Over the years the Boylesports International at Dundalk has produced some really dramatic occasions and one wonders what lies in store this evening when six of the best greyhounds in these islands chase a prize of €25,000, easily the biggest for a one-off contest in these islands.

El Gran Senor, dual Classic winner and top sire, has been put down at the age of 25.

I NORMALLY hate international weekends, deeming them a damnable imposition on real, i.e. club, football but this past one was an exception.

TO INSURE or not to insure? That was the dilemma facing Gerard O'Toole, executive chairman of Nissan Ireland, once he decided to offer the new state-of-the-art Nissan Murano to the first golfer to hole the 15th in one at this week's Irish Open.

Iraqi authorities hope to file criminal charges against Saddam Hussein and others in the former regime before the June 30 transfer of sovereignty to the new government, a senior official said today.

The US-led coalition agreed today to suspend offensive operations in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf after Shiite leaders struck a deal with rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to end the bloody standoff which has threatened some of Shia Islam’s holiest shrines.

The young American who was decapitated on a videotape posted by an al-Qaida-linked web site was never under US custody despite claims from his family, coalition spokesman Dan Senor said in Baghdad.

US ADMINISTRATOR Paul Bremer first heard of allegations that troops were mistreating Iraqi captives at Abu Ghraib prison in January, a spokesman said yesterday.

Around 40 foreign hostages from 12 countries are currently being held by insurgents in Iraq, and the FBI is involved investigations into the abductions, a coalition spokesman said today.

A US general today called on Sunni militants in Fallujah to join in a ceasefire to allow further negotiations between Iraqi leaders and representatives of the besieged city.

At least 143 people were killed when simultaneous explosions ripped through crowds of worshippers today at Shiite Muslim shrines in Baghdad and Karbala on the holiest day of the Shiite calendar.

THE US Army freed scores of Iraqi prisoners yesterday after announcing an amnesty the previous day for low-threat detainees rounded up over the past eight months.

A HUGE explosion destroyed the offices of a major Shi’ite party yesterday as it was revealed that US administrator Paul Bremer escaped a rebel ambush on his convoy two weeks ago.

US officials tonight vowed that the international coalition will not be broken by roadside ambushes that increasingly targeted US allies.