By Rand Paul
Obama acts as though we no longer have a Constitution
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
Ireland unveiled a long-awaited bill Wednesday that lays down new rules governing when life-saving abortions can be performed, a point of potentially lethal confusion for women in a country that outlaws terminations.
Crowds cheered and bagpipes bellowed as New York City's annual St. Patrick's Day parade kicked off Saturday, and people with a fondness for anything Irish began a weekend of festivities from the Louisiana bayou to Dublin.
An Irish meat processor recalled 10 million burgers Wednesday from supermarkets across Ireland and Britain amid fears that many could contain horse meat, a discovery that poses no danger to public health but threatens to undermine the beef business central to Ireland's rural economy.
Most people in Ireland want lawmakers to give women wider access to abortion, a poll revealed Thursday as senior clerics testified before a parliamentary committee investigating Ireland's ban on the practice.
Pittsburgh Steelers chairman and co-owner Dan Rooney has stepped down as the U.S. ambassador to Ireland, a post he assumed after backing President Barack Obama's presidential campaign despite being a lifelong Republican.
Afghanistan's president praised Pakistan on Tuesday for releasing a group of Taliban prisoners, a move he hopes will kick-start peace talks with the militant group, the president's office said.
Pressure mounted Thursday for the Irish government to draft a law spelling out when life-saving abortions can be performed _ a demand that came after a pregnant woman who was denied an abortion died.
The debate over legalizing abortion in Ireland flared Wednesday after the government confirmed that a woman in the midst of a miscarriage was refused an abortion and died in an Irish hospital after suffering from blood poisoning.
Venezuelan authorities deported a prominent drug trafficking suspect to Colombia on Wednesday, nearly two months after his capture in an operation aided by Colombian and U.S. authorities.
Official returns show that voters approved an amendment to insert stronger rights for children into Ireland's constitution, with a narrower-than-expected 57.4 percent "yes" vote.
Bestselling Irish author Maeve Binchy, one of Ireland's most popular writers who sold more than 40 million books worldwide, died in Dublin after a brief illness, Irish media and national leaders said. She was 72 years old.
Ireland's voters have agreed to ratify the European Union's deficit-fighting treaty with a resounding 60.3 percent "yes," vote final referendum results Friday showed, but government leaders and pro-treaty campaigners alike expressed relief rather than joy because of the stark economic challenges ahead.
Ireland's debt-burdened voters confronted an existential dilemma Thursday as they decided in a referendum whether to ratify the European Union's deficit-fighting treaty, a measure backed by Germany as a confidence-building measure but criticized by many economists as exactly the wrong kind of medicine for countries drowning in red ink.
Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny made a nationally televised appeal Sunday to voters to support the European Union's fiscal treaty in a referendum this week, warning that rejection would send the signal that Ireland was not serious about tackling its deficits and was no longer a secure member of the euro currency bloc.
Debt-mired Ireland is facing a revolt over its new property tax.
Prime Minister Enda Kenny, speaking to reporters after his government published the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill, said he hoped the coming weeks of debate would not turn bitter, but he warned Catholic conservatives within his own party to back the bill or be expelled.
Mr. Kenny said the bill would set a maximum 14-year prison sentence for anyone involved in an illegal abortion, whether doctor or patient.
