Members of the elite Army Ranger Wing (ARW) have joined other special forces in the formation of what is designed to be a rapid reaction force which the EU could send to bring peace to a troubled spot.

The Government is sending Ireland's elite troops to "one of the most dangerous places in the world" but is refusing to pay them increased allowances agreed by independent arbitration in 2010.

Silence from the global community on a “direct assault” on the international criminal justice system by “ill-wishers” is not tactical and sends the wrong signal, the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) chief prosecutor has warned.

It is “baffling” that Defence Forces personnel are still being prescribed with anti-malarial drug Lariam, while the State faces dozens of personal injury claims due to alleged side effects of the medicine, the Dáil has heard.

At least 95 people are dead following the latest massacre in central Mali blamed on tensions between ethnic militias.

More than a dozen Army Rangers are to be sent to war-torn Mali under a new proposal from Defence Minister Paul Kehoe.

Wicklow-born songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Anna Mieke recently released her debut album Idle Mind.

Six people including a pastor have been killed in an attack on a Christian church in northern Burkina Faso.

Algeria’s economy is on its knees and the electorate is fed up of paying obeisance to an elderly demagogue, writes Zaki Laidi

The UN’s two-pronged approach will reduce neonatal mortality rates to 12 per 1,000 births by 2030, says

Here are all the latest headlines this lunchtime...

The great American comedian George Carlin had a terrific routine in which he talked about the language used in American football, writes Michael Moynihan.

A right-wing extremist suspected in the shooting rampage that wounded six Africans in central Italy was "lucid and determined, aware of what he had done" and exhibited no remorse for his actions, an official said.

Cork’s Lord Mayor joined the country’s top young debaters last night to talk about gender equality not only in Ireland but also in parts of the world where subjugation and slavery continue to blight the lives of girls and women.

Ireland is the eighth most expensive country in Europe for the average cost of broadband — despite being among the slowest in Europe for average broadband speeds.

How the hell do men rule the world, asks Catherine Shanahan

Suspected Islamic extremists have attacked a Turkish restaurant popular with foreigners in Burkina Faso's capital, killing at least 18 people.

In a west African country where militant and terrorist attacks are “entirely unpredictable”, Irish soldiers are helping to train the Malian army to enforce the rule of law.

Two members of the Defence Forces caught up in a suspected jihadist terror attack in West Africa have been reported safe and unharmed.

Security forces in Mali have killed at least four extremists after an attack that left two people dead at a spot popular with foreigners, the security minister said.

At least two people have been killed after suspected jihadists attacked a popular tourist resort on the outskirts of Mali's capital.

Suspected jihadists in Mali's capital have attacked a resort that is popular with foreigners on the weekends, a security official says.

In an increasingly polarised France, residents of a heavily Muslim suburb of Paris have decided to start their own political party. Elisabeth Zerofsky investigates.

His multi-million selling book, Earth From Above, began an odyssey for Yann Arthus-Bertrand that has brought him to Cork to show his film as part of the city’s celebration of French cinema, says Alan O’Riordan

Irish photographer Richard Mosse has used military technology for his refugee-related exhibition at the Barbican in London, writes Shilpa Ganatra

African governments must start making smart choices and investments to tackle malnutrition on the continent, says Adebimpe Adebiyi.

THIS year — June 26 — marked the 20th anniversary of the murder of Veronica Guerin by drug criminals. Five years later, in September 2001, another journalist, Martin O’Hagan, was murdered by the Loyalist Volunteer Force. He was the only journalist to be killed in Northern Ireland’s 30 years of tit-for-tat terror, which, compared with the fate of journalists in many of the world’s conflict zones, is pretty remarkable.

Young members of the Defence Forces are disillusioned and leaving the Army, Naval Service, and Air Corps in droves because they cannot afford to live on their wages.

A defiant Françoise Hollande has called on French citizens and Europe to stand together in the wake of terrorist attacks to protect freedom, as he thanked Ireland for its solidarity, writes Juno McEnroe. 

Ellie O’Byrne had fun in the sun — and the mud — at the weekend festival in Ballinlough Castle

Best known for gorgeous house music under his St Germain moniker, Ludovic Navarre has teamed up with a group of Malian musicians to play in Ireland, writes Ed Power

Service medals will be awarded to Irish Naval Service personnel who served on the historic humanitarian missions in the Mediterranean last year.

The planned deployment of around 140 crack troops on a major EU exercise has been called off as the Government failed to sign a special agreement to indemnify soldiers on duty abroad.

Security is to be stepped up in Burkina Faso after al-Qaeda militants in a vehicle from neighbouring Niger killed at least 28 people from 18 different countries in an attack on a hotel and cafe popular with foreigners.

Saudi Arabia is leading a new anti-terror military alliance of 34 Muslim-majority nations, with a joint operations centre based in the kingdom’s capital Riyadh.

The minister for defence has said he will not send the Naval Service back to the Mediterranean Sea if the threat to their humanitarian mission from Islamic State’s (IS) occupation of northern Libya proves too great.

Germany to vote on military mission as Putin calls for the world to fight IS with ‘one powerful fist’

Mortars lit up the dawn sky when they were fired on a United Nations base in the northern Mali city of Kidal, killing at least three people.

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