There have been many conspiracy theories swirling around the imposition of water charges, but the strangest yet has emerged from a celebrity candidate in the British general election — the levy is the fulfilment of a Masonic lodge plot dating from the Battle of Waterloo.

Mexican federal forces have arrested the leader of the notorious Zetas drug cartel, say officials.

A mayor in Mexico’s western state of Michoacan was detained for allegedly ordering the killing of a friend and extorting her employees and street vendors in her city on behalf of a drug cartel, authorities said.

A Mexican drug lord nicknamed ‘The Craziest One’ and said to have been killed over three years ago has been shot dead in a clash with authorities.

Mexico has effectively legalised the country’s growing “self-defence” groups as security forces captured one of the four top leaders of the Knights Templar drug cartel, which vigilante groups have been fighting for the last year.

Mexico’s military has taken control of one of the country’s biggest seaports in an effort to bring drug-cartel activity under control in the western state of Michoacan.

Franchini’s,

Colin Keane, arguably the most talented young rider in the country, enjoyed the biggest success of his fledgling career when guiding Brendan Bracken to victory in the Topaz Mile Handicap at Galway last night.

Prosecutors today asked a court to send confessed mass killer Anders Breivik to a mental institution instead of prison for his massacre of 77 people in a gun and shooting rampage.

The psychiatrists criticised for deeming Anders Behring Breivik – the self-confessed killer of 77 people in Norway last year – too mentally unfit to go to prison have defended their stance, calling him delusional.

LOCATED on the edge of Castlemartyr village, Co Cork, on the site of a former Carmelite Monastery, Castlemartyr Resort incorporates a five-star hotel, spa and links-style golf course set in spacious grounds.

Norwegian police have said they are confident that confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik acted on his own in terror attacks last year that killed 77 people and found no evidence that he belonged to a Europe-wide anti-Muslim network.

Desperate to prove he is not insane, mass killer Anders Behring Breivik claimed questions about his mental health were part of racist plot to discredit his extreme anti-Muslim ideology.

Desperate to prove he is not insane, mass killer Anders Breivik today claimed questions about his mental health were part of a racist plot to discredit his extreme anti-Muslim ideology.

Anders Behring Breivik acquired the knowledge to carry out a bomb and shooting rampage on the internet, he told a Norwegian court today.

Norway’s prison terms are “pathetic”, mass killer Anders Behring Breivik declared yesterday in court, claiming the death penalty or a full acquittal were the “only logical outcomes” for his massacre of 77 people.

Mass killer Anders Breivik today declared that Norway’s prison sentences were “pathetic” and demanded he either be executed or cleared.

Mass killer Anders Breivik’s claims of belonging to a secret anti-Muslim militia appeared to crack today after he admitted it was “not an organisation in a conventional sense.”

Prosecutors pressed mass killer Anders Breivik for details about the anti-Muslim militant group he claims to belong to on the third day of his trial for the massacre of 77 people.

Norwegian gunman Anders Breivik insisted today he would massacre 77 people all over again, calling his rampage the most “spectacular” attack by a nationalist militant since the Second World War.

Anders Breivik tried to defend his massacre of 77 people today, insisting he would do it again and calling his rampage the most “spectacular” attack by a nationalist militant since the Second World War.

Right-wing fanatic Anders Breivik, who killed 77 people in bombing and shooting attacks in Norway, sees himself as a 21st century crusader battling against Islam in Europe.

Right-wing fanatic Anders Breivik went on trial today over the murders of 77 people in a case that will decide whether he is evil or insane.

The right-wing fanatic responsible for the bomb-and-shooting massacre that killed 77 people in Norway has admitted to the “acts” in court but pleaded not guilty to criminal charges, saying he was acting in self-defence.

The right-wing fanatic who confessed to killing 77 people in a bomb and shooting massacre in Norway went on trial today, defiantly rejecting the authority of the court.

The terror trial against an anti-Muslim fanatic who confessed to killing 77 people in Norway starts today amid fears that he will use the proceedings to showcase his radical views.

A new psychiatric assessment of Anders Breivik has said the right-wing fanatic was sane when he killed 77 people in a bomb and gun massacre that jolted the world’s image of terrorism.

Mass killer Anders Behring Breivik told a court he deserved a medal of honour for the murder of 77 people and demanded to be set free.

Mass killer Anders Breivik appeared before a Norwegian court today in his last remand hearing before trial.

WITH stable-jockey Kevin Manning on duty in Dubai (he rode Hurricane Havoc to finish fourth in the Group 2 Cape Verdi yesterday), Rory Cleary proved an able deputy when providing Jim Bolger with a double, on Heir To The Mint and General Bunching at Dundalk last night.

Peeling away layers of history, a renowned conservation engineer has restored an old world gem to its original splendour, reports Laurie O’Flynn

Masked gunmen blocked traffic on a busy avenue in a Gulf of Mexico coastal city and dumped the bodies of 35 murder victims as horrified motorists watched, authorities said.

Confessed Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik is sticking to his claim of belonging to a militant order of Knights Templar, even though police have found no evidence it exists, his lawyer said.

NORWEGIAN police will question several British citizens in their search for potential accomplices of confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik, authorities said.

WHEN the English Defence League sprang to life two years ago, it had fewer than 50 members — a rough-and-tumble bunch of mostly white guys shouting from a street corner about what they viewed as uncontrolled Muslim immigration.

JITTERY Norwegians tried to restore some normality to their lives after mass killings by a far-right zealot traumatised the nation, but a security alert forced the evacuation of Oslo station, keeping nerves on edge.

THE stepmother of Anders Breivik said he was an apparently normal youth who showed no signs of what he had been planning, even in the months before the massacre.

The stepmother of Anders Breivik said he was an apparently normal youth who showed no signs of what he was planning even in the months right before the massacre.

PARTS of Anders Behring Breivik’s 1,500-page online manifesto against Muslim immigration, which his lawyer said he wrote alone, were taken almost word for word from the writings of the “Unabomber”.

THE man responsible for the attacks on Norway’s government headquarters and an island retreat for young people that left at least 93 dead was motivated by a desire to bring about a revolution in society, his lawyer said yesterday.

The man blamed for attacks on Norway’s government headquarters and a youth retreat that left at least 92 dead was motivated by a desire to bring about a revolution in Norwegian society, his lawyer said today.

ON a night when Johnny Murtagh took another giant step towards regaining the Jockeys Championship, Joanna Morgan saddled Fourpenny Lane and San Sicharia to dominate the listed Cooley Fillies Stakes at Dundalk.

GUESTS at the opulent Capella hotel in Castlemartyr can avail of any service they desire once it’s legal and moral, president and chief executive Horst Schulze pledged yesterday at the opening of the €80 million resort.

THE DA VINCI CODE author Dan Brown sat in Britain’s High Court yesterday accused of taking material for his blockbuster conspiracy thriller from a 1982 book about the Holy Grail.