A glance at the week that was
LEADING SINGERS
Holding a tune and heading a state may well go hand in hand, at least if Silvio Berlusconi is anything to go by. The Italian prime minister, who was a cruise-ship crooner in his youth, is apparently already hard at work on his third album of love songs, to be recorded by Neapolitan singer Mariano Apicella. He's not the only world leader blessed with the gift of song: our own Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, took to the stage at the Fleadh Cheoil in Offaly last week with his rousing version of Paddy's Green Shamrock Shore. And Barack Obama recently chimed in with his rendition of Happy Birthday - given John McCain's take on the Beach Boy's Barbara Ann, it's unlikely the two presidential candidates will be singing from the same hymn sheet any time soon.
LEADING SLINGER
From singing politicians to political singers - pop queen Madonna stirred up some controversy when a video montage presented at the show that opened her world tour compared John McCain with Adolf Hitler and Robert Mugabe. Not only has she been slammed by Republicans, but the Democrats have also condemned the comparisons. Their candidate, Barack Obama, fared better, however, with his image flashing up alongside those of John Lennon and Mahatma Gandhi, comparisons that were not contested by the party.
WE NOW KNOW
Grazing cattle and sleeping deer not only all face the same direction, but also align their bodies along the north-south axis of the Earth's magnetic field.
Computer viruses have reached outer space, thanks to infected laptops that were sent to the International Space Station.
Ireland's Mark Cleland is world champion of rock, paper, scissors, having beaten Canada's candidate for the gold at the International Rock Paper Scissors Federation Championship in Beijing.
THE NUMBERS
6.7mIreland's predicted population in 2060
4.6%The increase in Irish carbon emissions last year.
€793mThe cost of employee sick-days for Irish employers last year.
QUOTE
"No way. No how. No McCain" - Hillary Clinton calls for her supporters to unite behind Barack Obama to keep the Republicans out of office