A former convict set a house and car ablaze in his lakeside New York state neighbourhood to lure firefighters then opened fire on them, killing two and engaging police in a shootout before killing himself while several homes burned.

WELSH Rugby Union chairman David Pickering believes Friday night Six Nations rugby is here to stay. The WRU have agreed to continue the experiment in 2010 by staging Wales’ Millennium Stadium clash with France at 8pm on Friday, February 26.

BERNARD DUNNE admits he will be the underdog but he insisted yesterday he is prepared to go to the gates of hell and back if that’s what it takes to strip Ricardo Cordoba of his WBA world super bantamweight title at Dublin’s O2 on March 21.

Controversial sprinter Dwain Chambers will start as favourite for 60metres gold at the European Indoor Championships in Turin after being confirmed in the Aviva Great Britain team today.

Tyrone have made one change to their team for tomorrow's All-Ireland minor football final replay against Mayo.

TYRONE stand-in captain Ryan Pickering has been ruled out of Saturday’s All-Ireland MFC final replay.

Derry 3-12 Clare 2-14, Croke Park

Olympic champion Mark Lewis-Francis insists Great Britain’s 4x100 metre relay team at the World Championships in Osaka has the individual potential to be better than the one that stormed to gold in Athens three years ago.

BERNARD DUNNE, ground out a second successful defence of his European super bantamweight title with an unanimous points victory over the gritty Norwegian, Reidar Walstad, at The Point on Saturday night, but he won’t be rushing into a world title fight just yet.

Dublin boxer Bernard Dunne believes he can take another step towards a world title shot tomorrow night.

CROKE PARK could be the venue if and when Bernard Dunne fights for a world title, his manager Brian Peters confirmed yesterday.

Top trainer Brendan Ingle has backed Ireland's Bernard Dunne to go on and become a world champion.

Irishman Bernard Dunne is the new European super-bantamweight boxing champion.

Bernard Dunne is out to emulate his boyhood hero Barry McGuigan by landing a European title before going in search of world honours.

BERNARD DUNNE takes his boxing career to a new level when he fights former champion, Esham Pickering, for the European Super Bantamweight title at The Point tonight.

BERNARD DUNNE will be cheering on rival Michael Hunter as the Englishman bids for world title glory tonight in Hartlepool.

BERNARD DUNNE is under no illusion about the enormity of the task when he faces former champion, Esham Pickering, for the European Super Bantamweight title at The Point on November 11 where all the 7,000 available tickets are sold out.

Boxer Bernard Dunne says reports that Esham Pickering has dismissed the Dubliner's chances are foolish, but admits he has a big challenge to overcome.

NEW Wales coach Gareth Jenkins has been hailed as “the right man at the right time” after being appointed to succeed Grand Slam winner Mike Ruddock.

NEW Wales coach Gareth Jenkins has been hailed as “the right man at the right time” after being appointed to succeed Grand Slam winner Mike Ruddock.

Mike Ruddock officially parted company with the Welsh Rugby Union this evening after reaching an agreement to cut short his gardening leave.

Severe storms swept across the Midwest of the United States late yesterday, killing at least 14 people in Tennessee, Missouri and Illinois.

A federal judge has ordered rock star Rod Stewart to pay a Las Vegas casino more than £1.7m for not returning advance money he was paid before he cancelled a concert in 2000.

Mike Ruddock has left Welsh rugby in turmoil after announcing his shock resignation last night – just 11 months after he inspired the side to their first Grand Slam triumph in 27 years.

BERNARD DUNNE took a giant step towards an inevitable clash with the European super-bantamweight champion Michael Hunter after his short route victory over former British and European bantamweight champion Noel Wilders at the sell-out show in the National Stadium on Saturday night.

Irishman Bernard Dunne is shedding the pounds in order to secure a shot at England’s European super-bantamweight champion Esham Pickering.

A top pension expert has warned that people will have to work past 65 years to reach retirement age.

IRISH workers may be forced to work until their 70s to secure proper pensions, it emerged yesterday at the Annual UK and Irish Pensions and Investing Summit organised by the Irish Association of Pension Funds (IAPF).

ORGANISERS of the 2007 Rugby World Cup have announced that the Pool B encounter between Wales and Australia will be played in Cardiff.

The IRFU should forget about Croke Park and play their home fixtures at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff while Lansdowne Road is being redeveloped.

Former Wales captains David Pickering and Terry Cobner will be involved in the selection process to appoint a new national coach as successor to Steve Hansen.

Derby midfielder Simo Valakari has revealed how news of the club’s takeover has taken the Rams’ first-team squad utterly by surprise.

Heineken Cup latest

Roger Pickering has resigned as chief executive of the Six Nations.

Six Nations organisers and sponsors Lloyds TSB were left angry and embarrassed after England and Wales did not send their coach or captain to today’s launch.

Wales team manager David Pickering has quit his post in the wake of the 33-23 Lloyds TSB Six Nations win in Rome.