The Irish Press - News from Dublin, Kilkenny, Waterford, Drogheda, Galyway, Ireland and the world

Asian markets sank Thursday after another sell-off on Wall Street as worries over the tech sector's colossal spending on artificial intelligence continued to dog investor sentiment.

EU leaders gather in Brussels Thursday for a make-or-break summit on using frozen Russian assets for Ukraine -- with key player Belgium under pressure to drop its opposition.

Australia's prime minister vowed to stamp out extremism Thursday as the nation mourned the youngest victim of the Bondi Beach shooting, a 10-year-old girl remembered as "our little ray of sunshine".

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised a sweeping crackdown on hate, division and radicalisation on Thursday after a mass shooting killed 15 people at a Jewish festival on Bondi Beach.

Residents in the remote Turkmen village of Bokurdak have long depended on the Karakum Desert for their livelihoods, cultivating every square metre they can in a constant battle with nature.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky heads to Warsaw on Friday for a first face-to-face meeting with his Polish counterpart Karol Nawrocki, with tensions likely after his previous criticism of Kyiv.

Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon struck damaging blows to leave England reeling at 59-3 at lunch on day two of the crunch third Ashes Test after they dismissed Australia for 371.

Hundreds of people across Japan will sue the central government Thursday to seek damages for its "unconstitutional" inaction on climate change, the country's first such litigation.

After accepting a job near Montreal, Mansef Aloui packed up his life in Tunisia, hopeful his children would thrive in Canada -- but his pathway to settle in the country has been shut down.

A US blockade of Venezuelan oil shipments could slash production and halve exports of the country's most valuable commodity, tipping its economy even deeper into crisis, experts say.

A Salvadoran court on Wednesday sentenced an environmental lawyer and a community leader to three years in prison for protesting near President Nayib Bukele's home, but granted them a conditional release.

Brazil's Senate on Wednesday passed a bill to slash the prison term of far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, who was convicted of plotting a coup after losing reelection to left-winger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Cricket Australia boss Todd Greenberg on Thursday called an error in the Snicko technology being used during the Ashes "not good enough" as England had a review reinstated over the row.

New Zealand were 83-0 at lunch on day one of the third Test against the West Indies on Thursday, justifying a decision to bat first on a green-looking Mount Maunganui wicket.

Ecuadoran footballer Mario Pineida was shot and killed in the port city of Guayaquil on Wednesday, his team said.

The US government admitted it was liable for a deadly midair collision between a military helicopter and a passenger jet outside Washington earlier this year, killing 67 people, according to a court document filed Wednesday.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN / ACCESS Newswire / December 18, 2025 / Air T, Inc. (NASDAQ:AIRT) is pleased to announce the successful closing of its acquisition of Regional Express Holdings Limited (Rex), Australia's leading regional airline. Air T now owns 100% of Rex and looks forward to beginning a new chapter for Rex and the regional communities it serves across Australia.

Palazzo Firenze by Baglioni Hotels & Resorts undergoes restyling to honor its historic legacy

Deputy FBI director Dan Bongino, a former right-wing podcaster, announced on Wednesday that he would step down in January after less than 10 months on the job.

A Kylian Mbappe brace helped Real Madrid avoid an upset at third-tier Talavera as Xabi Alonso's side scraped home 3-2 to stamp their ticket into the Spanish Cup last 16 on Wednesday.

A manhunt for the mass shooter who opened fire in an exam room at one of America's top universities stretched into a fifth day Wednesday with no apparent police progress in identifying a suspect or a motive.

Rayan Cherki's stunning strike put Manchester City on their way to the League Cup semi-finals with a 2-0 win over Brentford, while holders Newcastle beat Fulham 2-1 on Wednesday.

Barcelona and Lyon clinched places in the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League on Wednesday, while Chelsea came from behind to beat Wolfsburg and qualify directly for the last eight.

Venezuela struck a defiant note Wednesday, insisting its crude oil exports were not impacted by US President Donald Trump's announcement of a potentially crippling blockade.

Tech shares suffered another bout of weakness Wednesday on worries about an AI bubble, hitting US stocks as oil prices advanced following a US announcement of a blockade of tankers to Venezuela.

South Africa arrested and expelled seven Kenyans who had been working illegally on a US government programme to accept white Afrikaners as "refugees", the government said Wednesday.

The US Congress on Wednesday permanently ended sanctions imposed on Syria under ousted leader Bashar al-Assad, paving the way for the return of investment to the war-ravaged nation.

Rayan Cherki's stunning strike put Manchester City on their way to the League Cup semi-finals with a 2-0 win over Brentford on Wednesday.

The US Senate on Wednesday approved President Donald Trump's re-nomination of billionaire Jared Isaacman to head NASA, following months of backtracking and uncertainty over the space agency's future.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has successfully undergone surgery on his injured knee and begun rehab with a view to possibly returning as soon as the start of next season, a team official said Wednesday.

US First Lady Melania Trump made a rare foray onto center stage Wednesday with the first trailer for her Amazon documentary -- fixing the camera with an unflinching gaze and summing up her husband's comeback in four words: "Here we go again."

Brazil's Senate is set to vote Wednesday on a bill that could slash the 27-year jail term of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who was convicted of plotting a coup after a failed reelection bid.

Back-up goalkeeper Matvei Safonov saved four penalties as Paris Saint-Germain edged out Brazilians Flamengo 2-1 in a shoot-out to win the FIFA Intercontinental Cup final in Qatar on Wednesday.

The Oscars will be shown only on YouTube from 2029, the Academy said Wednesday, in a radical gambit for a movie industry that remains wary of streaming platforms even as viewing habits shift online.

The Oscars will be available to watch exclusively on YouTube from 2029, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Wednesday.

CNN is heading into an uncertain future with its parent company Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) destined for a takeover -- and US President Donald Trump hoping the change will allow him to influence the iconic news network's programming.

EU plans to seal a vast trade deal with South American bloc Mercosur this week were thrown into disarray Wednesday after Italy joined fellow heavyweight France in seeking a delay.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday Russia was preparing to wage a new "year of war" on his country in 2026, after his counterpart Vladimir Putin said Moscow would "certainly" achieve its objectives.

The son of Hollywood director Rob Reiner made his first appearance in court Wednesday on charges that he killed both of his parents in their Los Angeles home.