Ireland

Seven Days

A glance at the week that was

Sat Jun 26 2010 - 01:00

A glance at the week that was

Fresh fruit arrives

An apple a day has legendary health benefits, which may explain why thousands queued to get their hands on a fresh one this week – Apple's iPhone 4, which was rolled out in the US, Japan, France, Germany and Britain on Thursday. For their pains they got to walk home with the first of the new mobile phone, which promises a higher-quality screen and longer battery life than the previous model. In Japan, fans dressed up like iPhones and painted iPhones on their faces. In London, queues began outside the flagship Apple store on Regent Street 24 hours before the phone went on sale.

Power in Oz

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Australia also found itself with something new on its hands this week, in the shape of its first female prime minister.

Julia Gillard was sworn in after a leadership vote in the ruling Labour Party ousted Kevin Rudd and put deputy Julia Gillard in his place. Gillard, who was born in Wales but moved to Australia at the age of four, has been criticised for neither marrying nor having children. She has a partner, Tim Mathieson, a hair stylist. Yet as the first female prime minister of Australia, she said, she was determined to keep her feet on the floor. “I’m aware I’m the first woman to sit in this role, but I didn’t set out to crash my head against any glass ceilings.”

We now know

Almost three in 10 Irish people fear they may run out of money for food, ordinary bills and daily consumer items, a new EU survey has revealed.

Brain scans may be able to predict consumer behaviour better than consumers themselves, US researchers have revealed. Through the use of brain images, they’ve found how to interpret people’s likely behaviour more accurately than the people themselves.

Irish people have less interest in scientific issues and feel less well informed than other EU states, according to a Eurobarometer survey.

80

The percentage of Travellers who leave school before completing their second-level education.

€3 billion

The value of public-sector cuts announced by Taoiseach Brian Cowen for December’s budget.

€77,222

The cost of keeping a prisoner in jail last year.

"It stinks someone had to lose."

Tennis player John Isner after winning his record-breaking 11-hour tennis match against Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon on Thursday