John Joe Nevin is hoping to emulate compatriot Katie Taylor with Olympic gold after seeing off world champion Estrada Alvarez to reach the final of the men’s bantamweight division.

UK Athletics chief executive Niels de Vos said he expects Phillips Idowu to do “very well” at the London Olympics, even though head coach Charles van Commenee said he does not know if the triple jumper will be fit.

Coach Billy Walsh last night admitted he could “not be happier” as the seven-man Irish boxing team touched down in Trabzon, Turkey yesterday ahead of the European Olympic qualifier which begins on Saturday.

Global airlines yesterday called for a UN-brokered deal to prevent a row over aviation emissions between China and the EU spilling into a trade war.

CIARAN Ó LIONAIRD took another giant step forward in his fragmented athletics career yesterday when he finished sixth in his semi-final of the men’s 1,500m at the world championships in Daegu to qualify for tomorrow’s final.

KENNY EGAN has put past problems behind him to chase a record 10th successive national senior title at the Elite Boxing Championships which gets under way at the National Stadium tonight.

THE leading Olympic official in the country has launched a stinging attack on the Irish Sports Council’s High Performance Unit which, he claims, has failed in its brief to produce results at the Games despite record levels of funding.

A massive mile-thick brown pollution haze has settled over vast areas of the planet, changing weather patterns and threatening health and crops, according to the UN.

Ireland’s Olympic stars will return home to a heroes welcome today with medal-winning boxers taking centre stage.

Ireland's Olympic stars will return home to a heroes' welcome tomorrow with medal winning boxers taking centre stage.

Irish bantamweight fighter Johnny Joyce failed to progress to the next round of the Olympics following a loss against Felix Diaz of the Dominican Republic.

Ireland's heavyweight four rowers have failed to qualify for the Olympics final in Beijing.

China said today the toll of dead and missing from last week’s powerful earthquake had jumped to more than 80,000, while the government appealed for millions of tents to shelter homeless survivors.

China said today that its efforts to improve the environment were starting to show results, after emissions of a major air pollutant fell.

EVERY season Chelsea’s bullish chief executive Peter Kenyon likes to ruffle a few feathers by updating the soccer community on the master plan in London SW6 for world domination.

South Korea today urged North Korea to resolve a stand-off over its nuclear ambitions, describing ongoing international nuclear disarmament talks in Beijing as a historic opportunity to end the dispute.

NORTH KOREA yesterday said future nuclear talks with America would be a waste of time if Washington insists the communist country first scrap its suspected atomic weapons programmes.