Seventy-five years after the liberation of Auschwitz, anti-Semitism is on the rise across the Western world. This trend, and the weak response to it, is a harbinger of democratic decay, writes Ana Palacio

Mick McCarthy has praised the professionalism of the support the FAI provides to his staff and team, saying the difference between now and when he finished his first stint as Ireland manager 17 years ago is like “night and day”.

A post-mortem on a former Croatian general who died after swallowing a liquid at a war crimes hearing has found he had cyanide in his body.

Peter Jackson on the son of an Irish emigrant who guided Wales to the World Cup finals and was Matt Busby’s right-hand man at Manchester United.

Liam Brady once said the best two keepers he played with were also the quietest — Dino Zoff and Pat Jennings. The latter knows the uphill battle facing Northern Ireland this month, but is living proof of what can be achieved punching above their weight.

Bosnia has been here before, and so has Miralem Pjanic.

Brazil - The home of countless footballing superstars, from Pele to Ronaldo, Ronaldinho to Neymar.

Former Russian prime minister Yevgeny Primakov, whose career included journalism, diplomacy and spycraft, has died at the age of 85.

President Vladimir Putin accused Russia’s enemies of seeking to carve it up and destroy its economy to punish it for growing strong, in an annual state of the union speech that seemed to outdo even his own recent strident nationalism.

Greetings from Hio — and no, you haven’t read that wrong.

Property website Zoopla has announced it will not seek to renew its sponsorship of West Brom at the end of the season in light of Nicolas Anelka’s controversial "

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There are certain sayings that should be banned from the language.

When his back was against the wall scrambling for reasons to insist he was the right man for the job, Giovanni Trapattoni, pointed towards the convoluted rankings table.

Accused mass murderer Radovan Karadzic portrayed himself as a peace-loving tolerant man as he opened his defence today in his war crimes trial.

Ireland may have nothing to play for in tonight’s closing Group C game against Italy but they certainly have something to fight against.

Four first-phase clashes at Euro 2012 have a historical resonance, says Paul Kelly.

It is a continuing conceit of the human condition that allows us believe we are regularly blazing trails.

A conflict she didn’t fully understand has inspired Angelina Jolie to get behind the camera for a love story set in Bosnia.Janine De Giovanni reports

Former Yugoslavia's last Prime Minister Ante Markovic, who tried to prevent the country's bloody break-up in the 1990s, has died. He was 87.

THE actor Cesar Romero used to say that the most important thing in Hollywood was to be sincere – even if you have to fake it.

The public is far more sophisticated now, though the national team’s style of football isn’t.

Pope Benedict XVI gave strong backing to Croatia’s bid to join the European Union as he arrived in the Balkan nation today.

BOSNIAN Serb wartime general Ratko Mladic was arrested in Serbia yesterday after years on the run from international genocide charges, opening the way for the state to approach the European mainstream.

FOOTBALL legend George Best’s European Cup winner’s medal has sold at auction for £156,000 (€176,867).

THE remains of former chess champion Bobby Fischer, who died two years ago in Iceland, will be dug up to settle a paternity claim, Iceland’s Supreme Court has ruled.

The killing of 8,000 Muslims at Srebrenica during the Bosnian war was a myth staged to vilify the Serbs accused of their murder, former leader Radovan Karadzic claimed today.

Kosovo’s prime minister urged minority Serbs not to boycott the country’s first elections since independence from Serbia, calling the vote today a key test for his new nation.

Former Scotland manager Craig Brown has called for all four home nations to be represented separately in the 2012 Olympic football tournament.

But taking pride in the sheer size of your country is increasingly anachronistic.

HE WAS accused of masterminding massacres that the United Nations war crimes tribunal described as “scenes from hell, written on the darkest pages of human history”.

UEFA has warned Spain they could be thrown out of Euro 2008, which may open the door for Northern Ireland.

Kosovo has never been a state and its parliament isn’t deemed worthy to do anything very much beyond collecting rubbish.

The European Union’s 27 nations were divided today over whether to recognise Kosovo’s statehood after the province unilaterally declares independence from Serbia.

Kosovo’s voters were choosing a new parliament today they hope will deliver independence from Serbia.

WHEN it comes to the increasingly vexed question of club versus country, Arsene Wenger continues to play the philosophical equivalent of a game of two halves: spot on half the time, way off the mark the rest.

THE Yugoslav war crimes tribunal convicted a wartime leader of Croatia’s rebel Serbs of murder, torture and persecution yesterday and sentenced him to 35 years in prison for a brutal ethnic cleansing campaign of non-Serbs in Croatia.

The United Nations’ highest court will today rule whether Serbia is guilty of genocide for the killing, torture, rape and expulsion of Bosnian Muslims – the first time an entire nation is being held to judicial account for the ultimate crime.

THE DEBATE on the future of Europe is slowly but definitely gathering pace, with foreign ministers agreeing to hold a two-day meeting on the topic at the end of May.

Two world renowned Bosnian artists were refused permission by the Department of Justice to attend a major exhibition in Dublin, it emerged today.

Slobodan Milosevic’s remains will be flown home today for a funeral in the Serbian capital, Belgrade, later in the week, a family lawyer said.

THE Serbian people were the main victims of Slobodan Milosevic, the country's Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic said, responding to the death of the man known as the "Butcher of the Balkans".

FORMER Arsenal and Manchester City striker Nicolas Anelka has earned a surprise recall to the France squad for the forthcoming friendlies with Costa Rica and Germany.

Former Arsenal and Manchester City striker Nicolas Anelka has earned a surprise recall to the France squad for the forthcoming friendlies with Costa Rica and Germany.

Britain today vowed to help Kosovo improve its security as the disputed UN-run province nears possible talks on its future.

KOSOVAN President Ibrahim Rugova, linked for decades to the ethnic Albanian majority’s anti-Serb struggle, said yesterday he has lung cancer, but he pledged to stay in office as the UN-run province nears crucial talks on its future.

Montenegro’s government is looking to lease the exclusive Sveti Stefan resort on the Adriatic Sea, a former summer mecca for Hollywood stars that has fallen into decline since the Balkan wars of the 1990s.