South Korea hit back over its torpedoed warship today by suspending trade with North Korea in a move aimed at crippling the regime financially.

South Korea’s president said his nation will no longer tolerate North Korea’s “brutality” and said the regime would pay for a surprise torpedo attack that killed 46 South Korean sailors.

South Korea’s president says his country needs a stronger military to cope with threats from abroad, amid rising tension with its nuclear-armed neighbour North Korea.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il greeted South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun in Pyongyang today to begin the second summit between the two countries since the peninsula’s division after the Second World War.

Manchester United chief executive David Gill revealed the club may embark on a pre-season trip to Africa at some stage in the future and admitted a tour of Asia this summer made more sense commercially than a tour of the United States.

The Republic of Ireland football manager is confident that his team will have a good game tomorrow in the World Cup knock-out round.

Ireland is expected to stop in its tracks tomorrow as people support the Republic's football team.

By Caroline O’Doherty

Irish manager Mick McCarthy has refused to accept the training facilities provided to the Irish team ahead of their World Cup last-16 showdown with Spain on Sunday.