Club ends below-par sexism

SEVEN DAYS:A glance at the week that was

Augusta National in Georgia is one of the world's most renowned golf clubs, and also as one of the world's most overtly sexist institutions. The home of the US Masters allowed only men to be members.

But there was a surprising change this week as the club invited two prominent women, former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and businesswoman Darla Moore, to become members.

The club chairman, Billy Payne, claimed this was part of "a significant and positive time in our club's history": presumably, a euphemism for "becoming aware that unapologetic sexism isn't acceptable any more".

The numbers

892,000Peak television audience for the Rose of Tralee.

56%Proportion of higher-degree university courses that registered an increase in their points requirements in the CAO results. This is a record.

2Length of the custodial sentence, in years, that three members of the Pussy Riot group received for performing a protest song in Moscow's main Orthodox cathedral.

5.96%Irish nine-year bond yields on Tuesday, the first time they have fallen below 6 per cent since October 2010.

25%Proportion of businesses seeking a loan or an overdraft that were rejected in the six months to March, according to a Central Bank report.

$623bnApple's market cap on Monday, breaking the record set by Microsoft in 1999, making it the world's most valuable publicly traded company, in nominal terms.

We now know

Older men are more likely to father children with increased risk of random genetic mutationslinked to autism and schizophrenia, according to Icelandic research.

Prince Harry, who is third in line to the British throne, needed a holiday in Las Vegas to "recuperate" after fulfilling his role as Team GB ambassador at the London Olympics. Photographs of him cavorting naked with a woman in a hotel room were circulated on the internet.

Angela Merkelis the most powerful woman in the world, according to Forbes magazine.

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Rankings for August 18th-24th