A glance at the week that was
We now know
* The Irish international Robbie Keane has joined Major League Soccer side LA Galaxy.
* The French actor Gerard Depardieu was thrown off a flight from Paris to Dublin on Tuesday after urinating in the aisle before take-off.
* Watching television for an average of six hours a day can take five years off your life, according to a study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Most read this week on irishtimes.com
1 Iarnród Éireann apologises to same-sex couple over incident
2 Two-year-old left out with bins
3 Gerard Depardieu “caught short” on flight
4 Cathay sex scandal grounds adverts
5 Woman swept into Niagara Falls
6 Positives far outweigh the negatives for Ireland
7 Mourinho “destroying Spanish football”
8 Traveller wins discrimination case
9 Shark victim “had no chance of survival”
10 J1 students warned over passports
Clean up my room? That's it I'm calling Amnesty International
An 11-year-old German boy phoned police to complain of “forced labour” after his mother told him to do housework during school holidays. Police say the boy, from Aachen, claimed: “I have to work all day long. I haven’t any free time.”
A transcript of the call, printed in local newspapers, showed the officer asking to speak to his mother, who said her son had repeatedly threatened to call the authorities.
“He plays all day long and when told to tidy up what he’s done, he calls it forced labour.”
The numbers
€3bn - The drop in volume of cash dispensed at ATMs in Ireland within the past year.
17 - The percentage of Longford residents who say they are unprepared to say hello, goodbye or thank you in an unfamiliar language while abroad, according to a survey by AA Travel Insurance.
10 - The number of students who achieved eight A1s in higher-level papers in this year’s Leaving Cert.
€1,500 - The amount the Equality Tribunal awarded a Traveller who said she was asked to leave a Mothercare shop.
4,367- The number of students who failed Leaving Cert maths across all levels, making them ineligible for many third-level courses.
573 - The record-breaking number of sandcastles created in the seaside village of Duncannon, Co Wexford, on Sunday.
Give me a crash course in . . . the conflict in Syria
What's happening with Syria?For the first time the US, France, Britain, Germany and the UN have called on President Bashar al-Assad to step down because of his regime's harsh repression of dissent. The governments of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Tunisia have withdrawn ambassadors from Damascus, increasing Arab pressure on the regime. Syrian troops and tanks have surrounded, shot at and invaded Sunni neighbourhoods in the country's main port city, Latakia. Operations have continued in other cities and towns where there have been protests against the 40-year Assad regime. After five months of repression, the death toll is 1,700 civilians and 350 security personnel.
Why is Latakia important?It is Syria's major trading centre and capital of the sole province with a majority of Shia Alawites, the minority sect of the Assad clan.
Who is responsible?Hardliners in the regime are said to be responsible for the use of force against protesters who seek to establish multiparty democracy. Moderate elements, headed by Assad, have suggested reforms that could be far-reaching if implemented. These measures include the lifting of martial law and the setting up of political parties permitted to contest Ba'ath party rule. But the reforms have had little impact because of the unrest and are dismissed as being too little, too late.
Whose side is the military on?The Syrian armed forces support the Assad regime. Many senior officers and a large proportion soldiers are Alawite loyalists.
Who are the regime's opponents?The protests were sparked in mid-March by the arrest of teenage boys who had written anti-government slogans on walls in the town of Deraa. The grievances of the original protesters – poor farmers and unemployed labourers – were economic. Protests spread to other deprived areas and were joined by veteran anti-regime elements, notably Muslim fundamentalists. They have a long-standing feud with the Assad family, who brutally suppressed a Muslim Brotherhood revolt in 1982.
What is the state of play?The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, was told by Assad on Wednesday that the military had been ordered to halt operations. But opposition activists say repression goes on.
Is the world standing idly by, or can it make a meaningful intervention?The international community has imposed sanctions on politicians and businessmen close to Assad. These have had little impact, as Syria's western connections are limited. If, however, Italy, France, Holland and Germany cut imports of Syrian oil and gas, sanctions could become meaningful. This is unlikely to happen, because Iran, an ally, could provide aid. Military intervention has been ruled out by Nato and the Syrian opposition.
Who is likely to win?Neither side is winning. The regime cannot stop the protests and the opposition, divided and leaderless, cannot overthrow the regime.
Is an end in sight?No, unless a mediator steps in to halt repression and protests and to ensure implementation of reforms the regime has promised. MICHAEL JANSEN
Next week you need to know about . . . Ireland's Rugby World Cup squad
On Monday, Ireland coach Declan Kidney will announce his 30-man squad for the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand next month, meaning today’s match with France at the Aviva Stadium, in Dublin, is the final audition for a spot in the travelling party. Though a lack of fitness and game time between Brian O’Driscoll, Gordon D’Arcy and Stephen Ferris has been a concern, they’re fit to play today and guaranteed a place if they stay that way. Only coming into fitness again, Tommy Bowe will be included, with the expectation that he will be pivotal in the World Cup.
The main conundrum, however, is that only three of the five scrumhalves in the current enlarged squad will make the cut. Beyond Tomás O’Leary and Eoin Reddan, the pecking order between Isaac Boss and Conor Murray remains unclear, although Murray is an exciting prospect who would benefit from the experience. Then there’s the troublesome fullback role. Though Geordan Murphy is back in contention, today’s game may decide whether Felix Jones will provide back-up to Rob Kearney.
Whether Kidney opts for a 17/13 or 16/14 split between forwards and backs, O’Driscoll said on Wednesday: “I think genuinely this year people are going to look at the squad . . . and think, Janey, there’s some really top quality players being left out.”
Whereas the 2007 squad featured 12 Munster players, eight Ulster players and just six Leinster players, the make-up of the 2011 squad is likely to see a different balance between the provinces, in view of Leinster’s recent form.
