Sport Against Racism Ireland (SARI) have called on the GAA to ban the Confederate flag from their grounds after a variation of it appeared in Fitzgerald Stadium at the Munster SFC final last Sunday.

Here’s a run down of today’s business headlines.

America’s National Security Agency has implanted secret surveillance software in nearly 100,000 computers around the world — but not in the US — allowing agents to spy on the machines, it is claimed.

America’s biggest retailer Wal-Mart is facing the prospect of possible store closures due to staff work stoppages over the upcoming Thanksgiving Day holiday.

I write following the recent article ‘Smear test screening still out sourced to US’ and wish to emphasis a number of points.

An Irishwoman once described as “the most dangerous woman in America” for her fearless campaigning for workers’ rights is to be honoured in her native city this week.

AIB chairman David Hodgkinson and the finance minister’s Nama adviser Michael Geoghegan are heavily referenced in an investigation into HSBC’s concealing of Iranian banks transactions from American authorities.

Republican White House hopeful Rick Santorum was under pressure yesterday to explain why he applauded a ranting evangelical pastor in Louisiana who told non-Christians to get out of America.

Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney cruised to an easy victory in Nevada on Saturday, crushing his three remaining rivals and taking firm command of the party’s volatile presidential nominating race.

Financial markets were in turmoil today after a collapse in share prices around the world.

The parents of missing Madeleine McCann yesterday welcomed new information which suggests their daughter may be in America.

THREE young backpackers who were on the verge of sparking an international incident between Ireland and the US look set to be welcomed back with open arms and free accommodation.

THE world’s second biggest advertising firm, WPP, has confirmed it is moving it headquarters to Ireland from Britain.

Wall Street capped a shortened trading week with a mixed finish today after some uneven economic data: news of a contraction in the US’ services sector and a tame reading on employment.

AN Irish student who lost one of his best friends in the Virginia Tech shootings has said it must not discourage Irish students from going to America for an education.

Stocks in the US surged today on signs of resilience in the housing market and the US consumer, with falling oil prices giving investors an extra reason to rally. The Dow Jones industrials gained more than 120 points.

US President George Bush sets off today on a week-long tour of Latin America, aiming to challenge a widespread perception in the region of US neglect.

Columbine High School, site of the US’ deadliest school massacre eight years ago, was evacuated today after officials received at least one call about a bomb threat, authorities said.

Has the US’ most eligible bachelor been snapped up by a British lady? Sorry ladies, rumour has it George Clooney is rather keen on presenter Cat Deeley, who recently moved Stateside to further her TV career.

A gunman took six girls hostage at the high school in the Colorado mountain town of Bailey, using them as human shields for hours before he shot and fatally wounded a girl and then killed himself as a SWAT team moved in, authorities said.

Iraqi police today reported they had found the bodies of at least 65 men killed by gunshots, most bound hand and foot, in a gruesome wave of apparent sectarian killing over the past 24 hours in some of Baghdad’s most dangerous neighbourhoods.

Nigerian militants have released six foreign oil workers they deemed “low value”, but held on to two Americans and one Briton and threatened crippling new attacks aimed at cutting off all oil production in Nigeria.

US National Intelligence Director John Negroponte takes centre stage today as he delivers his first annual assessment of national security threats to Congress.

A warning that consumers shouldn’t use a heat gun that produces temperatures of 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit (540 degrees Celsius) as a hairdryer has won an American anti-lawsuit group’s award for the wackiest label of the year.

The sisters of murdered Belfast man Robert McCartney have said the man they believe ordered the killing of their brother is planning to emigrate to the United States.

Former Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith is going to the US’ highest court in her fight over the fortune of her 90-year-old late husband.

Finance officials from the world’s biggest industrial powers said soaring energy prices posed a risk to global economic activity and pledged to do all they could to limit the fallout.

Robert Redford, singers Tony Bennett and Tina Turner, actress Julie Harris and ballerina/teacher Suzanne Farrell will receive Kennedy Center honours, the performing arts centre announced in Washington tonight.

The discovery of mad cow disease in the US cost the beef industry between €2.4bn and €3.5bn in losses last year, according to an economic impact study.

Militants exploded three bombs today in the Iraqi capital, killing at least one civilian and wounding eight others, officials said of the latest in a string of deadly attacks across Baghdad.

In the greedy world of spam e-mail and electronic fraud, nothing is sacred - not even the death of Pope John Paul.

The proportion of overweight or fat men is higher in some European countries than it is in the US, experts said in a major analysis of Europeans’ expanding waistlines.

Although Britain is the US’ closest ally in Europe, Britons do not think much of President George Bush, an AP poll in Europe and selected countries of the world has found.

Oil prices broke through the 46 US dollar mark for the first time tonight as fears of unrest in Venezuela and disruption in Iraq sparked fresh concerns over supplies.

Oil prices were once again hovering near record peaks today as fears of unrest in Venezuela and disruption in Iraq sparked fresh concerns over supplies.

The Department of Health has reportedly claimed that smokers prosecuted for breaching the workplace smoking ban risk not being permitted entry to the US or Australia.

Robert Redford has named a ski resort and a film festival after his famous film character, the Sundance Kid, but now his name graces the front of an environmentally friendly building.

The London market bounced back to the 4,200 level today after a strong start on Wall Street boosted sentiment.