How Diane Keaton shows she's no dedicated follower of fashion
I love clothes but I hate the fascistic, lemmingy fashion world. With the exception of the individualistic Kate Moss, the industry's poster girls are tall, skinny young celebrities who slavishly...
View ArticlePM: We need to be at EU top table
David Cameron will risk the wrath of Tory backbenchers by making the European Union a key part of his vision for Britain's future. The Prime Minister is to stress the importance of being at the "top...
View ArticleConsumers 'will loosen their belts'
Consumers are predicted to "loosen their belts" this year and drive economic growth with a high street revival. However, people will continue to feel "bruised" by the effects of years of tight...
View ArticleCanine attacks on guide dogs rising
Ten guide dogs are attacked by out-of-control dogs every month, a report has warned. The charity Guide Dogs is calling on the Government to act on the all-time high figure as MPs debate dog control in...
View ArticleChildren asking for cheaper gifts
Children are handing back pocket money and asking for more modest birthday and Christmas presents to spare their parents during the economic downturn. Far from being a generation looking for a free...
View ArticleBargain prices for Picasso artwork
Art lovers on a budget will get the chance to own original work by Picasso for a few hundred pounds when it goes on sale later this month. Among the works being auctioned are linocuts valued at £500...
View ArticleSafety review for diabetes drug
Medical experts are reviewing the safety of a widely used drug to treat diabetes after experts linked it to pancreatic cancer. Researchers have suggested that there could be a link between incretin...
View ArticleEconomy 'shows marked improvement'
The private sector economy in Northern Ireland is starting to show signs that the worst of the downturn is over, new figures have indicated. Business activity is edging toward stability, with the rate...
View ArticleCarers 'let down by lack of advice'
Thousands of carers in Northern Ireland are being let down by a lack of support and advice, a leading charity has claimed. The emotional, physical and financial impact of caring has been laid bare for...
View ArticleWomen urged to attend screening
A UK cancer charity has warned levels of cervical cancer among Northern Irish women could rise if they continue ignoring their screening test invitations. Almost a quarter of women in the country fail...
View ArticleTeenagers held over blaze at school
Four teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of arson in connection with a fire at an Islamic boarding school in Chislehurst, south east London. Scotland Yard said the two 17-year-olds and two...
View Article1m children grow up without fathers
More than a million children are growing up in the UK without a father, a report on family breakdown has found. The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) says that the number of lone-parent families is...
View ArticleBudapest braces for swollen Danube
The swollen River Danube is approaching Budapest, where soldiers and volunteers are building flood walls, officials said. Parts of the south and north ends of the Hungarian capital are already under...
View ArticleDeaths 'not cut by breast checks'
Breast cancer screening programmes have yet to show a reduction in the number of women who die from the disease, researchers said. A new study suggests that there is "no evidence" that screening women...
View ArticleKinky Boots struts off with 6 Tonys
The feel-good musical Kinky Boots, with songs by pop star and Broadway newcomer Cyndi Lauper, won six 2013 Tony Awards, including best musical, best score and best leading man. Christopher Durang's...
View ArticleKoreas to hold top-level talks
North and South Korea are to hold senior-level talks this week in Seoul, in a breakthrough of sorts to ease tensions after Pyongyang's recent threats of nuclear war and Seoul's vows of...
View ArticleYeo faces lobbying sleaze probe
The chairman of a powerful Commons committee is facing a sleaze probe after denying allegations he used his position to help business clients. Tim Yeo, who heads the Energy and Climate Change...
View ArticleSewage plant site to be revealed
The site for a "super" sewage treatment plant is to be revealed. Two locations near Lusk in north Co Dublin and one in Clonshaugh, about 2km from Dublin Airport, were last year earmarked by Dublin...
View ArticleInsurgents attack Nato Kabul HQ
Insurgents have attacked the military side of Kabul's international airport, which houses a Nato headquarters, and explosions and gunfire were occurring, Afghan army and police said. The airport was...
View ArticleTaliban fighters attack airport
At least five heavily-armed insurgents were engaged in an hours-long gun battle with security forces on the perimeter of Afghanistan's main airport. The stand-off came after they tried to attack...
View ArticleHague quizzed on GCHQ US spy link
William Hague is to face questions from MPs over GCHQ's links to a controversial US internet monitoring programme. The Foreign Secretary is due to make a statement to the Commons amid mounting...
View ArticleHomework is a chore we could do without
I HAVE felt that homework should be abolished since I was a child. Now, as a mum of three kids in primary and secondary school, I am still of that opinion. We mothers are busier than ever. We are...
View ArticleFriend: Nation must let Mandela go
A realisation that the inevitable may not be far away was growing among South Africans as they said prayers for their ailing former leader Nelson Mandela. Mr Mandela, 94, was admitted to hospital in...
View ArticleWe need to win back freedoms
GOVERNMENT propaganda is producing fear and the fear that's being manipulated justifies policies which restrict our freedoms. Take the 'War on Terror'. In the last 12 years, hundreds of thousands have...
View ArticleDaft reaction to Linda's singing ageist nonsense
THIS is not about the merits, or otherwise, of Linda Martin's version of Daft Punk's Get Lucky (News, June 6). It's about my increasing horror at the level of latent ageism in society here. Some of...
View ArticleSoap star Roache to appear in court
Coronation Street star Bill Roache is due to appear in court accused of historic sexual offences against five girls. The veteran actor was charged in May with two counts of raping a 15-year-old girl...
View ArticlePhilip spends birthday in hospital
The Duke of Edinburgh is spending his 92nd birthday in hospital as he continues to recuperate from an operation on his abdomen. Buckingham Palace said Philip was "progressing satisfactorily" after...
View ArticleG8 chance for us to protest
THE media charm-offensive has begun as our local political class rolls out the the red carpet to the gang of eight – dealers in austerity, state terror and imperialism. The G8 summit provides a rare...
View ArticleTime to redress gender divide in rape debate
IN the recent correspondence about rape, there seems to be a gender divide, which I'd like to redress. The men don't appear to me to be suggesting that rape is other than a heinous crime; they merely...
View ArticleMore people in UK surviving cancer
Around 400,000 people in the UK have been diagnosed with cancer and have survived for more than a decade, figures show. Macmillan Cancer Support said that around 260,000 women and 140,000 men have...
View ArticleTesting vital to understand cancer causes
IT was appalling, but not unexpected, to read that, by 2020, almost half of Britons will get cancer during their lifetime (News, June 8). It is often said that this rise is partly due to an ageing...
View ArticleBrady bunch are being watched by their own Pentagon
So, in less than 10 days' time, many of the world's most powerful leaders fly in to Northern Ireland for the G8 summit. And with them, not unlike Eric Cantona's famous seagulls following the trawler,...
View ArticleTragic effects of nuclear trials
WITH half of the population destined to get cancer, why are we not discussing the cancer-causing effects globally of the 2,000 nuclear weapons test explosions in the atmosphere, the radiation from such...
View ArticleBalance is key in planning debate
One of the most contentious issues in Northern Ireland is the planning laws, and it has surfaced again in the proposed Planning Bill. Anna Lo, chairperson of the Stormont Planning Committee, has...
View ArticleGavin Robinson: Good times and some bad... all part of my time as mayor
"You know you're getting old when policemen look young – now it's the lord mayors." That was a standard welcome throughout my year in office. I had served on Belfast City Council for a little over two...
View ArticleRhys Ifans, it's not good to act the PRat
This week the actors' Liam Gallagher, Rhys Ifans, got bored and sweary during a newspaper interview, finally curtailing it prematurely by telling the journalist to f*** off. The unseemly event...
View ArticleMy son (3) told 'same-sex' facts
MANY of your commentators have speculated as to what the wider implications of allowing same-sex marriages will be on society. I was given a stark illustration of this at the weekend. In response to my...
View ArticleDUP's heir apparent after Gavin Robinson's flawless reign as mayor
Gavin Robinson is the DUP's Teflon man – and he is headed for the top. He is personable, he is able and he is the one that the party is grooming to win back the East Belfast seat from Naomi Long of...
View ArticleHitting back over Sinn Fein's criticism of Magee
You published a letter from Sinn Fein representatives (Write Back, June 6) criticising the University of Ulster's work at its Magee campus. The Magee campus is now larger than ever, has more students...
View ArticleJim Allister gives plenty of hope for unionism
The successful passage of 'Ann's Law' through the Assembly has rightly been hailed as a victory for all innocent victims of terrorism. Ann Travers deserves tremendous credit. The law could not have...
View ArticleWhy peaceful protest at the G8 summit must be allowed
It is good to hear the police acknowledging their duty to accommodate peaceful protest during the G8 summit in Enniskillen later this month. The eyes of the world will be focused on Northern Ireland...
View ArticleAlcohol deaths 'could be avoided'
Doctors are "missing opportunities" to help people with alcohol problems, a new report suggests. Experts have estimated that many deaths from alcohol-related liver disease could be avoided....
View ArticleCall to introduce earlier HPV tests
Carrying out a virus test before traditional cervical screening could prevent around 600 cases of cancer a year in England, research suggests. Scientists found that more than 40% of 8,750 women with...
View ArticleJustice is blind to the suffering of innocents
How many glaring, goading examples of hard justice must we endure in British courts before the law is formally declared an ass and the great legal minds of 2013 can get their heads together and start...
View ArticleAbsurd rape comments add insult to injury
IN her suggestion that "women can take steps to reduce their risk [of rape]" (Write Back, June 19), Sue Alexander exhibits a classic example of victim-blaming that mustn't go unchallenged. Discussing...
View ArticleWe can't move forward without an agreed past
I am sure Sinn Fein's leadership would be horrified today if anyone planted a bomb like the ones that used to go off in Belfast city centre. The problem is that, for a long time, Sinn Fein argued that...
View ArticleWe must have right to choose over GM foods
STEVE Connor (Comment, June 4) is quite right that it's "put up, or shut up" time for GM (genetically modified) foods. But he's got it the wrong way around. It's high time that those who are so keen...
View ArticlePolice identify Santa Monica gunman
Police have identified the gunman who went on a shooting rampage in California that left five people dead. Santa Monica police sergeant Richard Lewis said 23-year-old John Zawahri killed his father...
View ArticleMarshal dies after track accident
A track marshal has died after being injured in an accident during the Canadian Grand Prix. It is the first death in Formula One since another marshal, Graham Beveridge, was fatally injured in the...
View ArticleCancer charity urges NI women to take up smear invite
A UK-wide charity is urging women in Northern Ireland to have regular screening tests after figures suggest NI has the highest incidence of cervical cancer in the UK. Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust said...
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