SCIENTISTS stealing research, millions of smuggled cigarettes, a crumbling bridge built with substandard materials and Chinese garlic claiming to be of African origin.

TENSIONS surrounding French President Nicholas Sarkozy’s lightning strike visit to Dublin erupted into the open last night as he was warned not to dare “dictate” to Ireland.

TEENS and kids are being ripped off by ring-tone scams according to a EU-wide survey.

IRISH smokers could soon find their regular consignment of cheap cigarettes from holiday destinations will dry up following proposals to dramatically increase the tax on tobacco throughout the EU.

EU fisheries ministers last night agreed a €600 million emergency package for the beleaguered Irish fisheries industry.

MOBILE phone companies are ripping off customers who send texts from abroad and have failed to reduce their charges despite warnings.

SMOKING kills more people than Aids, murder, drugs, road accidents and suicide combined, but governments and the EU are allowing tobacco companies to influence their policies.

RESEARCH on why Irish voters rejected the Lisbon treaty should be complete by September, in time for Taoiseach Brian Cowen to keep his pledge and report to the October EU summit.

MORE than half of European Parliament members have backed a call for an EU-wide alert system for missing children following a campaign by Kate and Gerry McCann.

IRISH troops have had more than 200 encounters with armed bandits and have come under fire while defending refugee camps in Chad, the mid-term review of the mission to the embattled African state has been told.