The youngest in a family must expect ghosts, writes PM O'Sullivan. Moling Morrissey sits looking at a photograph of six brothers, lined up and arrayed in hurling jerseys. Pat… John… Eddie… Mick… Himself… Luke… Himself… The only one left.

PM O’Sullivan canvasses the opinion of three former hurling referees on proposed rule changes to the game.

We are confronted by a US presidential second-term election cycle. We all must contend too with various interests. Do we have in play a version of ‘operation boot’? The 1952 US/UK regime-change operation in Iran. And do people regionally also view the late, recently murdered Major General Qasem Soleimani as an Iranian Che Quevara? Would Iran’s supreme Ayatollah be viewed as an Iranian Fidel Castro? How annoying for a rightist US administration: a Cuba in the Middle East. How much more death and devastation will flow out of our fossil-fuel dependency and the military powers of the main players, the chief one being the US?

This bus, if anything could capture the essence of Ballyhale Shamrocks, must be the vehicle.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicted on fraud, breach of trust and bribery.

Winner of eight All-Ireland medals, part of a famed hurling dynasty, Eoin Larkin has been one of the finest forwards of his generation. He spoke with PM O'Sullivan.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ended his quest to form a new coalition, the president said, in a step that pushes the country into new political uncertainty.

The rivalry has defined so much of this decade it shouldn’t be surprising that the players and their skills have done so too.

Already, huge damage is being done to relations between Ireland and Britain, writes Daniel McConnell

"We are determined that the negotiated withdrawal agreement, including the backstop, which safeguards the Good Friday agreement, cannot be discarded as (British PM Boris) Johnson has requested."

Mr Martin said he wanted to make it "absolutely clear" his party believes new British prime minister Boris Johnson is at fault for the diplomatic stand-off after a private phone call with Mr Dooley in which he ordered his colleague to tone down the rhetoric.

Timmy Dooley's comments came hours before the Taoiseach and Mr Johnson finally spoke on the phone this afternoon, six days after the new British PM was selected.

Seventy-three years ago, Jimmy O’Donoghue hurled for Limerick against Kilkenny in Croke Park. One of two remaining survivors from that champion NHL panel, he reflects on this evening’s All-Ireland semi-final between the two counties and on his journey as a hurler and a civil servant which saw him play the game in four counties

So that’s nearly Wednesday wrapped up. Here’s some of the stories we published on irishexaminer.com today which we hope will help you make sense of it all this evening.

Mick O'Flynn is a Cork man, a Nemo Rangers clubman, who became the most influential non-native on Kilkenny's hurling prospects.

Leo Varadkar has reiterated Ireland's position as the government prepares to step up planning for a no-deal Brexit.

Oliver Gough is the last man to win senior All-Ireland hurling titles with two different counties.

Terry Prone It happens. It shouldn’t happen, but it does happen. It happens on a Friday evening. It’s the end of the week, a chance to unwind, get out a couple of bottles of wine.

As she steps down as leader of the Conservative Party and sets in motion the process to select a new prime minister, it is timely to look at Theresa May’s legacy. Does she really have one? Sadly, the answer must be no.

Global shares rose on the belief more central banks will be forced to cut interest rates to shelter the global economy from the trade wars, but crash-out Brexit fears weighed heavily on sterling.

Tony Wall was in charge of the last Tipperary championship team that took on Clare in Ennis.

“Whoever is Prime Minister, we will work with them,” Leo Varadkar said.

Thousands of Indian and Pakistani social media users have been pleading with their leaders to find peace amid escalating tensions as #SayNoToWar began trending on Twitter in both countries on Wednesday.

Sterling recovered from its sell-off in the wake of the British parliament’s Brexit votes, as investors bet the UK government would still avoid exiting the EU without an agreed trade deal in place.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has used a prime-time address to again dismiss a series of corruption allegations against him.

What a week this is going to be for the chief. Assailed by critics on all sides, ridiculed in the media, undermined by rebellious underlings, and with another European test looming. Is this survivable?

"You talk about complacency" — Tommy Walsh

Éamonn Cregan is looking through a window in the Hunt Museum Café, out at the Shannon running away with itself, a dull August afternoon rising merely to scurries, writes PM O’Sullivan

"If you don’t win, you’re not remembered" — Andrew O’Shaughnessy

Gus Lohan is admirably content with not remembering everything but he does recall his first score for Clar

There were flying elbows, kicks and punches, and even a chair thrown too.

The role at wing-forward is a new one for the Sarsfields man but he has thrived in it, helping to establish himself a place in the 15, which he couldn't manage in the 2017 Championship.

"I’m sorry one of our national committees locked horns with one of our county boards."

Yesterday was a day for hurling referees to step up to the mark and both James McGrath and Fergal Horgan did just that, in Semple Stadium and Croke Park.

A powerful performance from Luke Swan left Kilkenny in a flap as the Dublin minor hurlers blasted their way to Leinster glory.

Call it as it was. Last day out against Galway, Kilkenny were pretty much crushed, writes PM O’Sullivan.

PM O’Sullivan and Eoghan Cormican review the weekend’s hurling

At the finish, Michael Ryan and his three selectors stayed on the sideline where they had stood all day, heads bowed, surveying the death of a season.

Séamus Durack and Jackie O’Gorman were key men on the Clare team that won National Hurling League titles in 1977 and ‘78 but lost two Munster finals to Cork the same years. Forty years on, they have no regrets about the time of their lives, O’Gorman anyway. Though Durack still revisits a couple of refereeing decisions in ‘77.

Our writers analyse what we learned from the league...

The Russian ambassador to Ireland described the expulsion by Britain of 23 diplomats as a “hostile action” and said it would “not go unanswered”.

Leaders of the 27 remaining EU states are now expected to agree at a Brussels summit on Friday that the second phase can begin.

A former Bosnian Croat general died in a Dutch hospital today shortly after drinking a liquid in a courtroom where judges had just confirmed his 20-year sentence for war crimes.

Lebanon's prime minister Saad Hariri has said he is returning to the country and confirmed he is resigning amid political tensions.