IRELAND’S next bailout tranche of €8.5 billion was approved by eurozone finance ministers yesterday as they struggled to find a way to fund Spain and Italy, both under massive pressure from the markets.

THE nomination of Kevin Cardiff to the European Court of Auditors looks certain to be decided by a full sitting of the European Parliament in three weeks’ time.

THE debacle of Kevin Cardiff’s rejection for the Court of Auditors leaves the Government with a series of options, each one more messy than the other and in danger of re-opening the debate in Europe on the country’s handling of the financial crisis.

AFFORDABLE borrowing from the markets in exchange for a strictly enforced set of rules on national budgets will give eurozone countries the kinds of benefits the US Treasury has today, European Commission president Jose Barroso promised.

THERE is now less than 1% of living bog left in the country and despite it being protected, the decimation continues, the European Parliament was told.

PRESSURE mounted on Germany yesterday to agree to a measure that would help rescue the eurozone from the crisis threatening to engulf the entire currency.

NEW rules to ensure greater transparency in the ways credit rating agencies work have been agreed by the European Commission — but proposals to suspend ratings for countries in debt programmes, such as Ireland, were taken off the table.

THE Government is willing to consider much greater changes to the EU treaties than just tighter budgetary control, European Minister Lucinda Creighton has said.

THE full-body scanner that performs a virtual strip search principally at airports will have to conform to a series of rules aimed at addressing privacy fears.

THE EU is appointing a special representative for the Horn of Africa, focusing firstly on Somalia, the country plagued by famine and war.