Two populist and stridently anti-European Union political groups, both fierce rivals, surged in Italy's parliamentary election at the expense of the country's traditional powers, but neither gained enough support to govern alone, preliminary results showed.

China's Communist Party leader Xi Jinping has unveiled the line-up of the party's highest body who will rule alongside him as he embarks on a second five-year term as party leader.

The presidents of Italy's wealthy northern regions of Veneto and Lombardy have claimed victory in autonomy referendums that seek to grab additional powers and tax revenue from Rome.

Bangladeshi authorities on Sunday took steps to restrict the movement of Muslim Rohingya refugees living in crowded border camps.

Elon Musk’s Tesla has won a tender to supply what the billionaire says is the world’s largest lithium-ion battery to back up the state of South Australia’s blackout-plagued power grid.

The Italian prime minister has urged his EU allies to take in more refugees, saying the relentless arrival of tens of thousands of rescued people on Italian shores is putting his country under enormous strain.

The Czech prime minister has said his government will resign over unexplained business dealings of his finance minister and rival.

Despite a conciliatory meeting over the week end in Mar-a-Lago with Chinese Premier Xi Jinping, US president Donald Trump will still relish an opportunity to chop down on imports from China and any other country with which there is trade imbalances, as he pursues his major campaign promise to tackle the $500bn (€472bn) trade deficit and bring back jobs to US soil.

“Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is an absurd one,” wrote Voltaire.

Police in Australia have detained five suspects who were allegedly planning a series of Christmas Day bomb attacks in the heart of the country's second largest city.

Italy's president has asked Premier Matteo Renzi to delay stepping down until parliament can pass a critical budget law due later this month.

Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi has rejected the Italian city’s bid for the 2024 Olympics, effectively dooming the capital’s candidacy for the second time in four years.

Strong aftershocks have damaged two key access roads into quake-struck Amatrice, threatening to isolate the tiny Italian hilltop town as hopes fade that firefighters will find any more survivors from the earthquake that killed at least 278 people.

Popular support for Chancellor Angela Merkel has plunged according to a poll conducted after attacks in Germany, with almost two-thirds of Germans unhappy with her refugee policy.

China’s economy isn’t headed for a hard landing and isn’t dragging on the global economy, China’s top economic planner said, but uncertainty and instability in the global economy do pose a risk to its growth.

China’s first official economic report of the year suggested manufacturing weakened for a fifth straight month in December, the longest such streak since 2009.

Waste mudslide covers buildings in China’s latest industrial disaster

Activity in China’s manufacturing sector unexpectedly contracted in October for a third straight month, an official survey showed yesterday, fuelling fears that the economy may still be losing momentum despite a raft of stimulus measures.

Increased infrastructure investment is key to stabilising China’s economic growth, a top state adviser said yesterday, while calling on the country’s central bank to lower the cost of financing for companies and increase overall credit.

China’s economy faces challenges and downward pressures but there is no risk of a hard landing as the government is fully capable of supporting growth, said the country’s premier Li Keqiang yesterday.

China’s economy is growing at a “reasonable” pace and, despite growing pressures, the government can handle well the risks the country now faces, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said at the weekend.

The recovery of toxic materials has begun in earnest at the site of last week’s explosions at a chemical warehouse in China’s port of Tianjin.

Police in Sicily have arrested three Egyptians who allegedly were in charge of a smuggling boat on which a 10-year-old Syrian girl with diabetes died after the smugglers threw her insulin overboard.

The fallout from the shoddy self-regulation and frantic building splurge during the Celtic Tiger continues to seep out of the walls of homes thrown together, writes Michael Clifford

Baby Gammy’s biological father is trying to access charity money raised for the Down syndrome boy’s medical costs.

Two victims of the deadly siege in Sydney were being remembered at private memorial services, a week after a gunman took them hostage inside a city cafe.

Tens of thousands of union workers marched through more than 50 Italian cities to protest government economic reforms that they say erode their rights.

Small businesses have called for an end to "downright unfair" practices after a major manufacturer renewed a call for a payment if suppliers want to remain on its books.

Jewish worshippers returned to a Jerusalem synagogue that was the site of a deadly attack the previous day as Palestinians brace for more punitive demolitions amid soaring Israeli-Palestinian tensions.

Crews cleared away downed trees and power lines after Hurricane Gonzalo battered Bermuda for several hours but caused no deaths or serious injuries.

A Sudanese woman who was sentenced to death for refusing to recant her Christian faith has arrived in Italy en route to the United States along with her family, including an infant born in prison.

France’s Socialist government will not resign and will press forward with tax cuts and other reforms despite a record victory for the French far right in European parliament elections, the prime minister said today.

Venue: Bord Gais Energy Theatre, Dublin

Donal O’Grady’s shock departure from the Limerick camp wouldn’t be lulling Tipperary selector Michael Ryan into a false sense of security ahead of their Munster Senior Hurling Championship meeting on June 1.

Pope Francis has scored plenty of magazine covers but now he has got a magazine all to himself.

Italy's president has accepted the resignation of Premier Enrico Letta after he was sacked by his own Democratic party in a back-room mutiny.

Italian Premier Enrico Letta says he is resigning after a party rival withdrew crucial government support.