“WAR isn’t about racking up a kill count, it’s about surviving with your soul intact.” So says Ryan Placchetti, lead writer on the gaming adaptation of Apocalypse Now. Placchetti is better-placed than most to comment — he served with the US army on a tour of Iraq in 2005.

EVEN at the darkest moments of the terror campaigns that scarred these islands, and there were far too many, the hope that protagonists might come to their senses — as they eventually did — always existed.

Henry Jolicoeur is a retired French Canadian hypnotherapist and a glass-products importer who enjoys making very low-budget documentary films

A privacy campaigner faces going bust over a landmark battle to find out what Facebook tells US spy chiefs unless he gets commitments on legal costs.

Britain and the US are jointly hacking Yahoo and Google data around the world, according to the latest leak from former security worker Edward Snowden.

State security services are being given access to dozens of internet, landline and mobile phone records of citizens every day.

Britain’s electronic eavesdropping agency GCHQ has been covertly gathering information from leading internet companies through a secret US spy programme.

Justin Theroux and Jennifer Aniston want to start a family as soon as possible.

OIL BE BACK

Jennifer Aniston had a secret relationship with a film crew worker, who has now spilled the beans on their short relationship.

Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the September 11 2001 terror attacks that led to the war in Afghanistan, has been killed in a firefight, President Barack Obama said today.

Michael Lohan is giving financial support to troubled daughter Lindsay.

America’s Defence Department is unable to account for around $9bn (€7bn) supposedly spent on rebuilding the war-shattered country.

HOW do you solve a problem like Iran? As Richard Haas, president of America’s Council on Foreign Relations, and once the US envoy to Northern Ireland states, “what happens in the Middle East does not stay in the Middle East”.

Katherine Heigl’s baby daughter is recovering well following heart surgery.

Gwen Stefani is reportedly pregnant with her third child.

Britney Spears’ mother has reportedly moved in with her.

Sandra Bullock is reportedly set to split from husband Jesse James.

Kourtney Kardashian claims she’s smarter than all her siblings.

Jennifer Aniston plans to launch her own range of cookbooks.

Kim Cattrall has reportedly split from her long-term partner.

America’s Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation criticised Sacha Baron Cohen’s outrageous new film Bruno, saying it reinforced negative stereotypes and “decreases the public’s comfort with gay people”.

House of Representatives members accused America’s Securities and Exchange Commission of impeding their probe into how the agency failed to uncover the alleged £35bn (€39.2bn) fraud perpetrated by Bernard Madoff.

HOLLYWOOD heavyweights Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston have decided who gets what in their €50 million divorce settlement, according to reports.

Drugs giant AstraZeneca eased the pressure on the FTSE 100 Index today after its anti-cholesterol drug Crestor received a boost from regulators.

Bad boy movie star Colin Farrell is among the world’s 50 most eligible bachelors, according to America’s People magazine.

RESEARCHERS probing mountains and ancient seas in Antarctica have discovered two previously unknown types of dinosaurs, according to America’s National Science Foundation.

Bob Estes, overlooked by Jack Nicklaus for America’s Presidents Cup side on Monday, eagled the 497-yard second to take the early lead in the $6m (€5m) NEC world championship in Akron today.

IRELAND should take measures to prepare for a series of likely bio-terrorist attacks, a top Bush administration official warned yesterday.

America’s Federal Aviation Administration has warned pilots that they could be forced to land - or even be shot down - if they enter restricted airspace.