Here's your lunchtime news bulletin.

Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson said a conman posing as Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon attempted to dupe him out of $5 million (€4.25m) after lying about a kidnapping.

Theresa May has hit out at Boeing over the escalating US trade dispute with Belfast-linked rival Bombardier, warning its behaviour was "no way to operate".

Britain told US planemaker Boeing it could lose out on British defence contracts because of its dispute with Canadian rival Bombardier which has put 4,200 jobs at risk in the North.

British drone pilots who bomb Islamic State (IS) fighters could be awarded military medals under a review of how servicemen and women are recognised for their contribution to British operations, the UK's Defence Secretary has announced.

The Dalai Lama has called for a denuclearised world and warned force would not solve the North Korean crisis.

Britain will not shut the door to European Union immigrants after Brexit but the Government wants people "with high skills" and better jobs for domestic workers, a Cabinet minister has said.

Free movement from the European Union will end in March 2019, Downing Street insisted as Theresa May sought to contain a Cabinet row over Brexit.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has dismissed reports of splits in the Cabinet over Brexit, saying senior ministers are united on delivering a global Britain after its departure from the European Union.

Conservative and Labour figures reacted cautiously to the exit poll predicting Theresa May could have lost her overall majority.

The United States has warned it is "prepared to do more" to stop the horrors that are taking place in Syria under Bashar Assad.

Politicians from around the world were quick to react on Twitter to news of the US strikes on Syria.

Latest: The injuries suffered by an Irish person in the Westminster terror attack are not life threatening, the Government has been told.

As investigators piece together the background to the Westminster terror attack, the picture beginning to emerge appears to bear the hallmarks of a "lone wolf" strike.

British Government analysis has indicated that British-made cluster bombs have been used by Saudi Arabia-led forces in the war in Yemen.

Iraqi government forces backed by the US-led coalition are "on the cusp" of taking Islamic State's (IS) last major stronghold in the country, Britain's Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has said.

British prime minister Theresa May will not interfere with the official process of approving her predecessor David Cameron’s resignation honours list despite allegations of cronyism, Downing Street has said.

The job in Britain of pulling the trigger that launches a 60-tonne Trident missile capped with up to 12 nuclear warheads falls on a father of three who describes it as “an honour and a burden”.

Germany to vote on military mission as Putin calls for the world to fight IS with ‘one powerful fist’

David Cameron has promised to set out a “comprehensive” strategy for tackling Islamic State (IS) on Thursday that will include British air strikes on the terrorists’ bases in Syria.

More drone strikes could be launched within weeks to kill terrorists in Syria plotting to wreak carnage in Britain, the county’s defence secretary indicated.

David Cameron was under mounting pressure last night after describing migrants trying to reach Britain as a "swarm".

David Cameron has warned that IS must be destroyed in its Syrian heartland as Labour signalled that it was ready to back further military action in the wake of Tunisia beach attack.

Heartened by recent election successes by an anti-immigrant party, Italian politicians based in the north vowed yesterday not to shelter any more migrants saved at sea, even as hundreds more were being rescued in the Mediterranean from smugglers’ boats in distress.

John O’Brennan and Mary C Murphy look at the dilemma that David Cameron’s pledge to hold an ‘in-out’ referendum on Britains membership of the EU has created for himself and for the union.   

David Cameron has signalled he will resist pressure to rethink his British general election tactics, after Ed Miliband said the hallmark of the Conservative campaign was “desperation”.

Nigel Farage has described David Cameron as “somebody we can sit down and talk to” after the election in the event of a hung parliament.

Britain is to deploy two RAF Chinook transport helicopters to help bolster the defence of the Falkland Islands amid renewed fears of a fresh Argentine invasion of the islands.

Russian anger over MoD’s ‘real danger’ claim

One of the two Russian ‘Bear’ bombers which flew into Irish-controlled airspace last week was reportedly carrying a nuclear weapon.

The Irish and British defence ministers have today signed a historic memorandum of understanding on security.

British troops mistreated nine Iraqi detainees following a fierce battle a decade ago, but false allegations of murder and torture were the product of “deliberate lies, reckless speculation and ingrained hostility”, a judge-led inquiry has found.

EU migrants to the UK paid more in tax than they received in benefits in the past decade, according to a report that threatens to stoke the political debate over immigration.

Questions have been raised about British Government plans to introduce enhanced screening for Ebola at major airports and terminals, after Gatwick said it knew nothing about the measures.

Driving out Islamic State (IS) militants will not be a "weekend campaign", British defence secretary Michael Fallon has warned, after the first combat sorties by RAF warplanes over Iraq failed to locate any suitable targets to strike.

Britain was last night poised ed to launch air strikes against Islamic State (IS) jihadists in northern Iraq after its parliament overwhelmingly approved military action.

British warplanes are poised to launch air strikes against Islamic State (IS) jihadists after the British parliament gave the green light for military action.

Britain could be carrying out airstrikes in Iraq within days after the cabinet unanimously backed action against Islamic State (IS).

Scottish company Celtic Renewables, founded by Macroom, Co Cork Professor Martin Tangney, has taken its research into biofuels one step further with the signing of a major contract with Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant in Ghent, Belgium.

We need wind energy — just not so much hot air, writes Labour senator John Whelan.