By ALF McCREARY RELIGION CORRESPONDENT The emergence of the glamorous Sarah Palin as a vice presidential candidate in the US election has given an added dimension to an already absorbing contest.

A UNIQUE exhibition of photographs of Northern Ireland personalities opens at Londonderry's Millennium Forum tomorrow.

By MIRROR REPORTER THE most powerful men in British and Irish politics lined up last night to pay tribute to Ian Paisley. Heaping praise on his old enemy Gerry Adams said: "His political career has ended with a good and positive legacy.

LONDON _ Having achieved the unlikely pinnacle of power in a peaceful Northern Ireland, Rev. Ian Paisley announced Tuesday that he would be stepping down as first minister of the Northern Ireland government and as leader of the party he founded.

Ian Paisley said Tuesday he is stepping down as Northern Ireland's first minister and as head of his political party, the DUP. He is expected to be succeeded by Peter Robinson, the party's deputy leader, the BBC reported. Paisley, who turns 82 next month, had taken the first minister post last May.