Figure is just half of last year’s record number of 163,000 arrivals

Three respected political figures have combined to form Ireland’s first Social Democratic party but Kyran Fitzgerald wonders if they have a future.

USA: An Oklahoma man has pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter for asphyxiating his stepfather with the underwear he was wearing in a move police dubbed an ‘atomic wedgie’.

The Swedish parliament yesterday said Ireland may pay back part of its bailout loans to the International Monetary Fund early, giving the final EU approval needed for Dublin to begin repayment.

The process of regulating prostitution should be inclusive of sex workers, writes Louise Persson

Benedict Cumberbatch is being lined up to play WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in a new movie.

Swedish government websites have been jammed by hackers for hours today, with some supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange claiming responsibility on Twitter.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange could remain holed up inside Ecuador’s embassy in London for a year, he has predicted.

AS A HUGE fan of the immensely important work that Wikileaks has done in recent years, it has been depressing to watch the deranged cult that surrounds its founder sully its brand.

THE debate about whether women can ‘have it all’ has been prompted, again, by the surprise resignation of glamorous Tory MP Louise Mensch after two years in parliament.

Every drop of water and nutrient will be recycled within these vertical greenhouses, with light and temperature optimised for plant development.

JUSTICE MINISTER Alan Shatter has announced public consultation on the criminalisation of users of prostitutes — though a newly published report makes clear his own department’s reservations about a new law.

As Scandinavians take to the first organic Irish cream liqueur with gusto, First Ireland Spirits is looking to expand its customer base by tapping new markets and extending its portfolio with whiskey products, writes Trish Dromey.

France is bringing home its citizens from Japan on government planes and is sending 100 tons of boric acid to help stem radiation leaks from a damaged nuclear plant.

Sweden has led the way in tackling prostitution with the introduction of tough legislation and enforcement. Stephen Rogers travelled to the country to learn about the much vaunted ‘Swedish Model’ on dealing with human trafficking. In the first of a two-part series, he compares the Irish and Swedish approaches to what is the world’s fastest growing crime and looks at what lessons can be learned.

Stockholm: Volvo, the Swedish carmaker owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, will get a 3.55- billion krona (€396.9m) loan from the European Investment Bank, the Swedish government said.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will learn today whether he is to remain in prison into the new year as British prosecutors attempt to prevent him being released on bail.

MORE cyber attacks in retaliation for attempts to block the WikiLeaks website are likely in a “data war” to protect internet freedom, a representative of one of the groups involved warned last night.

It has been reported that hackers have forced the Swedish government's official website off-line in a cyber attack in support of WikiLeaks.

THE National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) has started a crackdown on defaulting borrowers and is taking enforcement proceedings against 12 people not cooperating on the repayment of their loans.

SLOW FOOD has brought me to many remote places around the globe in search of ancient cultures and indigenous foods. Recently I found myself in Sápmi (Samiland) in northern Sweden – the land of the midnight sun; it was bright almost all night.

More than 200 Malaysian Muslim protesters today called on Sweden to take action against several newspapers that reprinted a caricature depicting the Prophet Mohammed as a dog.

The Yugoslav war crimes tribunal announced today it has approved the early release from prison of former Bosnian Serb President Biljana Plavsic after she served two-thirds of her 11-year sentence for persecution.

IRELAND is nearer a full recovery from the crisis in its banking sector than some of its European counterparts, a Dáil committee heard yesterday.

French drinks giant Pernod Ricard today agreed a £4.6bn (€5.7bn) deal to buy Absolut vodka maker Vin & Sprit.

Drinks giant Diageo has ditched its interest in iconic Swedish vodka brand Absolut after today agreeing a deal for a 50% stake in Dutch vodka Ketel One.

Three Greenpeace activists boarded the Atlantic Osprey carrier tonight, as it was making its way to Sellafield in Britain with a shipment of nuclear waste for reprocessing.

THE rights of trade unions to take industrial action against the use of cheap labour from Eastern European nations were bolstered by recommendations issued at the European Court of Justice yesterday.

Unions fighting the threat of cheap labour from migrant workers from new EU member states won the latest round of a legal battle over equal pay today.

HERMANN KELLY exposed a little of the real agenda behind the so-called children’s rights referendum (Irish Examiner, March 9).

Ireland has an excellent track record in the global effort to rid the world of nuclear weapons, former UN chief weapons inspector Dr Hans Blix said tonight.

FORMER United Nations chief weapons inspector Hans Blix will appear before an Oireachtas committee in September to discuss ways of combating the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The ISEQ index of shares plummeted back into the red today, down 83.21 to 7566.69 at the close of business.

Low-fare airline Ryanair is to cut back on services to Sweden because of a proposed new flight tax, it was announced today.

Minister for Transport Martin Cullen is holding talks with officials from the Swedish government today to get tips on road safety.

MEP Simon Coveney’s campaign to address the sexual exploitation of women (Irish Examiner, March 28) seems at odds with the views of other members of his party.

THE German leader of the Socialist MEPs has urged Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso to reprimand Charlie McCreevy, but said Ireland’s commissioner was impressive — when he could understand his accent.

Swedish defence and aerospace company Saab AB today said it was to lay off 350 workers as production of its JAS 39 Gripen fighter jet entered a new phase.

The number of Germans confirmed killed in the tsunami disaster a week ago has nearly doubled to 60 – the highest death toll among foreigners – and is expected to rise much further, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said today.

THE Swedish government said it feared that many of the 1,500 Swedish tourists in Thailand who are still unaccounted for after giant tidal waves struck Asian coastlines may be dead.

HEALTH Minister Mary Harney was yesterday urged to look to Sweden for a model on which to reform healthcare in this country.

FOREIGN Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern yesterday refuted claims that tortured prisoners bound for Guantanamo Bay had been transported through Shannon Airport.

EACH Irish citizen over 18 years of age is to be given an annual alcohol quota equivalent to six pints, or four glasses of wine per week.