A relentless heatwave dubbed "Lucifer" which gripped parts of Europe this week has sent temperatures soaring to record highs, causing at least two deaths and prompting authorities to issue severe weather warnings.

Whether visiting the Warhol Museum or going to a baseball game, you will never be short of something to do in Pittsburgh, says Michelle Darmody

Earthquakes are common in both countries.

Professor George Shorten will be running the Cork City Marathon for a cause close to his heart.

Donal Hickey takes a look at the new online software making Ireland’s wetlands and their wildlife easier to find.

Some of the stranger stories from around the globe

Tullow Oil shares tumbled by nearly 12% yesterday on the back of the Irish-founded exploration firm announcing plans to launch a five-year convertible bond aimed at raising $300m (€270m) to help fund the further development of its assets in western and eastern Africa.

A fairly wet summer has been predicted for Ireland and the UK, with the heaviest falls expected in Northern Ireland, western Scotland and northwest England.

Mary Davis first burst into the public consciousness in 2003 as the Irish woman who spearheaded the Special Olympics moving out of the US for the first time.

Listed jointly with Sherry-Fitzgerald Country Homes and Roscrea agents Sherry Fitzgerald Fogarty, the stunning Tulach Nore near Portlaoise (28km from the town) is a 255-acre residential farm of impressive dimensions.

An EgyptAir mechanic whose cousin joined Islamic State in Syria is suspected of planting a bomb on a Russian passenger plane that was blown out of Egypt’s skies in late October, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Refugees in a western German town have been banned from setting off fireworks to mark the new year, partly out of concern that loud blasts could traumatise people who have fled war zones.

Believers in the legendary Bigfoot have gathered in western New York, convinced the giant ape also known as Sasquatch has left its footprints all over the region. 

My study window looks out over a 10-acre meadow with a small hill on the far side. Under the grass on the hill there’s esker sand and gravel laid down in the last Ice Age. Back in the days when the main forms of transport round here were powered by horses and donkeys people had to be more locally self-sufficient, particularly for heavy items like sand and gravel, and a small quarry was opened up on the west side of the hill.

A sea-crusted wing part washed up on an island in the western Indian Ocean may be the first trace of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 since it vanished nearly a year and a half ago, and a tragic but finally solid clue to one of aviation’s most perplexing and expensive mysteries.

Family-friendly bungalow has plenty of garden space for child’s play.

A video purported to be by Somalia’s al Qaida-linked rebel group al-Shabab urged Muslims to attack shopping centres in the US, Canada, Britain and other Western countries.

With oil prices on a seemingly never-ending slide, China, Europe, and, Indeed, Ireland wait to see the ramifications, writes Kyran FitzGerald.

At least 22 people were killed when a suicide bomber blew up himself among a group of pro-government, anti-Islamic State group Sunni militias near Baghdad, Iraqi officials said.

The Irish appear to have discovered an unusual secret to living longer according to a comprehensive study of European countries health systems.

Danish restaurant Rub & Stub only use leftovers culled from shops and other eateries, and it’s run by volunteers, says Arlene Harris.

Munster’s personnel issues in midfield have prompted the signing of the young and inexperienced South African centre Pat Howard on a three-month contract from Western Province.

The relief that greeted reports of a possible ceasefire in Ukraine faded on Wall Street, as a slide in Apple and other technology stocks tugged the US stock market to a small loss yesterday.

Randall Hansen,

Residents of the Iraqi city of Mosul say militants with the Islamic State group have destroyed another historic mosque and shrine.

GARRETSTOWN WOODS AND ANCIENT DEER WALL

As the search continued off the coast of Australia for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet, the airline announced another plane bound for India was forced to make an emergency landing after one of its tyres burst on take-off.

Sixty nine men left Blackpool, in Cork City, to fight in World War 1 and never returned. Local historian Mark Cronin’s book, Blackpool to the Front, tells their story, which is echoed in towns across Ireland.

With his annexation of Crimea, will Vladimir Putin now turn Russian eyes on other targets? Nina Khrushcheva reports

THE cruises sector of the global travel industry has been defying recessionary trends and growing non-stop, with average annual growth of 9%.

A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of between 5.7 and 6.1 has hit the western Greek island of Kefalonia, just over a week after a similar quake damaged dozens of buildings there.

One of the UK's biggest power distributors has promised to almost triple compensation for people affected by long-term power cuts following the Christmas storms which swept Britain.

This is a pretty scary scenario.

A friend of the Frenchman who was killed in a hit-and-run incident in Cork last week has issued an emotional appeal for the driver to come forward.

A middle-aged woman has been seriously injured in the second hit-and-run incident in Cork in a matter of days.

Heineken, the world’s third- biggest brewer, said poor spring weather in Europe led to weak second-quarter revenue and predicted that earnings this year won’t grow as consumers in the region curb spending.

It is 382 years this week since the Jun 20, 1631, raid on the thriving Cork fishing village of Baltimore by pirates from Algiers in Morocco.

The word secular comes from the word saecularis, meaning “worldly”, making a distinction between spiritual and worldly issues.