Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness are clear in their message that a peaceful Northern Ireland is open for business, but the first day of their week-long visit had little impact in the US media.

A court declared oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky guilty of an array of charges today in a trial widely criticised as politically motivated, sentencing him to nine years in prison minus time served.

Two members of US President George W Bush’s Cabinet said they never considered intervening in Enron’s spiral toward bankruptcy, nor did they inform the president of requests for help from the fallen energy giant.