Celtic crashed out of the Champions League after twice letting a lead slip in a 4-3 home defeat by CFR Cluj.

Beautiful landscapes, outdoor activities, medieval architecture — Transylvania has it all. But with Halloween around the corner, Eimear Ryan visited with one thing in mind — vampires.

There’s still a few days to be crossed off the calendar but we’ll go out on a limb here and suggest that the first September in living memory without a pair of All-Ireland men’s senior finals at its core will come and go without the sky falling in and the very fabric of the GAA having been ripped asunder.

As political zeal trumps economic interest, there may be full rupture between England and the EU, writes Denis MacShane

People have flown in from Romania to take part in organised begging in Cork City, a senior garda has confirmed.

Here's your morning news bulletin...

More than half of the 94,978 foreign nationals who were allocated new PPS numbers last year had employment activity during 2016, while new data from the Central Statistics Office also shows 589 PPSNs have been issued in the past five years to people from ‘unknown’ countries.

Five Romanian nationals were brought before Cork District Court yesterday to face begging charges as the judge warned any repeat offences could end in jail.

Applications by British people for Irish citizenship has increased more than tenfold in the last three years.

Gardaí have launched an appeal after the murder of Linda Evans, also known as Linda Christian, in Dublin earlier this year.

A Romanian bouncer who was racially harassed by a Dublin hotelier and publican when told that all Romanians “are thieves and liars” has been awarded €20,000 in a discrimination case.

A British model has spoken of her ordeal after allegedly being sedated, handcuffed and kidnapped by masked men while in Milan.

The chief suspect in the alleged kidnap of a British model in Milan has said he did not knowingly take part in any crime.

This country is deficient when it comes to supporting victims of human trafficking, with a report claiming Ireland is still a destination and source country for women, men, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labour, including forced criminal activity.

Ireland coach Joe Schmidt admits this two-match tour to Japan is proving hugely beneficial in their preparations for the World Cup.

More than 5,000 people were homeless across the country last month and more than 200 were found sleeping rough in Dublin on one night this month.

More than 200 people have been counted sleeping rough in Dublin on one night.

A 75-year-old man was caught by gardaí when they raided a brothel in Co Donegal. The man was among clients who were observed over a week by undercover detectives at an apartment in Letterkenny.

Relatives of victims of the Italian earthquake have gathered in Amatrice for an evening Mass remembering dozens of the 292 people killed.

Aftershocks in central Italy have rattled residents and rescue workers trying to find more earthquake survivors.

ENGLAND: Three men are being questioned on suspicion of theft after police spotted some sheep being transported through the suburbs in the back of a people carrier.

ITALY: Fried cow’s brains might not be to everyone’s taste, but more people may sample the Florentine specialty now that Italy’s art capital has ordered food outlets in the city centre to sell mostly local produce.

Favourable economic conditions and an influx of foreign workers boosted employment in Germany to its highest since reunification in 1990, according to data published yesterday as the jobless rate hovers at a historic low.

Italy’s Rugby World Cup ended on a high as they survived a late rally from Romania to win their Pool D clash at Exeter’s Sandy Park.

Slowly, patiently, Joe Schmidt is moving his pieces into place for Ireland’s big push into the knockout stages of this World Cup.

Ireland’s pensioners are among the happiest and wealthiest in the EU, according to figures released ahead of International Day of Older Persons tomorrow, but those under 65 are among the most at risk of poverty.

Ireland full-back Rob Kearney remains a doubt for Sunday’s Pool D clash with Italy as he waits on scan results for a possible gluteal strain.

THE famed twin towers may no longer be standing but Wembley remains an intoxicating sports arena for players and fans alike, writes Donal Lenihan. Why else would a world record attendance for a Rugby World Cup game be broken two Sundays in succession? 

Florin Surugiu first got the idea when World Rugby released the dates for the tournament.

Ireland boss Joe Schmidt is backing Robbie Henshaw to accept that sitting out a second World Cup pool game this weekend is in the best interests of himself and the campaign.

The impression of Romanian rugby has long been one of a once proud nation trapped in a spiral of decline. Long gone are those halcyon days when they sometimes scalped but almost always scared the Five Nations.

France 38 Romania 11: If Ireland had allowed any complacency to creep into their minds ahead of Sunday’s clash with Romania then this will have surely eradicated it.

If you want to be realistic about it, there is little chance of us beating both France and Ireland in the space of five days

Ireland boss Joe Schmidt toasted fly-half Johnny Sexton after his playmaker helped get his team's World Cup Pool D campaign off to a flying start with a seven-try rout of Canada.

Gardaí say there have been no powerline thefts since they arrested a number of gang members involved in this highly dangerous live cable robbery earlier this month.

Suzanne Harrington returns home with a boyfriend who has never visited Cork and finds there have been many changes over the years to a city which has embraced the new but hung on to the best parts of the old.

Romanians have begun voting to elect a new leader as President Traian Basescu steps down after 10 years, with the prime minister favourite to win in the nation of 19 million.

Northern Ireland must wait until Monday to find out whether their Euro 2016 qualifier in Romania next month will take place behind closed doors.

No sooner had he experienced the relief of seeing Seamus Coleman and James McCarthy back in action for Everton, than Martin O’Neill has suffered the double whammy of learning that Glenn Whelan and Wes Hoolahan look set to miss next month’s Euro qualifier away to Scotland.

Celtic manager Ronny Deila has urged his players to take their league form into the European scene tonight against Astra Giurgiu (8.05pm, live on 3e).

Two men have been charged with 12 counts of human trafficking in the North after 20 victims of suspected human trafficking were rescued in Co Armagh.