The United Nations’ former chief weapons inspector in Iraq insisted today he had cautioned Tony Blair the month before the 2003 invasion about the possibility that no weapons of mass destruction (WMD) would be found.

Former UK foreign secretary Jack Straw admitted today that he only “very reluctantly” came round to supporting the invasion of Iraq.

TONY BLAIR deliberately conflated the threats from Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida following the 9/11 attacks, an Iraq War inquiry was told yesterday.

Tony Blair deliberately combined the threats from Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida following the 9/11 attacks, the official inquiry into the Iraq War was told today.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said climate change is the greatest challenge facing a world beset by crises and called on governments to reach a deal on the environment at a meeting in Denmark later this year.

The Who frontman Roger Daltrey is to receive a prestigious award from UCD, it emerged today.

SALMAN RUSHDIE was last night honoured by one of Ireland’s oldest universities with an award in memory of writer James Joyce, his greatest inspiration.

The fifth Beatle, George Martin, will be recognised by an Irish university for his lifetime contribution to the world of music as a producer and arranger, it was revealed today.

MARCH 17, 2003: US President George Bush gives Saddam Hussein 48-hour deadline to give up power.

Hollywood comic actor Will Ferrell turned one of Ireland's most esteemed college debating societies into a frenzied laughter theatre.

One of Hollywood’s top comic actors, Will Ferrell, will be honoured by an Irish university tonight.

IRAN’S president declared victory over the United States yesterday while the head of a UN watchdog said Iran had been “somewhat vindicated” by a US report that it halted its nuclear weapons programme in 2003.

Former United Nations weapons inspector Hans Blix said today that North Korea’s nuclear test was probably unsuccessful – but the Communist nation would eventually perfect the technology.

Ireland has an excellent track record in the global effort to rid the world of nuclear weapons, former UN chief weapons inspector Dr Hans Blix said tonight.

The man who led the UN's hunt for Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction is due to give an address to the Oireachtas foreign affairs committee in Dublin today.

FORMER United Nations chief weapons inspector Hans Blix will appear before an Oireachtas committee in September to discuss ways of combating the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The former UN chief weapons inspector said Iran will be able to produce a nuclear bomb within five years if it is allowed to enrich uranium on an industrial scale.

FEW politicians resign from Cabinet on grounds of principle. Most are only proved right about their issue of principle after their deaths.

PRESIDENT-ELECT Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed yesterday to pursue a peaceful nuclear program - an effort the US maintains is really a cover for trying to build bombs - and said his government will not be an extremist one.

FORMER chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix has accused Washington of not taking “the common bargain” of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty as seriously as it once did.

The father of Iraq’s nuclear programme said his nation would have developed atomic weapons in the early 1990s had Saddam Hussein not ordered the invasion of Kuwait.

South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker have won a censorship battle with officials at the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) after their new puppet film was slapped with a "ridiculous" NC- 17 rating.

BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair last night conceded there needed to be a shake-up in the way intelligence could be used in the run-up to war - including an abandonment of his informal "sofa" style of government.

Former US President Bill Clinton today backed Tony Blair’s stance over war in Iraq, describing it as a “terrible position” to be in.

Former chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix said today that a shell containing sarin nerve gas used in an attack in Iraq was probably a stray weapon that could have been dated from the first Gulf War.

Former UN weapons inspector Hans Blix says that President George Bush and Tony Blair have lost credibility and the world is not safer now that Saddam Hussein is out of power.

Former United Nations chief weapons inspector Hans Blix has likened the run-up to the war in Iraq to a witch hunt.

THE world is overestimating the dangers of global terrorism, especially when compared with environmental risks, former UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix said yesterday.

Former chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix has claimed that the Iraq war was illegal.

TONY Blair was last night under mounting pressure to reveal if Clare Short's United Nations bugging claims were true after fresh revelations of spying.

The mobile phone of United Nations chief weapons inspector Hans Blix was tapped whenever he was in Iraq and the information shared between the United States, Britain and their allies, Australian radio reported today.

The justification for last year’s war in Iraq “was without foundation“, the former head of the United Nations weapons inspection team in the country said tonight.

ON this Saturday last year, 100,000 people took to the streets of Dublin to protest against an impending war. It was the biggest mass demonstration for 20 years or more, as were the ones in London and other European cities. None made a whit of difference.

THE 45-minute Iraq weapons claim was deliberately used to "dramatise" the Iraqi arms dossier, former chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix said yesterday.

The 45-minute claim was deliberately used to "dramatise" the Iraqi arms dossier, former chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix said today.

STALIN once said: “One man’s death is a tragedy, one million deaths, just a statistic.” When weapons inspector David Kelly met his tragic death last July, a reporter in Japan asked Tony Blair “Have you blood on your hands, will you resign, Prime Minister?”

US SECRETARY of State Colin Powell held out the possibility that pre-war Iraq may not have possessed weapons of mass destruction.

Former chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix said today that it is becoming ”increasingly clear” that Saddam Hussein’s regime did not have any illegal weapons of mass destruction.

ON a recent vacation home to our historic home of Cork, my wife and I were startled to see that WMD (weapons of mass deception) were to be found lining the sidewalks of Patrick Street excellently disguised as industrial site lighting.

DOWNING STREET last night dismissed claims that Tony Blair knew Iraq did not pose a real threat to Britain before the war.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair privately conceded before war with Iraq started that Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction that could be used within 45 minutes, former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook claimed today.

Swedish police were tonight given another week to hold the main suspect in the murder of Foreign Minister Anna Lindh as they seek evidence implicating him in her death.

FORMER UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix accused the US and Britain yesterday of “over-interpreting” information about Saddam Hussein’s alleged weapons of mass destruction.