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

The UN's new special envoy for Myanmar began meetings with top junta officials on Wednesday but did not respond to questions about whether she would seek to meet ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Elite women surfers returned to competition at "the world's heaviest wave" in Tahiti on Wednesday, ending a 16-year absence and getting a taste of the daunting challenge at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

British inflation surged to a new 40-year high in July on rising food prices, official data showed Wednesday, adding to a cost-of-living crisis as the country faces the prospect of recession.

Markets rose in Asia on Wednesday following a rally on Wall Street and after China's premier called for more measures to boost the struggling economy.

Minorities have been drafted into forced labour in China's Xinjiang region in sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing, a report by an independent UN expert has concluded, in what it said could amount to "enslavement as a crime against humanity".

A board member for the Tokyo Olympics was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of taking bribes, prosecutors said, along with three other men connected to the scandal.

Their campaign began in northern Mali a decade ago, advanced into the country's powder-keg centre and from there into neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso.

Elon Musk tweeted on Tuesday that "I'm not buying any sports teams", calling a viral post about him purchasing Manchester United a joke.

Yokohama F Marinos manager Kevin Muscat said Wednesday his team would not fear Andres Iniesta when they face Vissel Kobe in Thursday's Asian Champions League round-of-16 showdown.

Australia's former leader on Wednesday defended secret arrangements he made to swear himself in to key portfolios including defence and treasury, saying he would only have used the roles in an emergency during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Battling record-low approval ratings after just three months on the job, South Korea's conservative President Yoon Suk-yeol said Wednesday he was not fixated on his dire polling numbers.

Scorching temperatures in eastern China have pushed up egg prices because hens are laying fewer in a hotter-than-usual summer, local media reported.

In a town in northeastern Scotland, Debbie Banks looks for clues to track down criminals as she clicks through a database of tiger skins.

Ian Foster will coach the All Blacks through to next year's World Cup, New Zealand Rugby said on Wednesday, giving him a vote of confidence following recent poor performances.

"A rush like this in the summertime, it's unheard of -- everybody wants coal," says Frithjof Engelke, a supplier of the briquettes which have become a hot commodity in the German capital.

Markets drifted in Asia on Wednesday, with investors trying to navigate an uncertain economic landscape as central banks hike interest rates to fight runaway inflation, in turn fuelling fears of a possible recession.

A crime reporter has been found dead in northwestern Mexico, authorities said Tuesday -- the latest suspected murder in what is already one of the deadliest years yet for the country's press.

Republican rebel Liz Cheney lost her seat in Congress Tuesday to an election conspiracy theorist, US media projected, in the latest sign of her party's break with traditional conservatism to embrace Donald Trump's hardline "America First" agenda.

Elon Musk tweeted Tuesday evening that he is purchasing the Manchester United football club, although it was not clear if the eccentric billionaire, currently embroiled in a lawsuit over his bid to buy Twitter, was being serious.

Tiger Woods was reportedly huddling with the PGA Tour's top professionals on Tuesday to discuss the ongoing battle with the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV golf circuit.

When Covid-19 reached Brazil's Amazon, and an indigenous tribe sealed off its borders, director Alex Pritz found an innovative way to finish his documentary -- he handed the cameras over to the Uru-eu-wau-wau themselves.

Eduardo Espinal runs his own barber shop from a small zinc-roofed building in Honduras, opening the doors at 8:00 am for a 12-hour workday. He is 12 years old.

Serena Williams bowed out of the WTA/ATP Cincinnati Masters at the first hurdle on Tuesday, losing in straight sets to US Open champion Emma Raducanu as the end of her glittering career looms ever closer.

Cycling's Vuelta a Espana embarks Friday with defending champion Primoz Roglic chasing an unprecedented fourth straight victory over a mountainous 3,280km route that begins, however, on the flatlands of the Netherlands.

Sweeper-keepers such as Manchester City's Ederson, his Brazilian compatriot Alisson Becker at Liverpool and Bayern Munich's Manuel Neuer are all the rage in modern football.

Transformed Zimbabwe face their biggest challenge since Dave Houghton became coach two months ago when they host India in a series of three one-day internationals, starting on Thursday.

El Salvador has arrested some 50,000 suspected gang members since President Nayib Bukele launched a "war" in March on criminal groups terrorizing the country, the head of the country's police force announced Tuesday.

Serena Williams bowed out of the WTA/ATP Cincinnati Masters at the first hurdle on Tuesday, losing in straight sets to US Open champion Emma Raducanu as the end of her glittering career looms ever closer.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed into law a big climate change and health care spending bill, giving Democrats another boost ahead of midterm elections in which Republicans are suddenly less certain of their predicted crushing victory.

California cops rushed to a zoo after a 911 call -- only to find it had been placed by a mischievous monkey.

German director Wolfgang Petersen, who achieved international fame with films "Das Boot," "Outbreak" and "Air Force One," has died from pancreatic cancer, a spokeswoman said. He was 81.

The Cuban government has announced it will allow foreign investment in domestic wholesale and retail trade for the first time in 60 years, in a move aimed at addressing critical shortages of goods.

Water supplies to some US states and Mexico will be cut to avoid "catastrophic collapse" of the Colorado River, Washington officials said Tuesday, as a historic drought bites.

Ezra Miller, the troubled star of Warner Bros' major upcoming superhero movie "The Flash," is seeking treatment for mental health issues after a string of high-profile controversies, the actor said.

Brighton signed Ecuador defender Pervis Estupinan from Spanish side Villarreal on Tuesday in a deal worth a reported £17 million ($20 million).

UN chief Antonio Guterres will meet with the leaders of Ukraine and Turkey this week, officials announced Tuesday, as Kyiv reported an "unprecedented" cyberattack on its nuclear energy agency's website.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro often talks about his "army," the die-hard supporters who fueled his winning campaign four years ago.

Global stocks moved mostly higher on Tuesday, as investors were buffeted by mixed economic news and a surge in European natural gas prices that later reversed.

Spain and neighbouring Portugal fought against large wildfires on Tuesday, while three people were badly injured after their train hurtled into a smaller Spanish blaze.