Belfast Telegraph Business News Feed

We are turning into the Romans of old. So says Ferdinand Mount, former adviser to Margaret Thatcher, but not to be dismissed as a nutter just because of that.

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Now women are being told to have hourglass figures, or misery shall befall them. The well-meaning advice comes from Lynne Featherstone, the equalities minister at Westminster.

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Beard news, and the unfortunately named Spencer Pratt is the latest hairy-faced chap to be pilloried by the mid-market press.

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The Lord Mayor of Belfast, Pat Convery, paying tribute to the late Alex Higgins, told reporters: “He was a controversial and colourful character, but we have to remember the good things that Alex did for this city in the international sporting arena of snooker.”

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Good news — two paedophile brothers who abused children in the Fermanagh village of Donagh have voluntarily admitted themselves for treatment in a psychiatric unit. Bad news — they can voluntarily un-admit themselves any time they choose.

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In a world dominated by health and safety advice on our every breathing moment, where we are plied with everything from disinfectant wipes to ward off potential bacterial intake to hand gels for every occasion, there’s something sort of uplifting and reassuring about the bog-snorkellers.

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Why are the British and US governments saying the leak of military documents about Afghanistan has "put our soldiers at risk?"

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The Government is seeking to rebalance Britain's trading relations away from slow-growing Europe to the emerging economies, of which Brazil, Russia, India and China are the largest, and that makes obvious sense.

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Well, that didn't take long, did it? The name-calling. One minute you're drinking election night champagne out of your triumphant leader's ballet slipper – the next you're calling him a gay cowboy!

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In an interesting aside to this syndrome, it's funny how the bad behaviour of the World's Wickedest Oilman turned out to be nothing like the fictional antics of JR Ewing or indeed his Hollywood antecedents in Douglas Sirk's legendary film Written On The Wind.

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At the risk of appearing uncharacteristically cohesive and consistent in this week's column, can I just find fault with the maturity of the Equality Minister Lynne Featherstone?

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It is a safe bet Tony Hayward will not be returning any time soon to Louisiana. Nor will the locals be urging him to change his mind.

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For all the boldness of his first outing as a gay cowboy flick political analogist, David Davis was misheard picking out the wrong film.

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If there is a better argument for keeping children light-years away from showbusiness than Lindsay Lohan, please pass it on — I’ll add it to the mountainous collection of ammunition I bring out any time someone tells me my pretty daughter should get into modelling or my funny son “should be on the stage”.

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Sadly , we’re in the middle of yet another period of mourning for a homegrown sporting hero. Do we as a society endure more of these than other places? It would certainly seem so.

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Remember when VHS machines came out and there was the joke about the Irishman who used his to record programmes he didn’t like and then play them back when he was out?

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So, what did you get up to this weekend? Chances are, if you ventured out at all, you took part in a festival, whether you wanted to or not.

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Police are wondering about the identity of a mysterious man who left a bottle of iced tea and two sticks on the steps of Stormont in the early hours of the morning last week.

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