Friends, family and work colleagues of two Cork-based Malaysian chefs feared the men had died in Thursday’s doomed MH17 flight — only to get confirmation almost 24 hours later that the two men had actually travelled home to Kuala Lumpur on a different carrier.

The signing of a $1m contract with a Malaysian university has provided Cork company, Akari Software with a significant breakthrough in its bid to develop sales internationally.

Cork-based Akari Software, one of the first companies in Europe to develop curriculum management software for universities, has done its homework properly and is rapidly expanding into overseas markets, writes Trish Dromey.

With the eurozone crisis showing no sign of letting up and the Irish economy receding in the last quarter, Brian O’Grady looks at what the current climate is like for start-up businesses seeking investment