Topic: Northern Ireland

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Summer Olympics Soccer: 5 athletes to watch

The US men did not qualify for the tournament, but Team USA women are among the favorites, and the London Olympics promise a glimpse of some of the world's top stars.

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Global News Blog British Open pairings: Former champions hold special place at Muirfield

British Open pairings: Over a dozen former British Open champions will take part in the world's oldest golf championship this week on the coast of Scotland.
New protests, same 'troubles' as riots roil Belfast

A government ban on a parade organized by pro-British unionists has opened old wounds about national identity in Northern Ireland.
32 police officers, 1 lawmaker injured in Belfast riots

Police reinforcements from across Britain were deployed to Belfast Saturday, after north Belfast's Protestant member of British Parliament, Nigel Dodds was knocked unconscious and 32 policemen and eight rioters were injured in a riot sparked by the annual parade of anti-Catholic group, the Orange Order.
Obama Catholic schools flap: Did he really call for end of religious schools? (+video)

Some critics say that remarks President Obama made on a visit to Northern Ireland this week amount to an assault on schools run by religious sects. But Obama also has defenders on this one – including some within the Roman Catholic Church.
G8 wraps with progress on tax evasion - but not on Syria

The summit leaders agreed to crack down on money laundering and illegal tax evasion, but Russia and the West remain at odds over how to resolve the Syrian civil war.
Obama arrives for tough G8 summit in Northern Ireland (+video)

From Syria, to spying, to an angry Vladimir Putin on his plate, President Barack Obama arrived in Northern Ireland for the G8 summit today.
Changing times: G8 leaders head to bucolic Northern Ireland (+video)

As recently as five years ago it would have been unthinkable to gather the world's most powerful leaders in Northern Ireland. The two-day G8 conference opens tomorrow.
TransAtlantic

National Book Award winner Colum McCann delivers one of the more beautifully written novels of the year.
Guantánamo hunger strike: How others have handled such protests (+video)

Governments face grim choices when confronted with hunger strikes. Consider cases in Israel, India, and Margaret Thatcher's Britain.
Fireballs! 'Tis the season for massive meteors.

Tonight (April 23) through Friday at dawn may be your best chance of the year to spot a fireball, a meteor that shines brighter than Venus, the brightest planet in the sky.
Global News Blog Britain bids farewell to Thatcher's funeral, debates her controversial legacy

Even former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's funeral was the subject of hot debate. The conservative powerhouse was loved and reviled by Britons.
Ireland takes step toward gay marriage rights

Ireland's Constitutional Convention voted Sunday, with 79 percent in favor of extending marriage rights to same-sex couples. Next up will likely be a referendum.
Global News Blog 15 years after Good Friday Agreement, an imperfect peace in Northern Ireland

On this date in 1998, republicans and unionists put an end to the 'Troubles' that had ravaged the region for decades. But a permanent peace remains a more remote prize.
Global News Blog The Britain that Margaret Thatcher inherited

With remembrances of the late prime minister dominating the press, it is easy to forget the economic woes and issues of identity that gripped Britain in the years preceding her rule.
Margaret Thatcher: the divisive creator of modern Britain

Though loved and loathed equally in Britain, the former prime minister was undeniably a force for change, breaking the British unions and helping the West win the cold war.
Margaret Thatcher leaves mixed legacy in Ireland

The late British prime minister's blunt style and politics were not well received in either the Republic or Northern Ireland, which she once famously declared 'as British as Finchley.'
Opinion In Syria, the only way out is a political deal

As in Northern Ireland, no matter how much the warring sides in Syria struggle for a battlefield win, fighting is unlikely to bring either side a real victory. The main parties need to sit down and negotiate a mutually agreed political transition and power-sharing plan for afterward.
Rory McIlroy admits walking off golf course was a mistake

The PGA champion told 'Sports Illustrated' in an interview he should not have quit playing in the second round of last week's Honda Classic in Florida, no matter how badly he was playing at the time.
Editor's Blog Finding the true focus

In an age of all-too-easy digital manipulation, there are good reasons to suspect the veracity of a visual image. But there's another kind of photographic truth-telling needed: focusing beyond dramatic scenes of conflict and suffering and fairly showing the people of the world without stereotypes.
The Monitor's View In Syria, US mission creep with moral creep

President Obama is leaning toward providing nonlethal military equipment to certain rebels in Syria. Doing so runs moral risks. But doing nothing to stop the violence is also a moral risk. Can the US walk this fine line?
Does Cameron's decision not to apologize for 1919 massacre really matter?

During his visit to India, the UK prime minister paid his condolences to the hundreds of civilians killed at Amritsar by British troops, but he did not make an official apology.
Focus A new, different kind of 'troubles' in Northern Ireland

The past two months of rioting around Belfast aren't a return to the clashes of two decades ago. Rather, they are a sign of a new split, this time between unionists themselves along class lines.
Focus For Northern Irish republicans, life is hard, but life is good

Despite suffering similar – if not worse – financial woes, Northern Ireland's Catholics are upbeat about the future, and a world apart from the unionist rioting that has racked Belfast.
A flood of memories: 60 years on, Britain recalls a deadly storm

The Jan. 1953 flood killed several hundred people, but some experts wonder if the country has learned its lesson about disaster prevention.
Death of Irish woman could reshape US lawsuit over IRA tapes

IRA veteran Dolours Price, whose death is not believed to be foul play, is at the heart of a lawsuit between Boston College and Northern Irish police over the release of tapes on her time in the IRA.