Before incoming European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen takes over on November 1, MEPs will scrutinise all those nominated to be in her top team.

A beluga whale wearing a harness approached fishing-boats off the Norwegian coast last month

A Moscow cinema that had been showing a satirical film about Soviet leader Josef Stalin in defiance of an official Russian government ban cancelled further screenings today.

The Russian military has denied claims that it struck a US-backed force in eastern Syria, wounding six fighters.

A Russian navy reconnaissance ship has sunk off Istanbul after colliding with a freighter in the Black Sea.

While the US missile assault on Syria will make Putin and Assad pause for thought, one of the consequences of the attack may be a boost for Islamic State, writes Leonid Bershidsky.

Here's your lunchtime bulletin.

US Secretary of State John Kerry is threatening to cut off all contact with Moscow over Syria, unless Russian and Syrian government attacks on Aleppo end.

The top US military officer has told a Senate committee he believes Russia bombed the humanitarian aid convoy in Syria on Monday, calling it an "unacceptable atrocity".

Police in Rio de Janeiro say a Russian diplomat trying to repel an attempted robbery on Thursday near the Olympic Park was involved in a shooting that left the assailant dead. The Russian embassy denied any of its employees were involved in the incident.

Russia and its military has proven prowess in learning lessons from its failures, writes Geoffrey Roberts

Russian troops have arrived in Syria in recent days to aid Bashar Assad’s beleaguered government in the battle against Islamic State militants, Israel’s defence minister said.

Russia is willing to consider giving financial aid to Greece, a Russian government official said, ahead of talks between the leaders of the two countries.

The Russian maker of the Buk air defence missile system says it has concluded that Malaysian Airlines flight 17 was downed by an older version of the missile.

Tributes have been pouring in for RTÉ sports broadcaster Bill O’ Herlihy who passed away today at the age of 76; Averil Power has resigned from Fianna Fáil and the Westboro Baptist Church can’t work out the Irish tricolour. Just some of the latest and most read stories on irishexaminer.com.

The Government has a duty to ensure that the ill fortunes which Ireland has experienced never reoccur, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said yesterday as he launched this year’s National Risk Assessment programme.

Ukraine’s citizens are fighting bravely against a ruthless aggressor and have been betrayed by the West who has abandoned them to their fate, write Petr Kolar and Juraj Mesík.

A former Russian Special Forces soldier who said he was suffering flashbacks when he wrestled a teenage girl to the ground and sexually assaulted her at Dublin Airport has avoided jail.

A Russian court has rejected an appeal to release a Ukrainian military officer who has been on hunger strike since mid-December in a Russian prison.

Moscow pledges ‘adequate’ response as EU extends sanctions

Talks aimed at reaching a stable ceasefire in Ukraine between its government forces and pro-Russian armed groups ended after more than five hours.

UEFA president Michel Platini’s vision of a European Championship spread across the continent came to fruition in Geneva yesterday, as Wembley Stadium was chosen to host the climax of Euro 2020 with 12 other cities — including Dublin — joining the party.

Several European Union (EU) foreign ministers today accused Russia of invading eastern Ukraine and said Moscow should be punished with more sanctions.

The head of NATO says it has observed an "alarming" build-up of Russian ground and air forces near the Ukrainian border.

Russian government agencies have edited a Wikipedia article so that it suggests the Ukrainian military were to blame for the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, according to a Twitter account that monitors state IP addresses.

The mayor of Ukraine’s second-largest city has been shot in the back and pro-Russian insurgents have seized more government buildings in the country as unrest continued.

Vladimir Putin wants to restore Russia to what he claims is its former glory. And Ukraine is the starting point, writes Richard Haass

A Russian fighter jet made multiple close-range passes near an American warship in the Black Sea for more than 90 minutes on Saturday amid escalating tensions in the region, a US military official revealed today.

Russia has demanded more autonomy for Ukraine’s regions as the pressured nation ordered its troops out of Crimea.

Two servicemen have been taken captive after Russian forces stormed another Ukrainian military base on the Crimean Peninsula today, officials said.

A Russian academic embroiled in an international tug-of-love dispute with his British-based former wife has gone into hiding with their two sons in defiance of a court order, lawyers say.

Ukraine is practically in a state of war with Russia, it was claimed tonight as Moscow warned Russian-leaning eastern regions have plunged into lawlessness.

American aid is on the way, John Kerry promised crowds in Kiev as he visited sites where more than 80 anti-government protesters were killed last month.

President Vladimir Putin delivered a robust defence of Russia’s actions in Crimea and said he would use force in Ukraine only as a last resort, easing market fears yesterday that East-West tension over the former Soviet republic could lead to war.

Because Ukraine doesn’t have full member status in Nato, the US and Europe are not obliged to help, says Julie Pace

Barack Obama has warned Moscow “there will be costs” if Russia intervenes militarily in crisis-torn Ukraine.

Russia has evacuated all of its diplomats and their families from Libya a day after a mob attack on the Russian Embassy there.

I read with interest John Hearne’s article on the decline of the bee population (Forum, Sept 13) caused by colony collapse disorder (CCD), where various possible reasons for the decline were discussed.

The surviving Boston Marathon bombings suspect has been released from a civilian hospital and transferred to a federal medical detention centre, officials say.

A bill banning Americans from adopting Russian children yesterday went to president Vladimir Putin for his signature after winning final approval from parliament in retaliation for a US law meant to punish Russian human rights abusers.

George Blake, the former British spy who was a double agent working for the Soviet KGB, has spoken about his career with pride and called himself an “exceptionally lucky man”.

Somali pirates who have been holding a hijacked ship for nearly two years killed a Syrian hostage crew member and wounded another to protest over a delayed ransom payment, a pirate leader said.

Liberal democracy faces a new and decisive challenge — figuring out how to deal with the “post-Communist oligarchies” of Russia and China.

Talks have taken place in Ukraine in efforts to secure Government ownership of real estate there worth €130m, which was formerly part of Seán Quinn's empire.

The Russian government is refusing to pay a €155,000 bill for cleaning up an oil spill which threatened pollution of the Cork coast in 2009, despite admitting the leak was caused by one of its aircraft carriers.

Germany has agreed after a year of tough negotiations to pay pensions to about 16,000 additional Holocaust victims all over the world.