Hi °C | Lo °C We haven't taken the gun out of politics here, just some common sense
A couple of questions that should be raised in the aftermath of a savage shooting of a young man in north Belfast.
Kate's got her head screwed on
Was Hilary Mantel totally out of order in bringing up the body ("painfully thin") and demeanour ("shop window mannequin") of Kate, Duchess of Cambridge during a lecture the Booker prize winner gave earlier this month?
Helen's rinse puts her rivals in shade
Dame Helen Mirren aged 67 showed up at the Baftas and by the simple strategy of having dyed her hair pink stole the show from all the other much, much younger female stars.
Can our politicians give tall story a happy ending?
A team of scientists from Queen's University and Queen Mary University of London are currently carrying out research in Northern Ireland into a possible "giant gene".
Horsemeat scandal is too serious for joking
As a vegetarian I must say I'm mightily impressed at how so many meat-eaters have taken horsemeat-gate so easily in their stride (no equine inference intended.)
Why does it look like Belfast’s been hit by apocalypse?
You have to give her points for local pride. But Anna Lo’s claim that the “boring” Great Wall of China isn’t a patch on Derry’s Walls may be just a tad overstated.
Meet Richard III ... the unknown Osmond
So it was him after all. Richard the Third. Buried beneath the Leicester car park all these years.
Just mime how you go Beyonce
Mrs Carter is coming to Dublin in May. Mrs Beyonce Carter that is.
The pain that never leaves brave Emma
"I think I remember someone saying, 'They're all in the tank.' Someone tried to move me away. I stopped them and got on to the ladder."
Unlike Darth, Baggott won't use the force
Outside the shop in Anne Street a group of "officers" in protective gear and helmets and "soldiers" with backpacks and some serious-looking weaponry milled around.
How the wind of change blows through Ireland
I have four green fields. One of them's in turbines ... After many centuries of conflict and mistrust, who would have thought the day might come when the wind that shakes the barley in the Irish midlands could be lighting up the lives of householders in the English midlands?
Isn't it about time PSNI got tough on UVF godfathers?
Does he ever rue the day he decided to come to Northern Ireland? You could hardly blame Matt Baggott if he did. Recent photographs in this paper reveal how the Chief Constable of the PSNI has become a bit weathered in the three-plus years he's been at the helm here.
Why I tip my hat to Harry
As he returns from Afghanistan, Prince Harry - or Captain Wales as he is known by his comrades in arms - has given an interview in which he reveals he has shot Taliban fighters, loves the relative privacy and anonymity of being in the Army but has been lectured by his father about remembering his position in life (particularly with regard to disrobing in Las Vegas hotel corridors).
Farewell to gutsy Nancey, too ...
For entirely different reasons I've been saddened by the deaths this week of Michael Winner and Inez McCormick. Winner because I enjoyed his roguish writings. And Inez because she was a good and lovely woman.
It's a pity violence here is real
Now is the winter of their content ... After being out in the cold - style-wise - for, well, centuries, Scandinavia is suddenly just about the coolest place on the planet. And suddenly it's everywhere you look.
Hail police heroes on the frontline
You watch that shameful scene on the news of a couple of yobs launching a railway sleeper at the legs of a police officer (in the name of "honouring the flag") and you think to yourself who would want to be a frontline cop in Belfast right now?
Mugging of Joel by Stormont is a shameful action
With all eyes firmly on the flag these days other issues for potential debate inevitably get put on the back burner. Where do we stand for example, in the case of Joel Kerr?
We're still waiting on leadership... and not from X Factor wannabees
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Or in the case of the flag street protests, cometh Jamie Bryson. We don't know a whole lot about the background of this self- appointed champion of the flag but what is immediately clear is that he's not exactly Winston Churchill, Jamie. Is he?
We’re still waiting on leadership... and not from X Factor wannabees
Cometh the hour, cometh the man.
Web bingo is a right carry on ...
Is there some sort of global bingo revival under way at the moment?