News – World and UK

The King and the Prime Minister have paid tribute to Jimmy Carter following the former US president’s death on Sunday aged 100. In a message to the American people, the King expressed “great sadness” at the news of Mr Carter’s death, describing him as “a committed public servant” who “devoted his life to promoting peace and human rights”. He added: “His dedication and humility served as an inspiration to many, and I […]

Smokers have been urged to kick the habit in the new year after new analysis shows how much of their lives are lost by each cigarette smoked. Men lose 17 minutes of life with every cigarette they smoke while a woman’s life is cut short by 22 minutes with each cigarette, experts have estimated. This is more than previous estimates, which suggest that each cigarette shortens a smoker’s life by […]

Reported incidents of wrong-way driving on England’s motorways have increased by 15% in the past year, an investigation has found. A motoring organisation described the increase as “frightening” and called for a “full review of signage and road layout”. National Highways figures obtained by the PA news agency show 988 incidents involving “oncoming vehicles” were reported on England’s motorways in the year to November 17. That is up from 858 during the […]

A priceless piece of Moon rock donated to Ireland following a Nasa mission was destroyed in a fire, newly released records show. Documents from the National Archives in Dublin detail the embarrassing affair, which saw the rock travel 380,000km (236,121 miles) to Earth before spending three years in a government basement and ultimately being lost in an accidental fire at Dunsink Observatory. The lunar rock, which originated from the Apollo […]

He served one term in the White House between 1977 and 1981 Former US president Jimmy Carter has died aged 100. Mr Carter, a former peanut farmer, served one term in the White House between 1977 and 1981, taking over in the wake of the Watergate scandal and the end of the Vietnam War. After his defeat by Ronald Reagan, he spent his post-presidency years as a global humanitarian, winning […]

At least 151 people were killed when a passenger plane skidded off a runway at a South Korean airport, slammed into a concrete fence and burst into flames after its front landing gear apparently failed to deploy, officials said. The National Fire Agency said rescuers raced to pull people from the Jeju Air passenger plane carrying 181 people at the airport in the town of Muan, about 180 miles (290km) […]

The United States attorney general attempted to block Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams from fundraising there in 1995, newly released records show. Papers contained in the annual release of documents from the National Archives in Dublin show that Janet Reno, the attorney general at the time, wanted to stop Mr Adams from fundraising because of a belief the IRA was still trying to source weapons. Ms Reno had previously opposed […]

The UK has pledged millions of pounds more to help bring Russian war criminals to justice for atrocities in Ukraine. The Ministry of Defence announced on Sunday that it will give bodies including the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office £4.5 million to support Ukrainian documentation, investigation and prosecution of war crimes. The Government had previously pledged £6.2 million to help prosecute war crimes. Most of the money has been given to […]

Benjamin Netanyahu visited Dublin years before he became Israeli prime minister, in a bid to establish a diplomatic presence in the capital. The Israeli embassy is now in the process of closing. In February 1990, Mr Netanyahu was the deputy foreign minister in the Likud government and Ireland held the presidency of what was then the European Community (EC). Files released by the National Archives in Dublin show that the […]