The European Parliament has approved a fishing reform intended to ensure that overfished seas can repopulate.

The infamous bank guarantee scheme is the basis for a new play, writes Kyran Fitzgerald

LOBBYING FOR MORE TRANSPARENCY

PARADISE is a relative term.

Sending eight Irish soldiers to Mali is sleight of hand by the Government.

Tributes have been paid to members of the Cork-based 4th Infantry Battalion, which was stood down yesterday.

Making the Future:Occupations, Interventions, Empire and Resistance

UN chief Ban Ki-moon may have almost blown his chances of re-election by antagonising Moscow over the Balkans in 2008 but he has since focused on pleasing the US, Russia and other big UN powers, making his re-election tomorrow a certainty.

SUDAN’S flashpoint Abyei area is a “Northern town,” the North’s occupying army has said, dismissing southern and international calls yesterday to pull troops out after days of fighting there.

A LIMERICK school teacher is preparing for a 4,500-mile (about 7,250 kilometres) motorbike journey to Africa to help boost education facilities at three schools in Ghana.

Yes, there is public feeling about the Palestinians and their rotten deal. I’ve never heard Chechnya being discussed on the DART, whereas I have heard Israel being trashed on buses as well as at smart dinner parties. Besides, who’s ever heard of a “Sri Lanka out of Tamil Eelam” march through Cork or calls for a boycott of Russia?

Oscar-winning actor Javier Bardem is visiting refugees in north Africa, ahead of his appearance at the Sahara International Film Festival.

Pakistan’s government has banned access to the video-sharing website YouTube because of anti-Islamic movies users have posted on the site, an official said.

Pakistan's government has banned access to the video-sharing website YouTube because of movies that the authorities consider 'anti-Islamic', an official said today.

MORE than 400 servicemen and women will be representing Ireland on overseas missions this Christmas, the Defence Forces said yesterday.

Emotional scenes are expected tonight as the last Irish soldiers serving in Liberia return home, marking the end of Ireland’s four-year presence in the war-torn African country.

Spain said yesterday that its coast guard had intercepted four boats within 24 hours carrying 248 would-be immigrants from west Africa as they arrived on the Canary Islands, and had sighted another.

The Spanish government declared today a day of mourning following the death of Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd, recalling the monarch’s contribution to peace in the Middle East and his strong ties with Spain.

An expert Irish defence forces team is to be deployed to the region devastated by the Asian tsunami next week, it was confirmed today.

Alastair Moffitt

Spanish biker Jose Manuel Perez has died following injuries sustained on this year’s Dakar Rally.

One of Spain’s Canary Islands was crawling with an estimated 100 million locusts today, but officials said the insects were in poor condition after flying from Africa and strong winds were blowing them back out to sea.

Spanish authorities are on alert today after an unwelcome breed of tourist set up camp on the Canary Islands – locusts.

The Irish Government has helped secure the release of 100 Moroccan prisoners held captive by a guerrilla movement.

SPAIN and Morocco are to hold high-level reconciliation talks on patching up relations after being persuaded by the US to step back from a dispute over the islet of Perejil.

Spain was today waiting for Morocco to respond to its pledge to withdraw from a disputed Mediterranean island if the Arab nation also agreed to stay off.

Spain’s Foreign Minister today offered to withdraw troops from a disputed Mediterranean island recaptured from Morocco, but only if Morocco promises not to reoccupy it.

Outraged Morocco has dubbed a surprise military assault by helicopter-borne Spanish troops who recaptured a disputed Mediterranean island an act of war.

MOROCCO claimed yesterday that a tiny Mediterranean island at the centre of a growing dispute with Spain is an "integral part" of the North African nation, but that it wanted to use diplomatic means to resolve differences.