A glance at the week that was
Girl Power
Mukantabana Rosewas this week voted the speaker of the Rwandan parliament, which is the only parliament in the world with a female majority. The east African nation's government has 80 seats, 44 of which are held by women. Rose beat a male candidate, Mukama Abbas, by 70 votes to 10.
Sweden is second in the world for female representation, with 47 per cent of its seats occupied by women, while Cuba is third with 43.2 per cent. Just 13 per cent of the Dáil's seats are held by women.
The numbers
$3m ......The cost for airtime for Barack Obama's 30-minute infomercial
$150m ......The amount raised by the Obama campaign - in September
€100,756,197 ......The amount won in a lottery by a resident of the Italian town of Catania, Sicily
We Know now
When Ireland was desperate for an ex-footballer to manage its national team, it got Steve Staunton. Argentina got Maradona (right)
GPs will be paid a flat fee of €290 for over 70's medical cards
David Beckham will be playing for AC Milan in January
Sorry is not the hardest word for Russell Brand
Gallic glower
Nicolas Sarkozy has been throwing his legal toys over a bestselling voodoo doll produced in his image. The French president had brought a case to have the sale of the dolls banned, but, quel dommage, it was thrown out of court. The drab doll comes with pins and a book explaining how to put the evil eye on the president. Sarkozy is no stranger to the law, having brought six court cases since his election. Socialist Ségolène Royal has also been the subject of a similar doll but says she wasn't suing because she "has a sense of humour" - that didn't stop her from filing a legal complaint after being hit with a custard pie.