The Taj Mahal is a wonder of the modern world, but this national and international treasure needs swift and decisive action if it is not to lose its legendary lustre.

THE two Irelands met a few hundred yards from each other near the South Main Street, Cork last night, where a 1,000-year-old Viking weaver’s sword was recently discovered by archaeologists at the historic site of the former Beamish and Crawford brewery.

Mrs Brown’s Boys gets a one-off live special tonight at 9.20pm on RTE One.

Kya deLongchamps looks at some of the most extravagant gifts in history.

Barry Coughlan looks at the best travel deals this week.

A pet parrot in India has been credited with helping catch the man who murdered its owner.

For our 30th wedding anniversary, we visited that most romantic emblem, the Taj Mahal, on a 12-day assault on the senses that encompassed five cities, says Anne Kearney.

A man has been arrested over the alleged rape of an Irish woman working with an aid agency in India.

The British Foreign Office is “urgently” investigating reports suggesting a British woman jumped from a hotel window to escape an apparent sexual assault in India.

Police detained 20 men on Sunday in central India’s Madhya Pradesh state after a Swiss woman on a cycling trip was gang-raped.

Hollywood star Tom Cruise says his visit to India this week follows a lifelong desire to see the country.

At least 13 homeless people have died in near-freezing temperatures and Himalayan winds in northern India, police said today.

Near-freezing temperatures and icy Himalayan winds killed at least 13 people overnight in northern India, bringing the death toll to nearly 100 from a cold snap that began three weeks ago.

Near-freezing temperatures have killed more than two dozen people in northern India in recent days despite government efforts to distribute blankets and medicine to the poor, an official and a news report said today.

JOINING forces once again, South-west France holiday rental specialists The Gascony Secret and Simply Périgord offer a range of striking properties at prices for different pockets, the high range including historically important Chartreuse set in about 180 acres of land.

I NEVER seem able to place the kind of bets that are apparently available if you’re a follower of international cricket.

A speeding train derailed in western India, killing at least nine people and injuring more than 80.

A speeding train derailed in western India this morning killing at least nine people and injuring more than 80 others.

Officials have confirmed that 21 people were killed today when a passenger train smashed into the rear carriage of another train.

Police arrested six members of a hard-line Hindu group today for attacking and cutting the hair of three couples on Valentine's Day near the Taj Mahal - India's white-marble monument to love.

A two-year-old boy trapped for nearly 90 hours down a 150ft deep well in northern India died before army rescuers could reach him, a doctor said today.

CHARLIE Wilkins, the well known gardening columnist, will be leading an unusual Mediterranean cruise in September. The trip will include a flight from Cork to Barcelona, with two nights on terra firma, and seven further days and nights on the high seas, with the liner calling into such ports as Nice, Pisa/Florence, Rome, Naples and Sicily.

A baby girl in India who fell into a 45-foot well has been rescued after spending 27 hours in the pit.

A two-year-old girl has been rescued safely after spending 27 hours down a 45-foot well in India.

Police imposed a curfew in the northern Indian city that is home to the Taj Mahal and advised tourists and residents to stay indoors after angry mobs set fire to vehicles and blocked roads.

Tens of thousands of lower-caste people wielding swords and knives were prevented from marching in troubled north-western India, where clashes involving police and rival communities have killed at least 25 in recent days.

A young couple were beaten to death, their bodies hacked to pieces and burned on the orders of a village council in northern India that called their relationship incestuous, news reports said today.

Archaeologists and conservationists have begun giving a facelift to the massive gates of the Taj Mahal to repair weather damage to the 17th-century monument, a symbol of India and a crucial tourist attraction.

Dozens of flights and trains arriving or departing New Delhi were delayed or cancelled today due to thick fog over a large part of northern India, while a cold wave sweeping the region claimed six more lives.

An Islamic trust today claimed ownership of India’s Taj Mahal and demanded a slice of tourist revenue from the 17th-century monument, but the government-run group charged with its upkeep since 1920 vowed to challenge the claim in court.

NUCLEAR rivals India and Pakistan yesterday reached agreement on the timetable for sustained peace talks on disputed Kashmir and other tough issues separating the South Asian neighbours.

Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan began historic meetings today aimed at preparing the way for a sustained peace dialogue on Kashmir and other disputes that have kept the neighbours at loggerheads for decades.

The Indian federal government has ordered a state-run company building a tourist complex near the Taj Mahal to stop work because the project violates laws protecting the 17th century monument, reports said today.

The Indian state of Rajasthan is to launch a luxurious airliner dubbed the Palace on Air to draw rich tourists to its ancient palaces, forts and camel fairs.

At least 36 people have died in a factory fire in India.

Indian police have arrested a Pakistani who is accused of plotting to kidnap cricket stars Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly.

India’s prime minister snubbed Pakistan’s president and shrugged off his plea for dialogue today, apparently ending all possibility of talks between the nuclear-armed nations whose armies are on high alert.

Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf called India’s prime minister today to ask him to resume the stalled peace talks over the disputed Kashmir region.

Experts from across the world are set to be asked for their opinions on protecting the Taj Mahal.

India and Pakistan were ready to sign a landmark accord twice at this week's three-day peace summit, but it fell apart both times, according to Pakistan's Interior Minister.

The leaders of India and Pakistan held ‘‘frank and constructive’’ talks about nuclear safeguards, the fighting in Kashmir and freer trade during their first formal talks in two years today.

Tough talk over the disputed Kashmir province escalated and security was tightened today, the eve of a landmark summit between India and Pakistan.

A high-ranking peacemaker today appealed for calm despite claiming he was knocked unconscious by riot police during a tense night of sporadic violence in Burnley.

Three tourists have been charged with breaking into the Taj Mahal after finding it closed for the first time ever on a Friday.