There is much talk now of the moral compass, which is simply a novel description of whatever it is in our hearts and minds that enables us to distinguish right from wrong, and act accordingly.

Children's Minister Katherine Zappone has said the State Commission has found no physical or documentary evidence of systematic burials at Bessborough, but considers that it is highly likely that burials took place there.

THE Ryan and Cloyne reports into child abuse in the Catholic Church could be seen in simple black and white terms: It was easy to loathe the abusers and the parish priests and bishops who colluded to protect them, to shudder at how bereft and powerless the child victims were, and at the torment of parents when they learned what had gone on around them.

A judge’s last-minute overturning of New York’s pioneering ban on large size sugary drinks has handed a defeat to health-minded mayor Michael Bloomberg and created confusion for restaurants that had already ordered smaller cups and changed their menus.

As night fell, the city moved past the nightmarish scenes of people on fire jumping from buildings and braced itself for more pain: picking through the rubble for the dead and the injured.