Concern says 13m are struggling due to the plague of locusts affecting Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia, but our focus is on the perceived threat from coronavirus, writes Gerard Howlin

We see how people can be killed because of ethnicity or religion. We see the global rise of strongmen heads of state and supremacism.

The locusts have been seen in Eastern Equatoria state near the borders with Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.

Outbreaks the size of small cities are spreading across East Africa, with the flying insects devouring crops and depriving many millions of people of food, says Anne O’Mahony

The worst outbreak of desert locusts in decades is currently underway in the Horn of Africa. It is the biggest of its kind in 25 years for Ethiopia and Somalia – and the worst Kenya has seen for 70 years. Pakistan is also affected.

Mr Ó Fearghaíl received the present while visiting the United Arab Emirates in late 2018.

The farmer who dropped by to give unasked-for advice to my friend and his wife clearing their newly bought quarter of an acre of long, abandoned terraces on a steep slope on the island of La Gomera in the Canaries was unequivocal: “Cut it down!”

His qualification completes a remarkable transformation in recent years given Scullion retired from the sport several times in his 20s before re-committing in 2015, at which point he was a regular smoker and drinker and weighed 85kg.

New research has shown that 80% of all children adopted into Ireland over the past three decades have come from just five countries.

At this time of year, it is important that we remember the power of compassion, and the importance of those who choose to act in the face of suffering. Permit me to tell you the story of two nurses who were determined to never look away.

Paul Pollock has run the fastest marathon by an Irishman in 31 years, the 33-year-old smashing his personal best in Valencia to clock 2:10:25, which was a Northern Irish record.

An order from Kazakhstan’s newly-launched budget carrier came as the Chicago-based company works to try and win US regulatory approval to get the plane back in the sky by early next year.

The mother of an Irishman who was killed in a plane crash in Ethiopia last March has said her son, Micheál Ryan, is coming home as a "UN hero" because of "all the lives he has saved."

Speaking on RTÉ Radio’s Today with Sean O’Rourke show from Frankfurt airport where she was en route to Ireland from Addis Ababa with his remains, she said he was coming home as “a UN hero” because of “all the lives he has saved.”

In so many ways, this was a day of celebration. New stars emerged for Irish marathon running in Stephen Scullion and Aoife Cooke, home-grown heroes of what was a glorious festival of celebratory suffering on the streets of the capital.

Boeing may have to book billions of dollars in additional charges, two brokers said, following latest developments around the planemaker’s grounded 737 Max jet that calls into question the timing of the aircraft’s return to service.

Australia has given clearance for Singapore Airlines’s SilkAir to store its six Boeing 737 Max aircraft in the country, as the global grounding of the jet continues following two deadly crashes within the past 12 months.

The parcels, some of which were declared as ‘clothing’, were destined for various addresses in Dublin city.

Three fin whales, each bigger than the Courtmacsherry whale-watch boat, were spotted off the Old Head of Kinsale last week.

In 2000 the Irish Examiner sent Kevin Barry, now longlisted for the Booker Prize for his novel Night Boat to Tangier, to Chernobyl. Here we reproduce what he reported.

Three million people in 27 of the poorest countries were helped last year by Irish charity Trócaire.

Governments are right to focus on creating good jobs. But often the solution lies in policy areas not amenable to tools wielded by ministers, writes Ricardo Hausmann.

Ensuring equitable mobile access is a powerful, scalable way to enable women and girls to make informed decisions about their lives. But connecting them to the Internet is only the first step; we must consider what they find when they get there, says Jessica Posner Odede.

Property values have moved on since Dutchman Peter Minuit bought Manhattan Island from unnamed Native Americans for 60 guilders in 1626.

Christy Collard and Robin O’Donovan are parents to six children, but sustainability is still a cornerstone of their busy lives in west Cork.

The carrier has slashed its expected growth rate for summer 2020 from 7% to 3%.

Scintillating, thrilling and full of potential - Ciara Mageean has moved considerably closer to Sonia O’Sullivan’s long-standing Irish women’s mile record by carving three-and-a-half seconds off her lifetime best in Monaco, in a race where the vintage world record was smashed by Sifan Hassan.

Airlines and regulators are gathering in Montreal to discuss a safe and co-ordinated return of Boeing’s grounded 737 Max jets to the skies, following two deadly crashes.