Sasha felt the waiters eying her as she sidled back to the table holding her handbag with its secret weight.

NEWYORKER: Found Objects

Now he turned, holding the little table upside down against his vast belly, and this soft thing, more than all the rest, announced him as a man deserted by women.

NEWYORKER: Hanwell Senior

Meanwhile, speaking on the BBC's Inside Politics programme on Saturday, Mr Trimble said he could see no point in the British Government holding round-table negotiations between the parties, as Sinn Fein and the SDLP had suggested.

BBC: Real IRA inmates call for disbandment