local elections today in the first ballot since President Mikhail Saakashvili led the country into a disastrous war with neighbouring Russia nearly two years ago.

Lewis Hamilton completed his dominance of practice today by topping the timesheet in the afternoon session ahead of this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix.

LEWIS Hamilton has called on McLaren to beef up his car in qualifying if he is to have a decent crack at this year’s Formula One world title.

Lewis Hamilton was left fuming after a strategic error denied him a podium finish following the “drive of his life” at the Australian Grand Prix today.

REPUBLICAN darling Sarah Palin has said “it would be absurd” for her to rule out running for president and that she would consider a 2012 bid if she thought it would be right for America.

AN immigration hearing for President Barack Obama’s African aunt ended yesterday without an immediate decision in her second bid for asylum in the United States.