As Ireland’s most successful sportsperson celebrates a landmark birthday tomorrow. Darren Norris counts down Aidan O’Brien’s 50 greatest moments.

Seven years ago, a horse sporting the famous green, pink, and white silks of Khalid Abdullah rocked up at York for the penultimate start of a flawless career.

When Joseph Fink and his writing partner Jeffrey Cranor set out to make a podcast in 2011, their expectations were low but their ambitions even lower.

There was a time when the stinginess of the Scottish Rugby Union knew no bounds, when players were given one pair of socks per year and instructions to hand them back with the rest of the kit at the end of the season, writes Peter Jackson.

Trophy hunters have been chiefly responsible for the death of male lions on the African national park where Cecil made his home, say researchers.

Here’s a briefing on some of the stories and issues highlighted on irishexaminer.com today

Michael Stoute moved within one winner of the late great Henry Cecil’s Royal Ascot record as Frankie Dettori shone aboard Across The Stars in the King Edward VII Stakes.

The death occurred in his native Limerick yesterday of Paddy Reid, one of the country’s most celebrated rugby players.

With another year at Examiner Towers almost over we will - over the next few weeks - be taking a look at irishexaminer.com's most read stories for 2015. We continue this series today with our world section.  

Zimbabwe will not charge American dentist Walter Palmer for killing its most prized lion because he had obtained legal authority to conduct the hunt, a cabinet minister said.

Good morning. Here’s everything you need to know before you start your day.

The Minnesota dentist who killed Zimbabwe’s famed Cecil the lion broke a weeks-long silence in an interview with the Minneapolis Star Tribune published on Monday.

The US dentist whose killing of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe fuelled a global backlash has emerged for an interview in which he disputed some accounts of the hunt.

A lion charged and killed a safari guide who was leading a group of tourists in the same national park in Zimbabwe that was the home of Cecil the lion who was killed by a bow hunter in July.

This week the story of Cecil the lion is told.

Zimbabweans failed in their responsibility to protect a popular lion named Cecil that was killed by an American in an allegedly illegal hunt, President Robert Mugabe said yesterday.

If ever an animal could be said not to have died in vain, it was poor old Cecil the Lion. His sad death, at the hands of a wealthy hunter, has focused attention on the plight of endangered wildlife.

A big-game trophy collector from Idaho has ignited a firestorm of criticism from animal-rights activists for flaunting images of herself posing with the carcasses of a giraffe and other wildlife she killed during a recent guided hunt in South Africa.

Latest reports suggest 25 migrants have died and 400 rescued after a fishing boat carrying over 600 people capsized off the coast of Libya; An evangelical Belfast preacher who branded Islam “satanic” has said his prosecution is a “waste” of public money and Zimbabwe postpones the trial of the guide who oversaw the shooting of Cecil the Lion. Catch up with these and more of the latest and most read news stories on irishexaminer.com.

USA: The University of Illinois stakes claim to 23 Nobel Prize winners and tech prowess that contributed to the creation of YouTube, Netscape, Java, and Yelp.

The slaughter of Cecil the lion has attracted worldwide anger. His killer has borne that odium. While this reaction is justified, we must not forget, in Ireland, that we have our own version of Cecil killers.

There’s been a lot of reaction to the killing of Cecil the lion and the lads from the illustrious police force on the Isles of Scilly have given the best take on it.

A dentist who has become the target of worldwide outrage for killing a lion in Zimbabwe named Cecil has advised his patients to seek care elsewhere as he remained in hiding amid protests at his US clinic.

Three former Anglo Irish Bank executives have been sentenced jail; The Italian man who has admitted killing his landlord in Castleknock has been found not guilty by reason of insanity; Ryanair’s new cuddly image is paying off handsomely for its outspoken boss Michael O’Leary. These are some of the latest and most read news stories on irishexaminer.com this evening.

Three former Anglo Irish Bank executives will be sentenced later after being found guilty of trying to defraud Revenue; up to 300 new jobs are being created in Tipperary; the US dentist who shot Cecil the lion ’wanted to hunt elephant’; and Patrick Vieira believes Man City’s Irish star Jack Byrne is just as "nuts" as Roy Keane. Here’s this morning’s irishexaminer.com round-up.

Why do some humans feel the need to inflict suffering on animals for ‘sport’? I ask myself that question yet again after reading about the dentist who paid $55,000 for the privilege of killing Zimbabwe’s oldest and best loved lion.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) called for him to be hanged.

Three former executives at Anglo Irish Bank have been found guilty of conspiring to hide accounts; Up to four men have been injured in a stabbing incident at a direct provision centre in Limerick; The Taliban has elected a successor to leader Mullah Mohammad Omar. These are some of the latest and most read news stories on irishexaminer.com this evening.

Gardaí investigate after prisoners’ protest leads to injuries at Cloverhill; Banking inquiry to quiz Cowen advisor as Drumm controversy continues; Players defend departing Brian Cuthbert; and Dentist who killed Cecil the lion ’in hiding’ as he shuts up shop Here’s this morning’s irishexaminer.com round-up.

It’s been 24 hours since

Read More:

Gormley: Bankers hid insolvency issue in run-up to guarantee; Two prisoners scale wall to stage roof protest at Cloverhill; Bionic suit allows paralysed jockey Jonjo Bright 'step into the unknown'; Two charged over killing Cecil the lion; farmer 'had no hunting permit' These are some of the latest and most read news stories on irishexaminer.com this evening.

A quiet Saturday in. Perfect.

The country’s only homeless cafe, operated by Merchant’s Quay Ireland, has become a vital service for hundreds of clients after just three months in operation, with up to 50 people a night sleeping there. Noel Baker spent a night on its floors

Bret Anthony Johnston

Legendary soul singer Bobby Womack has died.

As the World Cup gets into full swing, Robert Hume throws a spotlight on the Irishman who in 1890 invented the penalty kick — soccer’s most famous rule

Aidan O’Brien expects Magician to strip much fitter in Sunday’s Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh today than when he won the Mooresbridge Stakes earlier in the month.

Marco Botti is optimistic that Al Thakhira can put a nightmare trip to America behind her when she has her first run of the season in the Dubai Duty Free Stakes at Newbury.

Trainer Alan King wants to run Grumeti in the Stan James Champion Hurdle following his pleasing return to action at Wincanton on Saturday.

The Butler ***

Jockey Tom Queally, the man associated closely with the mighty Frankel, is to leave his job as stable jockey at Warren Place and will ride as a freelance next year.

Jane Cecil plans to be firmly active at the sales and would “love to win a Group One” next season after confirming she is to continue to train from the historic Warren Place stables in Newmarket.

THESE are the terrible words of a Bethany Home survivor to fellow survivor Derek Leinster, who has for many years led the campaign for redress.

Estimate provided Queen Elizabeth with a famous triumph when she captured the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot yesterday.