The former head social worker for the Defence Forces has said he was ignored repeatedly when he warned Department of Defence officials about increasing poverty levels being endured by serving military personnel and their families.

The minister for defence and his officials are being asked why they did not check — while visiting the UN General Assembly last week — that the exit paperwork for 130 Irish troops currently stranded in the Middle East was properly completed.

The Defence Forces are facing a mounting crisis in their officer ranks after a survey revealed 79% of those inducted since 2013 are planning to quit ahead of mandatory retirement, because they are on reduced pension terms compared to other public servants.

The surviving spouses of deceased War of Independence veterans have received almost €8m in pension payments from the State in the past 10 years, new figures have revealed.

India and Pakistan exchanged gunfire through the night in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, a day after Islamabad said it shot down two Indian warplanes and captured a pilot.

The French police officer who swapped himself for a female supermarket employee being held hostage had already received a lifetime of accolades by the time he walked unarmed into the store under attack by an extremist gunman.

Douvan is “not far away” from returning to action after being entered in the Red Mills Chase at Gowran Park on Saturday.

A row over pay has overshadowed the largest commissioning of officers in the Defence Forces’ history.

A major crisis has developed in the Air Corps, due to manpower shortages and archaic equipment, with warnings it will get worse if the Government doesn’t take immediate action.

Officers in the Defence Forces feel betrayed by their employers, because military personnel were left out of “side deals” given to gardaí, prison officers, and firefighters as part of the latest Lansdowne Road pay agreements.

Defence Forces officers’ representatives have disputed a claim by a Government minister that fewer people are leaving the service.

Irish soldiers have tested a new generation of air defence weaponry in Sweden to ensure the Defence Forces has a “state of the art” system for the next 20 years.

Burma's military has been accused of planting land mines in the path of Rohingya Muslims fleeing violence in its western Rakhine state.

Iraqi troops are clearing up a key neighbourhood in Mosul after making significant gains against Islamic State militants in the city and the prime minister declared an end to the extremist group's self-proclaimed caliphate.

The complainant says Tomkins' "overpowered" her and she was also too drunk to consent to sex.

President Barack Obama granted Ms Manning clemency in his final days in office in January.

Incessant rains have halted the search for at least two dozen people missing after a landslide swept into a village on Indonesia's main island of Java.

The funeral of Captain Mark Duffy was held at the St Oliver Plunkett Church, Blackrock, Co Louth, yesterday.

Iraqi forces have pushed into a town south of Mosul after Islamic State fighters fled with civilians used as human shields, officials said.

Willie Mullins captured both Grade 2 novice chases, in dramatic style, in Navan yesterday scoring with outsiders Sambremont and Measureofmydreams, as part of an 82.5/1 treble, completed by Blow By Blow in the bumper.

The widows of deceased War of Independence veterans have received almost €6.5m in pension payments from the State in the past six years.

Willie Mullins does not expect the step up to three miles to trouble Hurricane Fly as he tests his powers over the staying distance for the first time in today’s Ladbrokes World Series Hurdle.

An Air Corps officer has launched several High Court challenges aimed at preventing his court martial from going ahead.

Just over a week after a Germanwings plane crashed into the French Alps, investigators have finished retrieving human remains from the wreckage.

German daily Bild and French magazine Paris Match said their reporters have been shown a video they say was taken by someone inside the cabin of the doomed plane shortly before it crashed.

Saphir Du Rheu and Zarkandar will try to fill the void left by Big Buck’s when the Ditcheat duo run in today’s World Hurdle at Cheltenham.

Vautour was most impressive in the 2014 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and, despite his blip at Leopardstown in December, remains really exciting. The quicker conditions should prompt improvement, and recent reports are positive.

The feature on Day 3 of the Festival is the Ladbrokes World Hurdle — and a chance taken that Un Temps Pour Tout can make the necessary step up to Grade One company.

Don Cossack faces 13 rivals as he puts his unbeaten record on the line in the Ryanair Chase at the Cheltenham Festival tomorrow.

Continuing attacks from rebels are delaying Ukrainian forces’ pullback of heavy weapons from the front line in the country’s east, a Ukrainian military spokesman said today.

Lieutenant Colonel began a memorable day for Bryan Cooper when proving a very popular, and rather poignant, winner of the other Grade 1 on the card, the Squared Financial Christmas Hurdle at Leopardstown yesterday.

With the bodies of almost 400 victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami still unidentified a decade later, Thai police were holding out little hope of gleaning any new information from opening a cargo container packed with unclaimed personal items.

Sandra Hughes gained an emotional first Grade One triumph just two weeks after the death of her father Dessie when Lieutenant Colonel won a dramatic Bar One Racing Hatton’s Grace Hurdle at Fairyhouse yesterday.

Sandra Hughes gained an emotional first Grade One triumph just two weeks after the death of her father Dessie when Lieutenant Colonel won a dramatic Bar One Racing Hatton’s Grace Hurdle at Fairyhouse.

One of the largest military convoys ever seen in this country travelled along Cork roads yesterday as part of an exercise which will shortly see Irish troops become part of an elite EU rapid reaction force.

Fiji has sent mixed messages on whether its 45 United Nations peacekeepers that are being held captive by Syrian insurgents will be freed soon.

Syrian rebels holding dozens of Fijian UN peacekeepers hostage have attacked Filipino troops in the Golan Heights, Philippine officials said.

A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas meant to last at least three days and end nearly a month of fighting has come into effect in the Gaza Strip.

Israel uncovered more than a dozen cross-border tunnels and engaged in gun battles with Hamas militants today on the second day of its open-ended ground operation in Gaza, as the Palestinian death toll there topped 300.

Israel launched a large-scale ground offensive in the Gaza Strip yesterday, escalating a 10-day military operation to try to destroy Hamas’ weapons arsenal, rocket-firing abilities, and tunnels under the Palestinian territory’s border with Israel.

The Israeli military says it has resumed airstrikes on Gaza after Hamas militants violated a de-escalation brokered by Egypt.

The Israeli army has intensified its offensive on the Gaza Strip, striking Hamas sites and killing at least 14 people on the second day of a military operation.

President Barack Obama is urging Israelis and Palestinians to restrain themselves and put an end to acts of retribution in the recent round of violence.

Three Israeli suspects over the killing of a Palestinian teenager who was abducted and burned to death last week have confessed, an official said.

Footage of the first full unit of the Irish Defence Forces to serve overseas more than 50 years ago has emerged online.

Vietnam says it has downgraded its search for the missing airliner in the South China Sea and has been asked by Malaysian authorities to consider sending planes and ships to the Strait to Malacca.

Bryan Cooper and Dessie Hughes shared a New Year’s Day double in Fairyhouse as Lieutenant Colonel and Off The Charts powered to emphatic victories.

An Israeli soldier has been killed by a Lebanese army sniper as he drove along the border, the Israeli military said, drawing threats of retaliation.