Less than two months after ascending to the United States Senate, Barack Obama bought more than $50,000 worth of stock in two speculative companies whose major investors included some of his biggest political donors, according to a report in The New York Times on 7 March.

One of the companies was a biotech concern that was starting to develop a drug to treat avian flu. In March 2005, two weeks after buying about $5,000 of its shares, Mr. Obama took the lead in a legislative push for more federal spending to battle the disease.

A magazine article by Robin Henig has been the most emailed article on the New York Times web site since Sunday, 4 March, when the article was first published.
This is a section of the article

Joe Higgins questioned Bertie Ahern on the tax scams availed of in Ireland by multi-national corporations in the Dail on Wednesday, 7 March 2007.

The following exchanges occurred in Dáil Éireann on Tuesday, 6 March 2007
Enda. Kenny asked the Taoiseach the procedures in place in his Department in respect of the use of the Government jets; and if he will make a statement on the matter 

Geneticists who have tested DNA throughout Britain and Ireland are struck by the overall genetic similarities between Irish, English, Wesh and Scottish people, leading some to claim that both Britain and Ireland have been inhabited for thousands of years by a single people that have remained in the majority, with only minor additions from later invaders like Celts, Romans, Angles , Saxons, Vikings and Normans.

The Irish Times reports a new agency appointed by the Government to advise on the development of the Garda has expressed serious concern for the safety of Gardaí tackling siege situations and a growing gun culture. The agency, the new Garda Inspectorate, has made several proposals, arising from the killing of John Carty at Abbeylara in 2000.

The retired Archbishop of Bologna, Cardinal Giacomo Biffi, says the Antichrist presents himself as a “pacifist, ecologist, and ecumenist.” He said this in the Lenten Retreat he finished preaching on 3 March to Benedict XVI and the leaders of the Roman Curia. After the final session, the Pope praised the cardinal, saying he had delivered a “very accurate and precise diagnosis of our situation today.” What can this mean?

THE Government is facing the embarrassing scenario of seeing one of the killers of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe's released on the eve of the General Election, according to The Irish Examiner today (6 March).

By Maggie Gerrity
Think of a famous philosopher. Does Aristotle come to mind? Friedrich Nietzsche, perhaps? What about Bono?

U2 has established itself as a band with both style and substance. Fans have spent decades debating the meaning of lyrics and watching as the band has crusaded against poverty, AIDS, and other social causes. But does U2 really matter outside the realm of popular music?

June Milne the former research and editorial assistant to Kwame Nkrumah and later his literary executrix writes on the coup that set Africa back. "It is not difficult to imagine the greatly improved condition of the African people today if Nkrumah had continued in power in Ghana to lead the pan-African movement," she writes.