AN INTERESTING article, which was first published in the online journal The Conversation, is reproduced in the current edition of Scientific American, writes Richard Collins. 

In David Cesarani’s posthumously published book on the Holocaust, Neil Robinson learns that the Nazi policy of murdering millions of Jews was more complex in its origins and implementation than is traditionally believed.

Mikhail Gorbachev’s latest book contains plenty of righteous anger at the state of modern Russia but is marred by being one-sided and presenting a lack of context for the general reader, writes Neil Robinson.

A biscuit or a Bard? As the world marks the great writer’s 400th anniversary, Ger Fitzgibbon reflects on how Irish people drawn to his work included rebels holed up in Jacobs during the 1916 Rising.

The infamous spies who infiltrated Britain in the 1950s and ‘60s came from the wealthy upper classes and went unchallenged in their roles, writes Neil Robinson.

Barry Walsh (Letters, January 27) is correct to point out that “Double speak around Putin shouldn’t surprise”.

A High Court ruling that a 74-year-old Russian man was born in Dublin and is entitled to have his Irish birth officially registered here is being appealed.

Harper Lee isn’t the only author who wrote a worldwide bestseller yet decided not to try to repeat that success. Brian Moss and Lorraine Murphy look at other members of this elite club

There has been much commentary on Éamon de Valera infamous condolences to the German ambassador on the death of Adolf Hitler, 70 years ago.

The Soviets were crucial to the Allied victory in WW2, but 70 years on there is a rift again, says Geoffrey Roberts

Celtic manager Ronny Deila has urged his players to take their league form into the European scene tonight against Astra Giurgiu (8.05pm, live on 3e).

EU leaders sent a clear message to Russia to step back from the brink of war in Ukraine when they unanimously agreed to make Poland’s prime minister their chief.

The carnage that followed the doomed Warsaw Uprising of 1944 raises the question what was it all for — and who was responsible for its failure, writes Geoffrey Roberts.

The Immigrant Council says a man who has been declared stateless after his citizenship was revoked, is thrilled he can now apply to become Irish.

THE longstanding Irish policy of neutrality, an ongoing balancing act of several competing pressures — nationalism, the post-colonial relation with Britain, a burgeoning involvement with European politics — came under particular scrutiny in 1983.

They may be under-represented on the airwaves here, but Irish female broadcasters have been flying the flag abroad for years. Dave Kenny looks at the women who have made an international impact

KIM Jong-un did the world a small favour by appointing an economic reformer to the country’s premiership on Apr 1, right in the middle of the Great Sabre Rattle.

ONCE you get into the toilet paper issue, you’re verbally unsafe.

The most common question I am being asked at the moment is, “Is the shortage of fodder as bad as they say?”

Usain Bolt brought the track action at London 2012 to a fittingly brilliant close tonight, anchoring the Jamaican 4x100m relay team to gold in a new world record.

Just Send Me Word: A True Story of Love and Survival in the Gulag

Ireland may have nothing to play for in tonight’s closing Group C game against Italy but they certainly have something to fight against.

By now, you’ve probably all seen the video of the Irish fans greeting the English team’s coach in Krakow. It was hard to miss. And even harder not to laugh at, even if there’s something a little sad about how the English – by contrast – are so supportive of Ireland.

HIS DIARY is stuffed with tour dates, the punters are laughing long and loud, TV producers are devising new formats for him to front on a seemingly daily basis.

Des O'Driscoll gives the lowdown on what's will be hot on the box over the next seven days.

To mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the former Soviet Union, Geoffrey Roberts reflects on what led to the collapse of the institution instigated by the Bolsheviks in 1922

ON New Year’s Day, Ireland will begin a year-long term as chair of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe. This week’s visit to Dublin by Secretary General Lamberto Zannier is part of the quickening of pace of diplomatic preparation.

WINE wears its history proudly.

TO lose one of the world’s great managers may be regarded as a misfortune.

A PUBLICAN abducted on a business visit to west Africa thanked the local police yesterday for freeing him from an armed gang.

SEVENTY years after it began, is there anything new to be written about World War II, which killed six people every second for the six years it lasted?

Irish intelligence services kept reports of Joe Dolan’s tour of Russia in a classified file marked Communist Activities, newly released papers reveal.

WHEN Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich appeared in the literary magazine Novy Mir back in November 1962, taboos were shattered. Secrets were unearthed. And the Soviet Union was shaken to its foundations.

THEY say that life doesn’t owe you a living but I still maintain that Irish football owes me 50p.

A virus-laden cream that is stuffed up the noses of hospital patients to prevent the spread of MRSA could be available in two years, it was revealed today.

SHANNON AIRPORT plans to lease out its aviation fuel farm to a private operator.

Milla Jovovich insists her acting career has been hampered by her exotic name, because directors keep casting her in alien or superhero roles.

Wheels of power ground proposed Ardmore Studios film to death, writes Caroline O’Doherty.

THE accountant stood at the kitchen sink, clearly trying to find something among the nuts, bolts, screws, box-cutters, tabloid newspapers, cigarette packages and rolled glue-tubes testifying to the work being done on the house.

Georgia native Katie Melua was kept awake by the terrifying sound of gunfire during her early childhood as her country fought to gain independence from the USSR.

An emotional wreath-laying ceremony was held at the Soviet War Memorial in London today as the loss of 27 million soldiers and civilians from the former USSR in the Second World War was commemorated.

WITHOUT wishing to sound like a doddery greybeard, your correspondent has experienced some extraordinary atmospherics in his football-watching career — from the spectacle of a Don Givens-inspired Ireland walloping the USSR at a heaving, disbelieving Dalymount Park back in 1974, to what virtually amounted to an Irish ‘home’ game in Giants Stadium in New Jersey 20 years later.