Adventurer unbowed despite blindness and paralysis, says Suzanne Harrington

A Cork-born pharmacist has qualified for one of the toughest endurance events on the planet: the World Ironman Championships in Hawaii.

On November 13, as darkness falls, thousands of people will run through Dublin, Belfast Cork, London and Manchester to raise money so that one day the paralysed might walk.

LAST month saw the Cheltenham Festival, the election of the first non-European pope in nearly 1,300 years and the continuing saga of horseflesh sold as beef.

On Wednesday, November 14, the Run in the Dark is due to take place in Belfast, Cork, Dublin, London and New York.

Miss China, a 23-year-old music lover who wants to work with the poor, was crowned Miss World 2012 at a ceremony in Inner Mongolia over the weekend.

A Chinese spacecraft carrying three astronauts has docked with an orbiting module where they will live and work for several days as part of preparations for crewing a permanent space station.

SOME people just put others to shame, their positive attitude towards dealing with — what for others would be an unthinkable burden — provides inspiration to all but the most mean-spirited. Mark Pollock is one such person.

CHINA has launched an experimental module to lay the groundwork for a future space station.

China today launched an experimental module to lay the groundwork for a future space station.

EMBRACING the multi-cultural society we live in, Alanna Books, a small independent UK publisher, has responded to the need for sharing language.

A vast floor within London's Tate Modern art gallery has been carpeted with more than 100 million “sunflower seeds” – the latest commission in the annual Unilever Series.

IT’S a modern-day version of Marco Polo’s journey halfway around the world — but is anyone at the controls?

Firecrackers that had been trucked to a Chinese desert to be destroyed exploded as they were dumped into a ditch, killing 25 people and leaving five others missing, state media reported today.

FOR the weekend birder, the peripatetic birder (the travelling salesman, say) or the twitcher, Finding Birds in Ireland, The Complete Guide, by Dempsey and O’Clery is the book to buy.

FLOODING in New York’s subway lines ground the morning commute to a halt yesterday, angering New Yorkers who are facing rail and utility fee hikes to support an aging infrastructure.

Paranoia and mistrust have set in as Fake Week sees “Big Brother witches” Charley and Nicky face a bogus eviction tonight.

The betting shop on the main street in Malahide, where I live, does a roaring trade.

Shops and restaurants atop the Great Wall of China are being given the shove as part of a move to restore the original appearance of the country’s best known historical site, it was reported today.

A BLIND businessman who travels the world seeking out extreme sport challenges yesterday lavished praise on his award-winning guide dog and declared: “He’s transformed my life.”

China exulted at its second manned space flight today after the government eased its secrecy and showed the launch of two astronauts on live television, scoring a success in a costly programme that communist leaders hope will win them respect abroad and public support at home.

China plans to launch a pair of astronauts into orbit on its second manned space flight, using the occasion to trumpet its ambitions as a global power.

IN their thousands they are gathering, the barbarian Irish hordes, priming their purses for jumping’s premier festival, nursing dreams of victory and a baffling thirst.

A so-so re-make of the much better l965 film, though this is impressive enough, technically, given present-day cinema developments.

China’s first astronaut in space returned safely to Earth today when his craft touched down as planned after 21 hours in orbit. Beijing’s mission control declared the country’s landmark debut flight “a success”.

China launched its first manned space mission today, sending an astronaut hurtling into orbit and becoming the third country in Earth’s history to do so - four decades after the Soviet Union and the US.

Jason Statham, the former London barrow boy who was discovered by filmmaker Guy Ritchie, is hoping the heatwave in Southern California abates before he begins filming there in two weeks’ time.

China today reported a new Sars death and warned officials not to hide cases of the disease, while leaders in hard-hit Hong Kong geared up for a massive clean-up targeting the territory’s back alleys where germs might fester.

An unmanned Chinese space capsule today landed safely after orbiting the Earth for a week in what officials said was a step towards a manned flight later this year.

China today revealed plans to become the planet’s third nation to explore space by blasting off a manned capsule sometime this year.

President Jiang Zemin has hailed the successful launch of China’s unmanned spacecraft Shenzhou IV, calling it a “great victory” that demonstrated the country’s increasing technological capabilities.

A large area of China is covered in yellow snow - but it is being caused by sand rather than dogs.