Shire Plc reported a 20% increase in first-quarter earnings per share as doctors prescribed more Vyvanse, a pill for ADHD that it expects will bring in more than $1bn (€762m) this year.

RUSSIAN navy vessels were patrolling the Atlantic yesterday in search of a Maltese-flagged ship that has been missing for more than two weeks since sailing through the English Channel.

A secret cargo and not just timber may be on board a missing ship whose last known radio contact was with British Coastguards, it was suggested today.

An international maritime search was underway tonight for a missing cargo ship amid fears it was under the control of pirates as it passed through the English Channel.

Fourteen people have been airlifted to safety from a Irish Sea ferry that ran aground on the English coast last night.

A ferry which ran into trouble in high winds in the Irish Sea has run aground at Blackpool, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said tonight.

There are reports that four Irish people are among the 100 passengers that had to be rescued from a stricken cruise liner in the Antarctic Ocean today.

SCAVENGERS were continuing to defy the authorities last night as hundreds of people picked over wreckage from a beached container ship.

A dramatic rescue operation was underway tonight after flash floods trapped scores of people in cars and buildings in the UK.

BRITISH police officers yesterday said they were “appalled” after two nine-year-old girls were captured on CCTV throwing a brick through the window of a car from a motorway footbridge.

Fire teams and RAF helicopters were sent today to battle a blaze on board a North Sea ferry with 611 passengers aboard.

The search was resuming today for a diver who went missing as he explored a wreck yesterday afternoon, coastguards said.

Seven people are feared dead after a trawler sank off the Donegal coast.