IRELAND is still on target to meet 40% of its electricity production through renewable energy in the next decade, Energy Minister Eamon Ryan insisted yesterday.

BP froze activity on two key projects yesterday which were meant to choke off the flow of oil billowing from its broken well in the Gulf of Mexico, after days of moving confidently toward controlling the crisis.

US president Barack Obama said today that the failure of BP’s latest effort to stop the catastrophic flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico was “as enraging as it is heartbreaking”.

IRAN yesterday agreed to hold talks next month with six world powers on its latest proposals to allay concerns over its nuclear programme, in a move Washington welcomed as an “important first step”.

A SECURITY aide helping with arrangements during US President Barack Obama’s recent trip to Mexico became sick with flu-like symptoms and three members of his family later contracted probable swine flu, the White House said.