Arctic Sea ice melted this summer to the second lowest level since record-keeping began more than 50 years ago, scientists reported today, mostly blaming global warming.

A woman faces charges for allegedly perpetrating a hoax on the online social network MySpace against a 13-year-old neighbour who committed suicide.

Bayern Munich continue to set the pace at the top of the Bundesliga despite their second consecutive draw, this time 1-1 at home against Schalke.

AFGHAN police rescued a German aid worker — who was snatched while dining with her husband at a restaurant in the capital Kabul — and arrested four suspected kidnappers in the sting operation yesterday, officials said.

Afghan police rescued a German aid worker who was snatched while dining with her husband at a restaurant in the capital Kabul, and arrested four suspected kidnappers in the sting operation today, officials said.

ONE of Germany’s leading banks financed Nazi arms makers and owned a stake in a company that built crematoria at the Auschwitz concentration camp, authors of a bank-commissioned report found yesterday.

A photographic portrait of England captain David Beckham which features in an exhibition of pictures of the world’s greatest living footballers has been defaced, it emerged today.

Euro 2004 final referee Markus Merk has lambasted the way his fellow official Urs Meier has been treated by sections of the English press for his decision to chalk off Sol Campbell’s “goal” in the quarter-final with Portugal last Thursday.

UEFA today staunchly defended Swiss referee Urs Meier’s decision to disallow Sol Campbell’s "goal" in the Euro 2004 quarter-final against Portugal last Thursday.

Referee Urs Meier insists he was right to rule out Sol Campbell’s late goal for England against Portugal in the Euro 2004 quarter-finals.

SWISS referee Urs Meier will have his performance during the England v Portugal quarter-final match rated by UEFA before deciding whether he will officiate in the tournament again.

Swiss referee Urs Meier will have his performance during the England v Portugal quarter-final match rated by UEFA before deciding whether he will officiate in the tournament again.

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Marcel Desailly must wait to discover whether he faces a UEFA investigation into an alleged elbow incident that could rule him out of the second leg of Chelsea’s Champions League semi-final against Monaco.

Referee Urs Meier insists he has no regrets over handing Lyon the late penalty that ended Celtic’s Champions League campaign.

Martin O’Neill conceded today that the Celtic squad was not good enough for the knock-out rounds of the Champions League – but he insisted that the club had made great strides on the European stage.

STILIAN PETROV has warned Celtic’s under-fire defence that unless they improve they can forget about going all the way to the UEFA Cup final again.

Raging striker Henrik Larsson has taken a swipe at his team-mates and referee Urs Meier by accusing them of destroying Celtic’s Champions League dream.

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill believes referee Urs Meier “must examine his own game” after his team crashed out of the Champions League tonight.

Swiss authorities involved in the global hunt for terror money have established that both Osama bin Laden and suspected al-Qaida No 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri had links to Swiss bank accounts.

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Eircom League latest:

Irish company Datalex which provides technology solutions for the global travel industry, has announced that Armin Meier has resigned as non-Executive Director of Datalex.