A glance at the week that was
Artistic licence
The opening weeks of the
Czech presidencyof the EU have been marked by the occasional PR gaffe, and this week they managed to insult several of their European counterparts with a
work of art.
It is a map of Europe in which each country is represented through their "stereotype". France is on strike, Ireland is covered in hairy uileann pipes and
Bulgaria is a toilet. Britain is missing altogether.
Not the work of artists from each country as first claimed, it is instead the work of one Czech who appears to have pulled a prank with his two mates.
"They must have done the counting in Florida"
- the reaction of Colin Farrellto winning a Golden Globe
Banking on Anglo
We're all bankers now. Having gone through a series of possible solutions to the problems facing Anglo Irish Bank, this week the Government announced that it was to nationalisethe institution. It's an ignominious outcome for this most bullish of the boom-era businesses, and follows months of rumour, scandal, and resignations. What happens to the bank now remains to be seen, although its massive debts mean that Brian Cowen's insistence that it will be business as usual has been greeted in some quarters with guffaws. Whatever happens now, the tale of Anglo Irish Bank will be used as a scary bedtime story for years to come.
We now know
Apple's
Steve Jobs(pictured) is to take six months
medical leave. Apple's shares fell 7 per cent with the news
The
Obamafamily has hired an interior designer to give the
White Housea makeover
People who
fail to show up for jury dutywill now face a €500 fine
The Numbers
931,866
The number of visitors to Dublin Zoo in 2008. A record.
600
The number of Big Bother wannabes who auditioned for the show in Dublin
€6,500
Compensation awarded to a schoolboy whose eye was injured by shower gel