DAVID WHYTE opens his edited collection, How Corrupt is Britain?, by arguing that “the idea that British institutions are fair and democratic is one of the foundation stones of our self-imagined national heritage”.

Liverpool have another chance to chase a place in next season’s Champions League as they begin their UEFA Europa League campaign.

Wolverhampton stages an additional meeting in light of the current cold weather today and Trimoulet can take full advantage of the opportunity in the coral.co.uk Handicap.

Wolverhampton stages an additional meeting in light of the current cold weather today and Trimoulet can take full advantage of the opportunity in the coral.co.uk Handicap.

The family of a woman who died of multi-organ failure seven days after she had a hysterectomy at Mount Carmel private hospital, Dublin have settled their High Court action for €560.000.

Francois Hollande’s image took a new knock yesterday with publication of a tell-all book in which ex-partner Valerie Trierweiler accused the French President of describing the poor as "the toothless".

French president Francois Hollande has approved a new Cabinet that includes his ex-companion Segolene Royal as minister of environment and energy.

An invite to stay in a top Bangkok hotel, watch some former All Blacks try and train an elephant, and soak up the calm of Hua Hin was enough to lure Barry Coughlan back to Thailand’s shores.

Royal Diamond has been confirmed as an intended runner in Sunday’s GAIN Irish St Leger at the Curragh.

A furious Duke and Duchess of Cambridge launched legal action against a French magazine tonight after it published topless pictures of Kate Middleton taken while the couple were on holiday.

WORKS by Zhang Daqian (1899-1983), top selling artist at auction in the world last year, will come under the hammer at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in Oct 5-9.

The Duke of Edinburgh has been advised to rest so will have no visitors in hospital today, sources have said.

A feud involving the French president’s live-in girlfriend, his former partner and his eldest son may have tarnished the new leader’s carefully cultivated image as Mr Normal – credited with helping him win the spring election among a populace weary of his flashy predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy.

President Francois Hollande’s partner has set the French political establishment aghast with a tweet seen as a dig against his ex-partner.

With a single tweet, France’s first lady has managed to take a swipe at her husband’s ex, put herself publicly at odds with the president, and thrown a spanner in the works of his Socialist party.

Humble beginnings and a good work ethic will help the new first lady hold her own in French circles, writes Elaine Ganley

Winning came easy but François Hollande now has to learn to govern, writes Michael Mainville

Socialist Francois Hollande defeated conservative incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy today to become France’s next president, heralding a change in how Europe tackles its debt crisis and how France flexes its military and diplomatic muscle around the world.

French presidential front-runner François Hollande headed into the last round of his battle with Nicolas Sarkozy with both of the candidates threatened by the shadow of scandal.

PAUL CARBERRY produced a typically confident ride as Muirhead captured a dramatic Ladbrokes.com Munster National at Limerick yesterday.

ROYAL bride Kate curtsied to the queen at Westminster Abbey following her marriage to Prince William.

MELODYS Royal looks likely to be aimed at the biggest competitions in the calendar in the coming months after a stunning display in the final of the Joe Dunne Memorial Puppy 525 at Shelbourne Park on Saturday.

ROYAL bride-to-be Kate Middleton is rumoured to have picked her wedding dress designer, with speculation growing that fashion supremo Bruce Oldfield has been given the job.

Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton will marry in Westminster Abbey on Friday April 29 next year – and millions of workers and schoolchildren will get the day off to celebrate.

THE husband of a woman who died following an elective hysterectomy at a private hospital said after an inquest at which a verdict of medical misadventure was recorded that they had “got justice” for his wife.

A NURSE has told an inquest into the death of a woman following an elective hysterectomy at a private Dublin hospital that she was “very sick” when she was transferred to the facility’s high dependency unit and the nurse “knew something serious was wrong”, an inquest has heard.

PAUL NOLAN’S classy Cuan Na Grai toyed with the opposition on the way to landing the Supermacs’ Drive Thru Hurdle at Limerick yesterday.

WHAT has become an enduring rivalry between UCC and Catholic Institute will take another twist tomorrow when the sides meet at Rosbrien (12.30pm).

A bid by the son of French president Nicolas Sarkozy for a plum job overseeing the country’s premier business district has sparked a huge row and accusations of nepotism.

BARBERS Shop bids to put to an end a long line of unsuccessful, yet creditable, efforts by Royal runners at the Cheltenham Festival today.

The French Socialist Party said today that the architect of France’s 35-hour work week has won the party’s leadership in an extremely tight race – an outcome quickly challenged by supporters of her rival.

A closely fought race between two women to become the new leader of France’s Socialist Party has ended in a dead heat, a senior party official said early today.

Boris The Blade (11-1) gave Saltburn trainer Tina Jackson her first winner since the grey struck twice in March with a game win in the totetrifecta Handicap Hurdle at Hexham.

IT’S time to own up. I was wrong when I wrote that winning the 137th Open Championship wouldn’t mean as much as usual and would be discredited by the absence of Tiger Woods.

Former British home secretary Kenneth Clarke blocked an investigation into the interception of the telephone calls behind the "Squidgy-gate" and "Camilla-gate" affairs in case the press found out, a court heard today.

DISCOVER Travel, a branch of East Cork Travel based in Midleton, has just released the company’s most comprehensive Asian brochure since entering that market just less than a decade ago.

DISCOVER Travel, a branch of East Cork Travel based in Midleton, has just released the company’s most comprehensive Asian brochure since entering that market just less than a decade ago.

Royal Shakespeare is on course to return to jumping after a pipe-opener on the Flat.

Sussex Stakes hero Ramonti is on course for Sunday’s Prix du Moulin after catching the eye in a piece of work in Newmarket on Wednesday.

DEFEATED French presidential candidate Ségolène Royal said yesterday her partner, Socialist Party leader Francois Hollande, had moved out of their home.

COCKNEY REBEL will face a maximum of 10 rivals in his bid to land the St James’s Palace Stakes on the opening day of Royal Ascot next week.

Cockney Rebel will face a maximum of 10 rivals in his bid to land the St James’s Palace Stakes on the opening day of Royal Ascot.

Socialists and other losers in France’s first round of parliamentary elections sought to limit the damage today by chasing alliances and rallying voters.

France’s post-election violence continued for a second night, leaving cars burned and store windows smashed in several cities and prompting the defeated Socialists to call for calm.