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

Nearly 200 nations agreed Thursday to launch a fund to support countries hit by global warming, in a "historic" moment at the start of UN climate talks in the oil-rich UAE.

A key inflation measure used by the US Federal Reserve to set interest rates eased further last month amid declining energy and goods prices, according to government data published Thursday.

Russia on Thursday banned the "international LGBT movement," claiming it was an extremist group in a move that cements a long crackdown on the community as the Kremlin pushes ultra-conservative social values.

Pope Francis, who cancelled his trip to the United Nation climate talks due to flu, urged participants Thursday to reject "vested interests" and focus on the common good.

Shane MacGowan, songwriter and lead singer of Celtic folk-punk band The Pogues, has died aged 65 after a long illness, his wife announced Thursday.

The Red Cross, which has faced criticism for not doing enough for hostages and prisoners in the Gaza conflict, stresses it has no "superpowers" and relies on the warring parties for access.

Australia Test bowler Nathan Lyon has joined Lancashire for the 2024 season, the English county announced on Thursday.

The Palestinian group Hamas said its militants carried out a shooting in Jerusalem on Thursday, killing three people despite agreeing to extend for a day a truce in Gaza and to release at least 10 more Israeli hostages.

Alistair Darling, the UK finance minister when the 2008 financial crisis hit, has died at the age of 70 following a "short spell" in hospital, his family said on Thursday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday visited a frontline command post in eastern Ukraine, where Russian forces have been stepping up attacks after holding back a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Hamas claimed responsibility for a shooting attack in Jerusalem that killed three people on Thursday, shortly after the extension of a truce between Israel and the Islamist group that rules the Gaza Strip.

Shane MacGowan, the singer-songwriter who fronted Celtic folk-punk band The Pogues, was a booze-fuelled bard who performed defiant ballads of the downtrodden and doomed.

The Emirati host of the UN climate conference said Thursday that fossil fuels must be part of any deal as the crucial negotiations on global warming opened in Dubai.

Pope Francis joked on Thursday that he was still alive, after cancelling a trip to United Nations climate talks in Dubai due to the flu, saying doctors were worried about the heat there.

French Top 14 club Stade Francais announced on Thursday they had disciplined players and coaches after a member of Pau's coaching staff was reportedly hit in the face after last weekend's game between the teams.

The RMT rail union on Thursday said its members have voted in favour of a pay deal to end more than a year of walkouts on the UK's strike-plagued rail network.

Stock markets rose Thursday before publication of key US inflation data and as investors reacted to mixed economic news out of the eurozone.

Skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto hit his third Test century in four innings to put Bangladesh on course for a strong total in the second innings of the first Test against New Zealand in Sylhet on Thursday.

Uncertainty hovered over what major oil-producing nations -- collectively known as OPEC+ -- will decide on output policy as they headed into virtual meetings Thursday in a bid to halt a continuous slump in prices.

This year is set to be the hottest ever recorded, the UN said Thursday, demanding urgent action to rein in global warming and stem the havoc following in its wake.

The annual rate of inflation in the eurozone fell to a more than two-year low in November, the EU's official statistics agency said Thursday.

Israel and Hamas extended their truce by another day on Thursday as Washington's top diplomat arrived to urge a more lasting break in the devastating conflict.

Gunmen killed three people and wounded several more in Jerusalem on Thursday, Israeli police said, in an attack shortly after extension of a truce in the Israel-Hamas war.

The UN climate conference opened Thursday with nations urged to make faster cuts to planet-warming emissions and phase out fossil fuels as scepticism swirls over the oil-rich United Arab Emirates hosting the talks.

Google's position as king of the search engines is under threat like never before, but the firm's global policy chief told AFP this week it still had the edge over its AI competitors.

The German government on Thursday lost a key climate case brought by environmental groups, in an embarrassing slap down the day before Chancellor Olaf Scholz was due to travel to the COP28 climate summit.

The European Space Agency announced on Thursday that the long-delayed first launch of its next-generation Ariane 6 rocket will take place between June 15 and July 31 next year.

As global warming and prohibitive costs threaten the long-term future of the Winter Olympics, organisers know they must soften their demands in order to retain a pool of potential hosts for the decades to come.

Kazakhstan said Thursday that at least 13 people were killed in a fire that broke out at dawn in a hostel in the Central Asian country's largest city Almaty.

A German court on Thursday sentenced a Gambian man to life in prison over his participation in a death squad that assassinated opponents of former dictator Yahya Jammeh, including an AFP journalist.

Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mominul Haque shared 85 runs in an unbroken third-wicket stand as Bangladesh reached 111-2 at tea on the third day of the first Test against New Zealand in Sylhet on Thursday.

China on Thursday hailed the late Henry Kissinger as an "old friend", paying tribute to a diplomat central to establishing ties between Beijing and Washington.