Ireland

Seven Days

A glance at the week  that was

Sat Jul 7 2012 - 01:00

A glance at the week  that was

We now know

The notoriously homophobic world of hip hop was challenged by the announcement of the acclaimed US singer Frank Ocean that he is gay.

Explaining the importance of the Higgs boson is exceedingly difficult, as journalists everywhere discovered after its existence was confirmed at Cern this week.

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Mermaids don’t exist, according to the US government agency the National Ocean Service, in response to public inquiries.

The body of Yasser Arafat is to be exhumed to determine whether he was poisoned.

€500m

The amount the Government raised in a debt auction on Thursday, the first since the 2010 bailout of Irish banks.

14.9%

The unemployment rate in Ireland in June, the highest since 1994.

93

Hours of sunshine recorded in Ireland in June, dramatically below average.

€2.3bn

Tax increases imposed on wealthy households in plans announced by the French president, François Hollande.

150,000

Size of the area, in hectares, that was added to Moscow after it expanded on July 1st, more than doubling the city’s footprint.

26

Ireland’s position in the latest Fifa football rankings, a fall of eight positions after our disastrous Euro 2012 campaign.

Independence bang

There is only one way to celebrate the Fourth of July, and that’s with fireworks: lots and lots of fireworks. This year’s Independence Day shindig was no different, but pride of place must go to San Diego, where a technical glitch caused all the fireworks to be set off at the same time (right).

Instead of a carefully choreographed 18-minute pyrotechnic display, the crowds at San Diego Bay were treated to a 15-second fireball exploding in the sky. And what is the annual Independence Day San Diego celebration called? The Big Bay Boom.

Most read on irishtimes.com

1Scientology church tries to destroy families, say ex-members

2Lights go out in last Big House

3Hostel in Australia refuses to take Irish

4Childrens Allowance drink deal slated

5Review of Irish bailout likely after Merkel climbdown

6Ross OCarroll-Kelly

7What we can learn from Irelands best place

8Self-styled liberals refuse to recognise the devastating realities of abortion

9Incident shuts British motorway

10Groupama wins Volvo Ocean Race

Rankings calculated between June 29th and yesterday lunchtime