After leaving their bilateral meeting on Monday, Mr Tusk lamented that there had been “no breakthrough” and that there is “no time to lose” with the October 31 deadline looming.

Boris Johnson’s decision to seek the suspension of parliament in order to pursue a no-deal Brexit is a salutary reminder to the Irish Government that it can control only what it can control, ie what is within its sphere of influence.

Which is the best way to handle the Brexit debacle?

The 15-year-old’s body was identified by her family, hours after it was discovered following a large-scale search operation.

France will not sign up to the European Union’s trade deal with the Mercosur group of South American countries at any cost and it remains to be seen whether Paris will eventually back it, French ministers have stated.

Iran has acknowledged it had broken the limit set on its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by the 2015 nuclear deal.

The Taliban has said peace talks in Moscow with other factions in Afghanistan have made "spectacular progress" on some issues.

Seven people have been confirmed dead after a sightseeing boat carrying 33 South Korean passengers and two crew members collided with another vessel and sank in the Danube River in Budapest.

Sterling languished just off four-month lows, with the outcome of the European election in the UK seen possibly emboldening proponents of a no-deal Brexit as the battle to succeed Prime Minister Theresa May got under way.

The Philippines has withdrawn its diplomats as Canada missed the deadline yesterday to take back tonnes of rubbish that was mistakenly sent to the Philippines back in 2013.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's most trusted policy adviser has been removed from one of his posts, according to a politician in South Korea.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been arrested at the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

One wonders will the world’s political leaders assemble in Christchurch, New Zealand, in solidarity with the victims of the horrific mosque killings last Friday as they did in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo killings in Paris in January 2015?

Spain has confirmed it will allow British citizens to stay in the country if the UK leaves the European Union without a deal.

Venezuela's vice president is visiting Russia, seeking stronger ties with Moscow amid mounting pressure from the United States.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has joined in efforts to increase facilities in France needed for increased Irish live exports, following warnings by exporters that calf prices will collapse.

There is hardly an issue on which opponents are so immoveably, so viscerally in conflict as Brexit.

A vanity exercise? No way, says Leo.

If negotiations fail over the nuclear deal, the Islamic Republic will enrich uranium "more than before... in the next weeks".

President Donald Trump has declared that if the Iranians "restart their nuclear programme, they will have bigger problems than they have ever had before".

Yulia Skripal has said her strength is "growing daily" after the nerve agent attack which left her and her father in intensive care.

Latest: Russia's ambassador in London Alexander Yakovenko suggested that the British Government was making allegations against Moscow as part of an "anti-Russian campaign" to divert attention from Brexit.

North Korea's foreign minister has arrived in Sweden for talks with his Swedish counterpart.

China's exports surged in February while its politically sensitive trade surplus widened amid mounting tension with Washington.

Theresa May's new Brexit offer will be put to the test this week as negotiations between British and European Union officials resume in Brussels.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said "more detailed and realistic proposals" are needed from the UK in relation to Brexit.

The British Foreign Office turned down a request from the Ecuadorian government to grant WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange diplomatic status.

In the midst of the power-sharing difficulties in the North, Ryle Dwyer argues that people should remember how such problems were initially resolved.

The UN's political chief has said senior North Korea officials told him during his visit "that it was important to prevent war" over its rapidly advancing nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Arab foreign ministers have demanded that the United States rescind Donald Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital, calling it a "grave" development that puts Washington on the same side as "occupation" and the violation of international law.

An air strike on a Syrian village held by the Islamic State group has killed at least 25 people, all of them civilians, according to activists.

The UK is failing to offer credible answers to the "hard questions" Ireland and the EU are asking about the fate of the border post Brexit, the Foreign Minister Simon Coveney has said.

IT is essential that cabinet members are credible when they speak in the Dáil but the level of dishonesty and scandal uncovered in An Garda Síochana is so startling that resolving those issues must almost take precedence over any other issue in that sphere. 

IN a saner world it might be possible to say that this was the week that some Brexit chickens came home to roost but we do not know if we are dealing with chickens, cockatoos, parakeets or even a rejuvenated púca resplendent in Halloween battledress. 

Latest: Ibrahim Halawa has described his joy at being a free man.

UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has sidestepped calls to apologise for his comments about clearing bodies from a Libyan city.

The centre-right party headed by foreign minister Sebastian Kurz has won Austria's national election, putting the 31-year old on track to become Europe's youngest leader, the country's interior ministry said.

The party of Austria's 31-year old foreign minister came first in a national election Sunday, putting him on course to become Europe's youngest head of government, forecasts suggested.

If the US president scuppers the nuclear deal, Iran, a proud, resource-rich nation, which also has a large uranium stockpile, will not capitulate, says Seyed Hossein Mousavian.

Catalan separatists called for international mediation with the Spanish government.

Former Irish president Mary Robinson has launched a scathing attack on Donald Trump, accusing the divisive US leader of having "sullied" the name of the United Nations after threatening to "totally destroy" North Korea.

Latest: US President Donald Trump's insult, calling leader Kim Jong Un "rocket man", makes "our rocket's visit to the entire US mainland inevitable all the more", North Korea's foreign minister said.

Syria's foreign minister has told world leaders that his country is "marching steadily" toward the goal of rooting out terrorism and "victory is now within reach".

British Virgin Islanders say they are "terrified" of the prisoners who escaped because of the damage caused by Hurricane Irma.