Espionage at the very heart of the government has always occurred. Johanna Lowry-O’Reilly looks at some of the more famous cases in the United Kingdom.

The downturn in the US-Russian relationship, at odds with the warmth of the US presidential election campaign, could drive Russia into China’s arms, writes Josh Cohen

When dealing with the conflict in Syria and other areas, US policy has largely been ineffectual. It needs to do more than just express moral outrage, says Christopher R Hill.

An Irish-registered firm was allegedly at the centre of conspiracy to defraud the world’s largest producer of ammonia of a $2bn (€1.85bn) shareholding, the Commercial Court has heard.

Dutch-led criminal investigators say they have solid evidence that a Malaysian jet was shot down by a Buk missile moved into eastern Ukraine from Russia.

A former top CIA official has attacked Donald Trump as a danger to America’s national security, saying president Vladimir Putin had made the Republican presidential candidate an “unwitting agent” of Russia.

RUSSIAN president Vladimir Putin is not a competitor at the Olympics but he might as well be, considering his undoubted role in the biggest doping scandal in history.

The relationship between the European Union and Russia will be discussed at the annual Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum in 10 days time.

World food prices rose slightly in April, up for the third month in a row but they remained almost 10% lower than a year earlier, the United Nations food agency said yesterday.

Russia faces being banned from the Rio 2016 Olympics after an investigation revealed “state-sponsored” doping on a wide scale in one of sport’s biggest ever scandals.

Russia continued to bomb Syria for a third day yesterday, mainly hitting areas held by rival insurgent groups rather than Islamic State (IS) fighters it said it was targeting.

Helped by Irish exports, Brussels has reported that the EU maintained its position as the world’s No 1 exporter in 2014, with agri-food exports representing more than 7% of all goods exported and with a net surplus of €18bn.

Ukraine has accused two Russian servicemen it said it captured of being part of a special forces group that had killed and wounded Ukrainian servicemen in fighting in its eastern regions and said they would be prosecuted for “terrorist acts”.

Hazardous and “binge” drinking is on the rise internationally among young people and especially young women, a study shows.

The UN human rights investigator for North Korea said he would probe allegations of an estimated 20,000 North Koreans working in slave-like conditions abroad, mainly in China, Russia, and the Middle East.

Russian anger over MoD’s ‘real danger’ claim

Deadly rocket attacks on the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol that “knowingly targeted civilians” broke international humanitarian law and could amount to war crimes, the United Nations’ political chief has said.

Athletics governing body the IAAF have described the number of Russian doping cases as a major concern in light of Tuesday’s doping scandals.

I can’t fathom Ray Kinsella’s thinking in his article (Irish Examiner, December 18) headlined ‘West has responsibility to engage Russia’. 

IAAF president Lamine Diack has raised the prospect of Russia’s athletics chief withdrawing from his duties until an investigation into allegations of systematic doping and cover-ups is concluded.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has defended the Kremlin’s aggressive foreign policy, saying the actions are necessary for his country’s survival.

Russian president Vladimir Putin is to honour an Irish charity boss with one of his country’s highest humanitarian awards.

A UN report says the world is facing a challenge of foreign fighters in terror groups on an "unprecedented scale", with about 15,000 in Syria and Iraq alone.

Shelling in rebel-held parts of east Ukraine killed at least 12 civilians as a top leader of pro-Russian rebels rejected Ukrainian legislation meant to end the unrest by granting self-rule to large swathes of the east.

President Vladimir Putin has ordered government agencies to restrict imports of food and agricultural products from the countries that have imposed sanctions against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine.

Russian government agencies have edited a Wikipedia article so that it suggests the Ukrainian military were to blame for the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, according to a Twitter account that monitors state IP addresses.

Women in the world’s major G20 economies will have to wait 75 years to earn as much as men, according to an Oxfam report published yesterday.

Russia threatened Ukraine with "irreversible consequences" yesterday after a man was killed by a shell fired across the border from Ukraine, an incident Moscow described in warlike terms as aggression that must be met with a response.

The United States and its allies used the first Group of Seven meeting without Russia in 17 years to condemn its actions in Ukraine and threaten hard-hitting sanctions if President Vladimir Putin does not help restore stability.

Pro-Moscow rebel leaders in eastern Ukraine called for their region to become part of Russia, the day after staging a referendum on self-rule, although Moscow stopped short of endorsing their bid for annexation.

Russia’s foreign minister has promised a firm response if its citizens or interests come under attack in Ukraine – a vow that came after Ukraine announced a renewal of its “anti-terror” campaign against those occupying buildings in its troubled east.

Pro-Russian insurgents dug in across eastern Ukraine, fortifying their positions around seized buildings and erecting fresh barricades even as Ukrainian tanks took up positions outside one eastern city now controlled by armed men.

WHY do Russian artists so eagerly support Putin’s policy in Crimea?

Russia pulled back a battalion from along the Ukrainian border yesterday after sending its prime minister to shower promises on Crimea, pledging quick funds to improve power supplies, water lines and education on its newly annexed peninsula.

US reluctance to engage militarily with Russia in the past suggests it would be well-advised to back off and give the lead role in the Crimea crisis to a group of EU leaders, writes Anne-Marie Slaughter.