THE prestigious Limerick Lady title was won last weekend by John McLoughlin, Falduff, Louisburgh, Co Mayo, with his home-bred qualifier at Westport Show, by Grosvenor Lad out of Falduff Lady.

THEY say you can take a white horse anywhere, but it seems Midleton horse trainer Dan Rohan can take his bay mare anywhere and win.

WEST Cork exhibitor Seamus Lehane had a highly successful visit to Limerick Show, where he took both the young horse and filly championships.

CLARE exhibitor Tom Casey had an early showing season double at Bandon last Sunday, where he won the young horse and three-year-old horse championships.

UN and private aid agencies today raced to prepare aid for victims of the devastating cyclone in Burma, but were awaiting a go-ahead from the ruling junta.

Zimbabwe’s opposition said it was willing to share power with the ruling party, but not long-time president Robert Mugabe.

AN improvement in the quality of drinking water from Lough Guitane — one of the main sources in Kerry — was a major priority this year, Kerry County Council pledged yesterday.

France has asked Venezuela for help with a hurried mission to free an ailing hostage held by Colombian rebels, but President Hugo Chavez says he is powerless until Colombia and the US stop hunting a rebel leader.

CHINA escalated its rhetoric against supporters of the Dalai Lama yesterday, accusing the Nobel Peace laureate’s backers of planning suicide attacks.

Venezuela and Ecuador have punished Colombia for killing a rebel leader in the Ecuadorian jungle by expelling its diplomats, ordering troops to the border and cracking down on trade.

US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice has urged Palestinians to quickly resume peace talks with Israel, suspended in protest over an Israeli military offensive that killed more than 100 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Kenya’s president threatened a tough crackdown as rioters rampaged for a third day to protest what they called his sham re-election.

It appears “impossible” for Pakistan to hold a vote on January 8 because of unrest following the killing of Benazir Bhutto, the country’s election commission said today.

FROM London to Washington to Delhi and points in between, the assassination of Benazir Bhutto produced dismay and condemnation, along with concern for the stability of the volatile region.

Leaders across the world are today united in their condemnation of the assassination of Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi.

Iran wants to renew top-level talks with the US on security in Iraq, insisting that discussions take place between ambassadors and not lower-level functionaries, Iraqi officials say.

Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto deepened Pakistan’s political crisis by demanding the resignation of President Pervez Musharraf as Washington prepared to send a top diplomat to urge the general to lift emergency rule.

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin insisted yesterday he would travel to Iran today despite reports about a possible assassination attempt, arguing direct contact and “peaceful means” were the only way to deal with the country’s nuclear program.

Opposition legislators submitted their resignations today as part of their efforts to undercut President General Pervez Musharraf’s re-election bid, while two of his opponents filed fresh legal challenges to his candidacy.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il greeted South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun in Pyongyang today to begin the second summit between the two countries since the peninsula’s division after the Second World War.

The US State Department today said that the next round of six-nation North Korean nuclear talks could start on September 27.

Counter-terrorism officials in the US were analysiing a new video of Osama bin Laden tonight ahead of the sixth anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks.

United Nations weapons inspectors have found a dangerous nerve gas in an office in New York, a UN spokeswoman said today.

North Korea demanded that the US military call off war manoeuvres with South Korea planned at the same time as the second-ever summit between the rival Koreas later this month.

The Taliban threatened to kill more of the remaining 21 South Korean captives today, while Afghanistan said it would not release insurgent prisoners – the militia’s key demand to ending the two-week long hostage crisis.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is to head to the Middle East in a fresh push for peace, hoping to build on momentum created by the appointment of Tony Blair as a special envoy for the region.

Acting on a request from Iran, the International Atomic Energy Agency said today that it will send a team to Tehran as soon as possible to work jointly on a plan meant to clear up suspicions about the Islamic republic's nuclear activities.

With the threat of new UN sanctions looming over Iran, senior European officials met an envoy from Tehran, in what officials described as an attempt to defuse the crisis over the Islamic republic’s refusal to scrap uranium enrichment.

A pro-Kremlin youth group today said it would end a blockade of the Estonian Embassy in Moscow, where activists have been protesting for days over the relocation of a statue of a Soviet soldier in the Estonian capital.

The State Department today rejected suggestions that some jihadists could have easy access to the United States because of US rules that do not require citizens of select countries to obtain a visa for US travel.

GARDAÍ are trying to establish why a Polish man in his 20s apparently ‘jumped out’ in front of a car driven by a young woman.

Zimbabwe’s main opposition party today denied it was stockpiling weapons or waging a terror campaign.

The UN Security Council voted unanimously today to impose moderately tougher sanctions against Iran, hoping to send Tehran a strong message that it will grow more isolated by refusing to suspend nuclear enrichment.

Zimbabwe’s government faced strong international condemnation after police crushed a prayer demonstration and allegedly tortured the country’s most prominent opposition leader and killed a pro-democracy activist.

The European Union presidency and the United Nations secretary-general condemned the reported arrest and torture of Zimbabwe opposition leaders after a weekend rally, and told Robert Mugabe’s government it must ensure the safety of those detained.

SERIAL numbers and markings on explosives used in Iraq provide “pretty good” evidence that Iran is providing either weapons or technology for militants there, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said yesterday.

Gazans rejoiced in the streets to celebrate a Hamas-Fatah power-sharing deal they hope will avert civil war, but Palestinian officials preached patience today, saying implementing the agreement would be a challenge.

The US and North Korea are focusing on ways to resume international nuclear disarmament talks in their discussions in Germany, not on US financial restrictions levelled at Pyongyang, the state department said today.

President George Bush authorised a series of US raids against Iranians in Iraq as part of a broad military offensive, his secretary of state Condoleezza Rice said today.

Members of Iraq’s parliament and families of Saddam Hussein’s victims will witness the former leader’s execution, planned to take place no later than tomorrow.

After nearly a quarter-century of severed ties, Iraq said it would resume diplomatic relations with neighbouring Syria – a move seen as a possible step toward stemming some of the unrelenting violence, which claimed another 100 lives.

The United Nations’ top humanitarian official today demanded an immediate moratorium on the use of cluster bombs, a day after the international Red Cross stepped up its campaign against the weapons by calling for their outright abolition.

US president George Bush today welcomed an agreement to bring North Korea back to six-party arms talks and said the United States will insist the communist regime abandon its nuclear weapons program in a verifiable fashion.

An exiled Muslim rebel leader welcomed Thailand’s military overthrow of prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra today, saying the coup could help resolve a bloody Islamic uprising in the country’s south.