A politician I know told me the other day he gave up smoking following a concerted campaign from his seven-year-old daughter, writes Alison O'Connor.

Less than 10 years ago, South Africa looked on the cusp of a glorious period. Instead it is in danger of throwing it all away through misstep after misstep, writess Kyran Fitzgerald.

LAST week, I said I’d be writing my next column from Ethiopia, and indeed I am, writes Damien Enright.

Robert Heffernan believes he is in with a “fighting chance” of defending his World 50km Race Walk title when he toes the line at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing next week.

The Olympic movement, which now seems to be vying with the oily creeps of FIFA in a race for irrelevance, took a pretty substantial lead in that particular headlong rush a few days ago.

 A communist regime trying to create a casino-like capitalist market is just one of the contradictions accumulating in almost every corner of China’s economy and politics, writes Pranab Bardhan

A major Japanese corporation will offer a landmark apology this weekend for using US prisoners of war for forced labour during World War II, according to the Simon Wiesenthal Centre that is hosting the event.

Russia is leading the way, as new technology is combined with old spying techniques, says Owen Matthews

A quick look at some of the more interesting news from the heart of the EU

HAVE you heard about the latest ‘U turn’ in nutritional science? America the land of the ‘egg-white omelette’ is in quite the tizzy about it all.

The mayor of Clare, Cllr John Crowe (FG), won’t go lonely on his 16,000km round trip to China as five councillors and two officials are to accompany him on the €12,000 trek.

The redistribution of global power has produced a situation in which the US is no longer the sole hegemon, writes Zbigniew Brzezinski

A company formed by ex-smokers to make e-smoking products has announced 80 new jobs and says it could be employing up to 1,000 people within a year.

This was an Irish political seminar like no other — with one wannabe politician selling himself to voters as somebody "who has driven several Prius", uses Airtricity, and has worked with Amazonian tribes to help them access legal aid.

In and around the centre of Dublin, a new currency is emerging as workers in the Silicon Docklands start making use of the digital cryptocurrency, Bitcoin.

More than 22,000 smuggled cigarettes have been seized in Limerick in two steel containers.

Former National Security Agency systems analyst Edward Snowden says that he did not take any secret NSA documents to Russia.

Human beings have stopped evolving and should be persuaded not to have large families, British TV naturalist Sir David Attenborough has said.

The female giant panda at Edinburgh Zoo may be pregnant, according to keepers.

The West is nothing more than a television witness to the “absurdly awful” Syrian civil war, the co-founder of Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) has warned.

The man who leaked US National Security Agency secrets is to meet a Russian official from Amnesty International, the group said.

The US has asked for help from both enemies and uneasy allies in an effort to catch fugitive National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden.

THE one-way ticket is a powerful motif.

Siptu’s rejection of the LRC proposals on pay and reform can be a fresh start for all, says Colm Keaveney

North Korea’s sabre-ratting against the US has actually left its strongest ally, China, feeling that it is being encircled, writes Paul Eckert.

The failure of EU leaders to agree on a budgetary strategy is ominous for Ireland’s economic future.

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) have launched disciplinary proceedings after four women’s doubles pairs apparently tried to throw matches at London 2012.

The future of the 300-strong United Nations observer mission in Syria was in limbo today after Russia and China again vetoed a Western-backed resolution aimed at pressuring President Bashar Assad’s government to end the escalating civil war.

US president Barack Obama is challenging his Republican rival Mitt Romney's promises to crack down on China's trading practices.

As Greece plummets, Lawrence Osborne sets out to discover the taste of economic disaster

David Cameron today issued a stark warning to eurozone leaders that they must put in place proper contingency plans to protect their economies in case Greece drops out of the single currency.

A treatise on masculinity masquerading as a fairytale love story, The Lucky One (12A) stars Zac Efron as Logan, who finds a picture of a beautiful blonde woman while serving as a Marine in Iraq.

It’s an exciting time for Macra na Feirme national president Alan Jagoe.

The wife of a senior Communist Party official in China is being held over the murder of a British businessman, state media has reported.

Behold Shanghai — the Cork of the Orient.

Arrangements are being made for the repatriation of a newspaper journalist killed in Syria after her body arrived in Damascus.

David Cameron accused Syrian president Bashar Assad’s “criminal” regime today of “butchering its own people”.

Barack Obama has sparked a huge row by rejecting plans for a massive oil pipeline through the heart of the United States, saying there was not enough time for a fair review before a looming deadline forced on him by Republicans.

As North Korea enters political transition, its new leaders must face the reality that it cannot depend on the same policies of oppression and military provocation forever, writes Rosemary Righter

RUSSIAN gangs and their Chinese associates are making billions of dollars from selling fake and unlicensed medicines over the Internet, putting thousands of people at risk, police and medical regulators have warned.

DAIRY farmers will keep an eye on short-term milk price caution expressed by giant Dutch co-op FrieslandCampina, but they will not be unduly worried by it, according to IFA dairy chairman Kevin Kiersey.

RUAIRÍ FINNEGAN (Letterkenny AC) has qualified for Sunday’s 1500m final at the World Youth Track and Field Championships in Lille.