JOURNALISTS swarm around the grounds of Santa Maria courthouse desperately looking for a story; fans proclaim Michael Jackson’s innocence to anyone who will listen, and scores of police officers keep watch over it all.

MIKE O’DONNELL believes his Angela’s Ashes walking tour of Limerick is a good barometer of the state of the tourism industry around the country.

US President George W Bush staunchly defended his handling of the Iraqi war over the weekend but pledged that those responsible for mistreating prisoners would be dealt with in an open way.

WE’RE travelling abroad more, but for shorter holiday breaks and business trips, statistics released yesterday show.

British agents spied on United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan in the run-up to the Iraqi war, former British International Development Secretary Clare Short has claimed.

IMAGINE the scene. President Bush is doing a dry run before his State of the Union address. Just as he is running through some problem words and phrases, the door opens. It’s Karl Rove, his key political advisor.

ANYONE looking to the Taoiseach to open Ireland’s EU presidency by confronting Romano Prodi over his controversial two-tier Europe remark will be sorely disappointed as Mr Ahern was clearly outpunched by the head of the Brussels commission yesterday.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair was today due to explain his role in events leading up to the apparent suicide of his government's weapons expert Dr David Kelly.

BRITISH AIRWAYS suspended flights to Saudi Arabia last night after the Government warned there was ‘credible intelligence’ of a serious terrorist threat to Britain’s aviation interests. The company chose to temporarily scrap its four services a week to Jeddah and Riyadh after holding talks with the Department for Transport.

British Airways today suspended flights to Saudi Arabia because of “serious” terrorism fears.

US COMPANIES are continuing to trim costs and boost productivity, the latest figures show.

Saddam Hussein’s daughters have expressed deep affection for their father in interviews, but said they did not know where he was and that they last saw him a week before the Iraqi war started.

“LIKE it or not, Ireland is no longer neutral and this is crunch time,” Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny declared on Thursday.

THE distraught mother of a Dublin-born soldier gunned down in the Iraqi war yesterday spoke about her devastating loss.

Pop star Madonna put on a private performance for 200 guests of radio station in Paris and thanked France for its opposition to the Iraqi war.

A Japanese newspaper photographer, arrested after an Iraqi war souvenir exploded in his suitcase, killing a Jordanian airport guard, remained in custody today.

IRISH people travelling abroad spent over €3.95bn last year, latest travel and tourism figures reveal. The 4,634,000 overseas’ visits in 2002 represented an increase of 9% on the previous year but an 18% hike over a three-year period.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair today discovered the depth of the continuing international tensions generated by the Iraqi war during discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A hospital in Kuwait City today received a 12-year-old boy who lost both his arms in a bomb and became a symbol of Iraqi war suffering.

THE success of the Anglo-US war on Iraq should push war concerns to the background and open the way for regular economic and results information to drive sentiment on world stock markets, economist Jim Power predicted yesterday.

IF not Tiger, who? Woods is almost unbackable but favourites can be beaten.

North Korea today warned Japan against raising tensions in the region, saying that it was within range of the communist state’s missiles.

STONEWALLING is a sporting expression more associated with cricket but Tiger Woods brought it to a fine art at Augusta National yesterday.

The IRA was under renewed pressure tonight to end its campaign of violence as US President George W Bush arrived in Northern Ireland to urge politicians and paramilitaries to go the extra mile for peace.

Special low-fare offers helped budget airline easyJet to keep passenger levels high last month despite the outbreak of the Iraqi war, it was revealed today.

By Ryle Dwyer

Tens of thousands of protesters denouncing the United States-led war in Iraq today marched to Spanish military bases used by the US to refuel planes and help care for wounded soldiers.

The Irish anti-war movement has said it expects up to 20,000 people to arrive in Dublin City centre today to protest against the Iraqi war.

British officers said a “couple of thousand” Iraqi civilians tried to flee Basra, which is encircled by British troops, but were forced to return when Iraqi paramilitary forces opened fire with mortars and machine guns.

The Academy Awards forged ahead last night in Hollywood after days of speculation that the war in Iraq would send Oscar packing.

British Airways is suspending services to Kuwait and Israel because of the imminent Iraqi war, it was announced today.

A sandstorm suspended play in the Qatar Masters after three-and-a-half-hours’ play in Doha today.

A US attack on Iraq could profoundly affect the American economy because the US would have to pay most of the cost and bear the brunt of any oil price hikes, it was reported today.