Supermarkets Asda and Morrisons have reached a settlement with a French champagne producer after becoming mixed up in a legal dispute about wine, a judge has said.

British, Spanish and Norwegian oil companies were evacuating workers from Algerian energy facilities today following the hostage-taking by Islamic militants in the Sahara desert and Algeria’s attempt to free them.

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has today called for the immediate release of an Irish citizen who is reported to have been among a group of oil workers kidnapped in Algeria this morning.