The President has unveiled a plaque to mark the birthplace of a Cork man who is revered in Venezuela as a liberator, but who remains largely anonymous here.

The globe is on a hot streak, setting a heat record in June for the second month in a row.

Under the rich Venezuelan soil, paleontologists have found treasures rivalling the bountiful oil: An armadillo the size of a Volkswagen, a crocodile bigger than a bus, and a sabre-toothed tiger.