Clinton calls for release of US State Dept emails as soon as possible
US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has said she wanted the US State Department to release her emails from her time as secretary of state as soon as possible.
"Anything that they might do to expedite that process I heartily support," Ms Clinton, a Democrat, told reporters on the sidelines of a campaign event. "I want them out as soon as they can get out."
1,850 killed in Yemeni conflict since March
The United Nations has said that about 1,850 people had been killed and more than 500,000 have been displaced as a result of the conflict in Yemen since late March.
Earlier today, planes from the Saudi-led coalition carried out airstrikes on the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, the first since the end of a five-day humanitarian truce.
The coalition resumed its bombing campaign on the southern port city of Aden, a stronghold of the Houthi rebels.
US to restrict police access to military equipment
US President Barack Obama has announced plans to put restrictions in place to limit the use of military equipment by police departments.
The move comes in the wake of unrest following the deaths of a number of black men at the hands of police officers across the United States.
Police use of equipment such as explosive-resistant tracked vehicles is to be banned, while police departments will have to provide justification for the use of other types of equipment, including riot shields.
IOM says EU has performed U-turn on migrants
The International Organisation for Migration has said that the European Union has effectively performed a U-turn on the issue of rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean.
Yesterday, EU ministers approved plans to establish a naval force to combat people-smugglers operating from Libya. The operation involves the destruction of boats belonging to traffickers.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, IOM spokesperson Leonard Doyle said the move essentially meant that the EU would have to first rescue migrants from these boats, which he said the EU refused to do with the ending of the Mare Nostrum operation.
Mr Doyle said the EU had now recognised that European public opinion was not willing to sustain the high numbers of migrant deaths.
Two coastguard helicopters assist overnight rescue
Two Irish coastguard helicopters assisted in the rescue of five men whose fishing boat sank 75 miles west of the Scilly Isles.
A distress signal was received by Falmouth Coastguard from the British-registered 'Kairos' shortly after midnight and they sought the air assistance of the Shannon and Waterford helicopters.
The men, one from Scotland and four from the Philippines, were in a life raft when the helicopters arrived on the scene.
The five men, who are all in a comfortable condition, are being brought back to Castletownbere in an Irish-registered boat that was in the area at the time.
Indonesian diplomat dies following Pakistan crash
Indonesia's ambassador to Pakistan has died, 11 days after he was injured in a helicopter crash in northern Pakistan that killed seven others.
Burhan Muhammad was on a military helicopter that crashed in a mountainous area, killing his wife, the ambassadors of Norway and the Philippines, and three Pakistani crewmen.
The Pakistani government has said the helicopter crashed because of engine failure, dismissing Pakistani Taliban claims that militants had shot it down.
The Mi-17 helicopter, with 17 people on board, crashed into an empty school during a trip to inspect a tourism project. The ambassadors of Poland and the Netherlands were among the injured.
Carers urge restoration of respite grant
The Carers' Association has called on the Government to implement a new programme for carers with proper resourcing.
#Carers say it's time for the Government to revisit supports for carers and row back on cuts @rtenews pic.twitter.com/zYp9fcMeul
— Sharon Tobin (@sharontobin) May 19, 2015The association made the call after releasing details of how it had scored the Government's National Carers Strategy.
It found that only one objective had been achieved since it was published in 2012, while many showed no progress or had actually regressed.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, spokesperson Catherine Cox said the restoration of the respite grant was a top priority for the association.
Paris attack survivor to leave Charlie Hebdo
One of the few cartoonists to survive the attack on France's Charlie Hebdo journal in January is leaving the publication, saying he can no longer bear the pressure.
Renald Luzier, better known as Luz, announced his decision in an interview in Liberation, the newspaper that helped Charlie Hebdo publish again in the wake of an attack in which most of his cartoonist colleagues were killed.
"Every print-run was torture because the others are no longer there," said Luz, who drew the cover picture on the first post-attack edition of Charlie Hebdo.
He recently declared he would no longer draw cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad because he was fed up with it.
Take home pay a central issue in pay talks - FF
Fianna Fáil has said the pay talks represent an opportunity to acknowledge the huge sacrifices made by public sector workers in the past few years.
The party’s spokesman on public expenditure Sean Fleming said the central issue was take home pay.
He said Fianna Fáil would support a flat rate increase combined with a percentage rise for low and middle income staff and also backed reform of the pension levy.
Mr Fleming said the Government should also address the recruitment moratorium and restore frontline services.
