PLANNING a weekend that keeps parents and young children interested and content can be a challenge. 

Over three quarters of Irish business owners admit to sacking staff without following correct procedures.

IT IS amazing to see because it feels so clearly out of place, but in some spots along Antarctica’s coast you can actually find hints of grass and other plant life — green evidence that in parts of the long-frozen continent the ice is thinning, and fast.

A PASSIONATE engagement with the subject matter is evident in the first ever survey of the graphic work of the late and much liked artist, William Crozier (1930-2011), which runs at the Lavit Gallery in Cork from Jul 3-24.

The first whales, of what has now become known as 'Whales Watching Season' on the Hook Peninsula in county Wexford, have been spotted.

Racing at Cork warmed up with the improved weather yesterday as a full programme of competition was completed in all nine events under IRC and again under ECHO handicaps.

New research from employment law consultancy Peninsula Ireland shows 82% of employees admit lying at a job interview.

A record number of bosses, 84%, have pulled the plug on the Christmas party.

A new study shows 82% of Irish companies have scrapped their Christmas party, and 64% say they will never have one again.

Almost nine out of 10 workers fear their job is not safe, a new poll revealed today.

One in six Irish workers will take tomorrow off work to follow the overnight voting in the US election, a survey claimed today.

Four in five Irish bosses will not pay for a Christmas party this year because they have to tighten their belts amid the economic downturn, a survey said today.

THE need for adequate water and sewerage schemes in Kenmare has been highlighted by a decision of An Bord Pleanála to refuse planning permission for a 14-house development in the fast-growing tourist town, it emerged yesterday.

The British paparazzo who allegedly bedded Britney Spears last weekend has wasted no time in talking about his intimate encounter - he revealed all about his "awesome" one night stand on US news show '20/20' on Friday.

Around 1,000 troops guarded a Philippine court hearing today for 14 soldiers accused of a 2003 rebellion, the same officers who stormed out of proceedings last month and commandeered a hotel, calling for an anti-government uprising.

Military officers defied a deadline to surrender after storming out of their coup trial in the Philippines capital today, taking over a luxury hotel and demanding that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo resign.

TRAFFIC congestion and an inadequate water supply in Kenmare, Co Kewrry, are among the main reasons for the refusal of planning permission for a controversial development which had been earmarked for the town.

Arab leaders were deeply sceptical today of the US plan for Iraq, a day after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice tried to sell it to them.

I WISH to appraise your readers of the current development threat to Kenmare, Co Kerry, and warn every other small town lest a similar fate awaits.

A MAJOR protest against what is described as the overdevelopment of Kenmare — one of Kerry’s fastest growing towns — is planned for tomorrow.

Police in Egypt today killed the leader of an al-Qaida-inspired militant group who was wanted for last month’s Sinai bombings that killed 21 people.

DIRECT access to the sea always carries a bit of cachet and marketability.

Firefighters have contained Australia’s deadliest wildfire in more than two decades, which killed nine people and left three others missing, officials said today.