The personnel of the LÉ Niamh, and the LÉ Eithne before her, are a source of national pride as they continue their life-saving Mediterranean missions.

Amnesty International has said another postponement in the trial of an Irishman in Egypt is proof the north African country’s criminal justice system is spiralling out of control.

Eyewitnesses have claimed the Tunisian beach massacre may have been carried out by more than one attacker as authorities continue to quiz seven suspected associates of the gunman.

Irish travel agents are poised to halt all Tunisian holidays pending updated travel and security advice from the Department of Foreign affairs.

Government and opposition parties have reacted with “revulsion” to the murders of 37 holidaymakers, including a mother of two from Ireland, at a beach-side Tunisian resort.

 

All airlines from Libya have been added to the list of 310 airlines banned from flying into the EU for safety reasons.

This guy is really awe-inspiring.

By Robert Allison

Over the past few weeks, Italy has been back at the heart of events.

Threats to oil supplies as a result of unrest in the Middle East and North Africa are pushing up the cost of energy for Irish households and businesses.

Algeria has said it is ready to recognise Libya's former rebels when they form a broad-based government, and insists it has not offered an escape route to Muammar Gaddafi.

Tunisia’s former autocratic leader, whose downfall triggered uprisings in the Arab world, condemned his upcoming trial as a “shameful masquerade”, according to a statement.

A town in the rebel-held east of Libya has come under air attack and forces loyal to leader Muammar Gaddafi have retaken a nearby oil facility.

An emergency team is expended to travel to Libya today to evacuate Irish citizens stranded in the troubled north African state.

A MAJOR rescue strategy has been launched to help an estimated 6,000 Europeans trapped in Libya to escape the country.

President Barack Obama condemned the violence in Libya as “outrageous ... and unacceptable” and said he was dispatching Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Geneva for international talks aimed at stopping the violence.

The Tunisian President has reportedly left the country.

IRISH cattle will be shipped to the Lebanon within the next two months, predicts IFA president John Bryan, as farmers bid to build on the boom in live exports, which are at their highest level in 15 years.

European air safety watchdogs are proposing new rules that would reduce airspace closures due to volcanic ash.

Two DUP MPs say they plan to travel to Libya in an effort to meet Colonel Muammar Gaddafi as part of their campaign to secure compensation for IRA victims.

Police arrested at least 10 people suspected of forging passports and other documents for al-Qaida, Spanish media reported today.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says she’s excited about a landmark trip she will make to Libya today, becoming the highest-ranking American official to visit the North African country in more than a half-century.

YOU know it’s time to sell when the shoeshine boy tries to give you stocks and shares tips.

Bombs ripped through the Algerian prime minister's office and a police station today in co-ordinated terror attacks that Algerian authorities said killed at least 23 people and wounded more than 160.

Extremists in Algeria may be plotting to attack a commercial airliner carrying Western workers, the US Embassy in the north African country has said.

ACCORDING to a recent EU committee report, Ireland is the third worst offender in all of Europe, after Germany and the UK, in allowing torture flights to land and refuel, with 147 CIA flights identified at Shannon airport.

A 70-year old nudist who set up Britain’s biggest naturist tour operator joined the millionaires’ club today after he sold the business he founded in 1971.

The bodies of 12 suspected illegal immigrants were found washed up on the shore of southern Sicily early today and at least 100 other migrants were rescued from their boat nearby, state radio reported.

European Union foreign ministers are today expected to drop 11-year old sanctions against Libya and ease a separate arms embargo to reward the North African country for abandoning plans to develop weapons of mass destruction.

REPORTS that a notorious criminal may be in hiding in North Africa were the latest in a growing number of hoax or false sightings, gardaí yesterday said.

Libya, Africa’s biggest holder of known oil reserves, hired Compagnie Generale de Geophysique SA to survey its entire offshore coast for oil and gas fields as the North African State seeks to attract foreign investments.

United Nations nuclear inspectors are expected to travel to Libya in the near future to begin the process of dismantling the country’s atomic weapons programmes.

Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi says agreement over compensation has been reached between his country and the families of the 170 victims of a French airliner that exploded nearly 14 years ago.

Italian rescue ships have recovered the bodies of seven immigrants who drowned off the North African coast when their ship capsized.

FOREIGN rescue teams left earthquake-torn Algeria yesterday, but the nightmare went on for 15,000 homeless people facing the threat of disease and public fury mounted over the government’s handling of the calamity.

The United Nations today called off the search for victims of the earthquake in Algeria to concentrate on supplying relief and support to the survivors.

The cry of a toddler, pulled alive from under the rubble of a collapsed apartment block after being trapped for 39 hours, was the only joy in Algeria today where the earthquake death toll soared beyond 1,500, with more than 7,000 injured.

It was a scene from hell: after a massive quake tore through the earth, the desperate cries of women mingled with the harsh wail of ambulance sirens. Blocks of buildings lay in ruins.

TONIGHT I’m going for a drink and a bite to eat with Tony O’Reilly. Hang on, I’ll rephrase. Tonight I will be in a hotel room with 500 other people — and one of them will be AJF O’Reilly.