New legislation has been enacted allowing for three more District Court judges to oversee the Children's Courts. These judges will help speed up the handling of cases involving children and reduce the number of repeat remands made, where a child is remanded in bail or custody until the next appearance.

One district court judge claimed (and was paid) €82,240 last year. Of this, €25,958 was for travel expenses, and €56,282 for subsistence expenses. Unlike other judges, this judge claimed nothing for judicial attire. The identity of the judge has not been disclosed by the courts service. A total of €2.3 million in expenses was claimed by judges in 2007.

Sailing against light winds in Qingdao: Phil Lawton and Ger Owens have a chance of an Olympic medal in the 470 sailing class. By Emma Browne

It has been known for decades that the curtailment of speed on the roads was an essential prerequisite for reducing the death toll on the roads. It was further appreciated for decades that without the introduction of speed cameras this could not be done effectively. Now decades later, it is still apparent that speed cameras are not available and will not be available for quite some time.

Susan McKay's new book, about victims from Northern Ireland's Troubles, their families and communities, is sensitive and comprehensive.

Israeli anthropologist Jeff Halper believes Ireland should make a stand against the Israeli occupation and destruction of Palestinian territories and homes. Interview by David Shanks

An Israeli activist, recently visiting Ireland, has been critical of the Irish government's refusal to support the Palestinian cause and alleges that two companies in Ireland have been involved in projects for the Israelis.

With Aer Lingus cutting their flights to LA in November the time to mingle with the stars is now. By Eoghan Corry

A new book containing a series of essays by clergy, educators, journalists, academics and artists focuses on the decline in the power of the Catholic Church in recent years and its place in modern Ireland

The European astronomers who first discovered a planet beyond our Solar System (just a dozen years ago) have now calculated that fully one-third of all nearby stars may have planets circling them that are not much bigger than our Earth.

In a few months, both Vodafone and Three Mobile are expected to offer mobile broadband download rates of 7.2 Megabits per second (Mb/s), twice as fast as the present download rate.