PRESIDENT John F Kennedy was assassinated 50 years ago today. The day after the assassination, an invitation was sent to the 37th Cadet Class of the Irish Defence Forces by Kennedy’s widow, Jackie, to perform a drill at his funeral in Washington.

Richard Holbrooke, a long-time US diplomat who was the architect of the 1995 Bosnia peace plan and served as President Barack Obama's special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, has died at the age of 69, an administration official said.

IT seems beyond any reasonable doubt that the response to the banking crisis will shape the country’s future for years or generations to come.