Power outages affect White House, US Capitol
Widespread power outages in the US capital and its suburbs cut electricity to a number of government buildings for a time today, including the White House and State Department, and at several of the Smithsonian museums.
The State Department's daily news briefing was suspended after power was lost.
A department announcement said State and other nearby buildings were affected because electricity feeders were down.
There was no indication of terrorism in the outage, a US government spokesman said.
145 people caught drink driving over Easter weekend
Gardaí have released figures of the number of people detected driving under the influence throughout the Easter weekend.
Good Friday accounted for the fewest detections at 16. On Saturday that figure rose to 23. The majority of detections were made on Easter Sunday (65), while a further 41 drivers tested positive for driving under the influence on Easter Bank Holiday Monday.
This is an Evidenzer machine - if roadside breath test indicates alcohol,this gives level in Garda station...1/2 pic.twitter.com/49U0IzE0Rr
— An Garda Síochána (@GardaTraffic) April 7, 2015In total there were 145 detections across the weekend, eight fewer than the same period last year.
Rand Paul to run in US presidential election
US Republican Senator Rand Paul has announced he is running for the Republican Party's nomination for the 2016 presidential race.
Making the announcement on his campaign website, Mr Paul said "I am running for president to return our country to the principles of liberty and limited government."
Cocaine seizure at Shannon Airport
Cocaine worth around €240,000 was discovered on an aircraft at Shannon Airport on Sunday.
The drugs were found during a routine search of the plane, which had arrived from the US.
Revenue's detection dog, Ollie, helped to locate the 3.4kg of cocaine, which was hidden behind a panel in the cabin.
There have been no arrests and the investigation is ongoing.
Nuclear submarine catches fire in Russia
A nuclear submarine caught fire in a shipyard in Russia's northern province of Arkhangelsk, but Russian news agencies reported there were no nuclear weapons on board.
The submarine was undergoing repairs when it caught fire.
It is believed the blaze started when insulating materials caught fire during welding.
There was no word of any casualties.
Eircom refunds €700,000 to customers over service outages
ComReg, the Commission for Communications Regulation, has published details of Eircom refunds to customers who experienced service outages last year.
Eircom paid a total of €700,000 in refunds to more than 11,500 customers whose lines were out of service for more than ten days last year.
It refunded €600,000 to retail and residential customers and €100,000 to businesses that had outages between the end of December in 2013 and 30 April last year.
ComReg said it expected other fixed service providers to similarly refund their retail customers affected by service disruptions.
Further arrests over stabbing at Luas stop
Gardaí have arrested two men in connection with an incident at a Luas stop in Milltown on Sunday night during which two people were stabbed, one of whom was a security guard.
Two other men were questioned in connection with the incident.
One has been released without charge and a file is being prepared for the DPP.
The other man remains under arrest, but is being treated in Beaumont hospital for injuries sustained during the incident.
Shots fired at house in Artane
An investigation is under way after a number of shots were fired at a house in Whitethorn Cresent in Dublin.
The incident happened at around 11pm last night.
A number of people were in the house at the time but no one was injured.
One-way system for Galway road works
Today sees the introduction of a new one-way system in Galway city as a major project gets under way to lower the road level under the railway bridge on Lough Atalia Road.
The work is being undertaken to increase the headroom for high vehicles and to provide continuous pedestrian and cycle facilities under the bridge.
The works are likely to increase traffic delays in Galway on one of the busiest routes in the city.
20 die in gun battle between Indian police and smugglers
At least 20 people have died in a gun battle between police and alleged timber smugglers in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, a local police chief said.
He said his officers had opened fire "in self-defence" after challenging a group of over 100 suspected smugglers in a remote forest.
"The police opened fire on the smugglers and found nine bodies in one position and 11 bodies in another," he told AFP.
