Saudi women have been allowed into a sports stadium for the first time to watch a football match between two local teams.

The Band Aid archive will be transported from London, where it had been in storage, to Dublin to be catalogued, preserved, selectively digitalised and exhibited.

Japan's Emperor Akihito will abdicate in 2019 - becoming the first emperor to step down in more than two centuries.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May has declined to set a target for when half her Cabinet ministers will be women.

Preparations to float shares of Saudi Aramco next year are proceeding, but no decision has been taken yet on the venue for the international listing, the chief executive of the state oil company has said.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson cautioned countries in the Middle East against using Lebanon as "a venue for proxy conflicts".

China is offering to buy up to 5% of Saudi Aramco directly, in a move that could give Saudi Arabia the flexibility to consider various options for its plan to float the world’s biggest oil producer on the stock market.

A new toll has put the number of pilgrims killed during the crush and stampede that struck the hajj last month at 2,110 at least.

World leaders and top dignitaries have begun arriving in Saudi Arabia to give their condolences following the death of King Abdullah, who died yesterday aged 90 after nearly two decades at the helm.

Saudi Arabia’s new king promised to continue the policies of his predecessors after the death of King Abdullah at the age of 90.

A teacher from the North married the Crown Prince of Lagos in Co Armagh earlier today.

Shame on us. We may have kept the flame alive for John F Kennedy this week, but the other JFK was on his own.

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands announced today that she will abdicate on April 30 after 33 years as head of state.

Luxembourg’s Prince Guillaume and Belgian Countess Stephanie de Lannoy have put the finishing touches on their two-day wedding extravaganza with a religious ceremony at the tiny duchy’s Notre Dame Cathedral.

British Prime Minister David Cameron paid tribute to Crown Prince Nayef for his “leadership and dedication” following the Saudi Arabian minister’s death earlier today.

Formula One last night came under attack from cyber anarchists as part of the latest anti-Bahrain Grand Prix protests.

The Crown Prince of Bahrain and Bernie Ecclestone yesterday stood side by side and issued a unified message this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix will go ahead.

Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters have flooded a major highway in Bahrain, demanding a halt to this weekend’s Formula One race.

The Crown Prince of Bahrain feels cancelling his country’s grand prix this weekend would send out the wrong message and “empower extremists”.

The Bahrain Grand Prix will go ahead as planned on April 22, the FIA have confirmed.

Japan's emperor Akihito underwent heart by-pass surgery today, intended to allow him to lead a healthier, more active life.

Coldplay are being paid £1m (€1.2m) to perform on New Year's Eve.

Saudi Arabia’s heir to the throne Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdel Aziz has died abroad after an illness, national TV reported. He was 85 years old.

AT least 100,000 people, many carrying white or red roses, held a rally in Oslo yesterday to show support for victims of the attacks that killed 76 people on Friday.

Bahraini police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters marching toward the landmark Pearl Square in the country’s capital, two days after authorities lifted emergency rule.

Formula One’s governing body, the FIA, today refused to be drawn on when a decision will be taken over the future of the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Thousands of Shiite opposition supporters in Bahrain blocked the entrance to prime minister’s office but failed to disrupt a government meeting today as the campaign for reform in the strategic Gulf nation enters its third week.

Bahrain's opposition wants the nation's rulers to guarantee they will back up their conciliatory words with actions, a Shiite leader said today.

Thousands of singing and dancing protesters streamed back into Manama’s central Pearl Square today after Bahrain’s leaders withdrew tanks and riot police following a bloody crackdown by security forces in the tiny monarchy.

Security forces opened fire on protesters in Bahrain for a second day, wounding at least 50 people as thousands defied the government in an uprising that seeks to break the political grip of the Gulf nation’s leaders.

SOLDIERS opened fire yesterday on thousands of protesters defying a government ban and streaming toward the landmark square that had been the symbolic centre of the uprising to break the political grip of the Gulf nation’s leaders.

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed a decision on whether the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix goes ahead will be made next week.

Munich’s mayor has tapped the first keg, opening this year’s annual Oktoberfest in southern Germany, where millions of guests from around the globe are expected to clink mugs of frothy beer in celebration of 200 years of the world-renowned festival.

“BEAUTIFUL” is not a word many Irish people choose to describe the weather but, according to a group of English language students from Abu Dhabi, the rain is the best thing about Ireland.

Thailand’s fugitive ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra arrived in Cambodia today following his appointment as economic adviser to the government, fuelling tensions between the neighbouring countries.

An unemployed recluse who attempted to slam his car into an open-topped bus carrying Queen Beatrix was acting alone and targeting the Dutch royal family, police said today.

A Russian space capsule blasted off in Central Asia on a landmark mission to expand the permanent human presence in space.

President Mary McAleese leaves Dublin today for a five-day official visit to the Gulf region.

President Mary McAleese leaves Dublin tomorrow for a five-day official visit to the Gulf region.

Scientists today confirmed they have found the remains of the heir to Russia’s last tsar and his sister.

Embattled FIA president Max Mosley today suffered another kick in the teeth as he fights to remain in office.

THE world’s first carbon-neutral, car-free, zero-waste metropolis which will house up to 50,000 people is being built in Abu Dhabi.

Battle-scarred former prisoner of war John McCain declared he was the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination after a series of victories on Super Tuesday.

There is a “high probability” that bones found recently in Russia belonged to a daughter and son of the last czar, an official said today.