A TWO-million-year-old creature that combined striking features of apes and humans could be the best candidate yet for the fabled “missing link”, research suggests.

Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says he is not seeking to replace former International Monetary Fund head Dominique Strauss-Kahn who has resigned amid sexual abuse charges.

Johannesburg: Dublin aircraft leasing company Aergo has opened a new office in Johannesburg, South Africa.

FORMER South African president Nelson Mandela went home from hospital yesterday after suffering an acute respiratory infection.

A LIBYAN plane carrying 104 people crashed yesterday on approach to Tripoli’s airport, leaving a field scattered with smouldering debris that included a large chunk of the tail painted with the airline’s brightly coloured logo. A 10-year-old Dutch boy was the only known survivor.

A child was among the handful of survivors from a Libyan airliner crash that killed more than 100 people today.

A plane with 104 people on board crash landed today at the airport in the Libyan capital Tripoli.

PASSENGERS at Dublin airport suffered long delays yesterday after a deadlock between aviation chiefs and air traffic controllers grounded flights for four hours.

Scientists have identified a lethal new virus in Africa that causes bleeding like the dreaded Ebola.

CHILDREN are bearing the brunt of the conflict in Gaza as the Israeli offensive to flush out Hamas fighters leaves youngsters battling indelible trauma while threatening the lives of newborns and their mothers, a senior aid official says.

Roaming bands of government supporters heckled, harassed and threatened people into voting in a run-off election in which Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe was the only candidate, ensuring he will remain in power despite international condemnation of the balloting as a sham.

Zimbabwe’s opposition said it was willing to share power with the ruling party, but not long-time president Robert Mugabe.

President Robert Mugabe’s government has its own presidential election results showing a run-off will be necessary, a Cabinet minister says.

Malawi has called for Zimbabwe’s government to resume talks with former coloniser Britain, white farmers and the opposition party – all of whom long-time president Robert Mugabe considers his enemies.

Zimbabwe resembles a war-zone, with thousands of people displaced, hundreds injured and 10 killed by post-election violence, an opposition leader said as he appealed for international intervention.

Zimbabwe’s opposition has called for a general strike tomorrow in protest at the continuing chaos over the country’s delayed presidential election results.

The ISEQ-index of Irish shares surged into positive territory this morning charging ahead by 139.94 points to 6627.47.

Independent News & Media (INM) today announced that it has agreed with Clear Channel Outdoor (CCO) to acquire the company's 50% interest in Africa’s largest outdoor advertising company, Clear Channel Independent, based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

A water pipe burst and soil in an underground shaft probably collapsed, trapping about 3,000 workers in a gold mine near Johannesburg, South Africa’s economic capital and gold-mining centre, the workers’ union said.

US President George Bush, seeking to blunt international criticism of the US record on climate change, today urged 15 major nations to agree on a global emissions goal for reducing greenhouse gases by the end of next year.

Campaigning rocker Bob Geldof has branded Al Gore's forthcoming Live Earth concert as "just an enormous pop concert" - and lacking any concrete measures to fight global warming.

IF YOU’VE a million dollars to spend on a new home and a three-bed semi in south Dublin doesn’t catch your imagination, those willing to travel can find exotic alternatives.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are slamming reports that they are planning to wed in Johannesburg, South Africa.

A VIRTUALLY untreatable form of tuberculosis (TB) may be already present in Ireland, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) said yesterday.

Snoop Dogg has been cautioned following his arrest for affray at Heathrow Airport last month.

Rapper Snoop Dogg was released from a London police station yesterday evening after he escaped charges over a brawl in the city's Heathrow Airport.

Rapper Snoop Dogg has been arrested after a disturbance at Heathrow airport.

A deadly strain of bird flu may have emerged in eight of Nigeria’s 36 states, authorities said yesterday, amid concerns the virus had been spreading long before officials knew it was in Africa.

Health authorities in Nigeria today prepared to screen dozens of people who worked on a farm hit by a deadly bird flu strain, amid fears the virus may have for the first time in Africa spread to humans.

IRELAND’S brave missionaries were remembered yesterday at the start of a series of commemorative services for 14 priests, brothers and nuns who died violently abroad in recent times.

Zimbabwean officials tonight defied a judge’s order to release two British journalists on bail, two weeks after they were detained near a polling station during Zimbabwe’s parliamentary election.

Will Smith and Ludacris have signed up to headline an exclusive concert to celebrate the launch of cable network MTV Base - MTV's first pan-African music channel.

Growing populations and expanding economic activity have strained the planet’s ecosystems over the past half century, a trend that threatens international efforts to combat poverty and disease, a UN-sponsored study of the Earth’s health has warned.

GROWING populations and expanding economic activity have strained the planet’s ecosystems over the past half century, destroying 60% of the world’s grasslands, forests, farmlands, rivers and lakes.

Opera superstar Luciano Pavarotti quietly underwent surgery on his neck in New York City over the weekend.

A South African who imported almost €20,000 worth of cocaine into Dublin contained within 35 capsules he swallowed in Sao Paolo in the days preceding his flight to Ireland, has been jailed for four years.

MTV is launching it's 100th worldwide channel in Africa on February 22 - with a view to championing local talent.

The QE2 liner was among the targets selected by two South Africans – captured in Pakistan along with a senior al-Qaida terrorist – who were plotting attacks on tourist sites in their home country, it was reported today.

Experts were poring over the wreckage of the showcase terminal at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport today, in the hunt for clues to the horrific cave-in that killed at least five people.

Tons of concrete collapsed from a ceiling over a waiting area in a passenger terminal at Paris’ largest airport today, killing at least six people and injuring three others, officials said.

Former chart star Cat Stevens has recorded his first pop song for a quarter of a century to raise cash for children in Iraq.

Two suicide bombers blew themselves up in Tel Aviv, killing three bystanders, including two foreign workers, and injuring more than 40, police and witnesses said.

Up to 120 fans have been killed in a stampede at a packed soccer match between two of Ghana’s leading teams.

At least 100 people have died following a stampede at a packed soccer match in Accra, Ghana.