TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar has revealed that there was an unexpected Budget surplus of €100m last year. It’s the first Budget surplus since the economic crash, barring one year when there was a windfall from the sale of AIB shares. The announcement came after finance minister Paschal Donohoe briefed Cabinet on the latest Exchequer Returns. Mr […]

BERLIN — The director Steven Spielberg cited a “renewed cycle of hate” in society behind his decision to bring “Schindler’s List” back to movie theaters around the world, hoping it would provoke discussion. An independent movie theater in western Germany embraced that very idea when it offered free tickets to members of the far-right Alternative […]

Planning permission has been granted for temporary training facilities to be developed for Magheracloone Mitchells GAA Club after it lost its own facilities when a sinkhole opened up last September. Following the loss of the pitch as well as a clubhouse, the GAA club was forced to take up use of facilities offered by clubs […]

Extensive debris has washed up on islands off the Dutch north coast after some 270 containers including chemicals fell off a cargo ship in a storm. As the extent of pollution became clear on five islands including Terschelling, coastguards searched the North Sea for missing containers. The cargo fell off the MSC Zoe near the […]

The pastry, which is filled with a meat substitute and encased in 96 pastry layers, is available in 950 Greggs stores across the country. It was promised after 20,000 people signed a petition calling for the snack to be launched to accommodate plant-based diet eaters. But the vegan sausage roll’s launch has been greeted by […]

American hip hop fashion designer ASAP Bari has admitted carrying out a sex attack on a woman in an east London hotel. The 27-year-old, real name Jabari Shelton, pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to one count of sexual assault after a video emerged of him attacking his victim in July, 2017. The star, from […]

The comedian said it was an “adventure” that “doesn’t frighten me”. He was diagnosed with the degenerative neurological condition in 2013, which impacts movement and speech. Glasgow-born Sir Billy spoke out about the condition as part of his BBC series “Made in Scotland”. Known for his energetic performing style, he said Parkinson’s stopped him moving […]

But as it struggles to recruit enough soldiers, the British Army has launched a campaign with the message that they see these labels differently. A series of billboards have been produced based on the historic Your Country Needs You posters from the First World War. They call out to “Me Me Me Millennials”, “Class Clowns”, […]

HALMSTAD, Sweden — Maria Hussein, who escaped the war in Syria, was many hours into labor in a Swedish hospital when the midwife realized her fetus was in distress, and called in an obstetrician to help. The doctor began giving Ms. Hussein instructions and reassurance in Swedish. Oksana Kornienko, who works as a doula culture […]

Greece has awarded citizenship to three migrant fishermen – two Egyptians and an Albanian – who rescued Greeks from a devastating fire near Athens last July. At a ceremony the Greek President, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, thanked the fishermen for showing “solidarity and humanity” by rescuing dozens of people. “You are now European citizens too, and so […]