Senior garda member released without charge
A senior garda officer who was arrested as part of an investigation into the unlawful disclosure of information to the media has been released without charge.
A file is to be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The inquiry follows a report by the Children's Ombudsman into the removal by gardaí of two children from their families in Athlone and Dublin in 2013.
Planning permission granted for €100m harbour upgrade
Planning permission has been given for a €100 million upgrade of the lower part Ringaskiddy Harbour in Cork.
The investment will include an extension to the existing facilities in the port, to allow access for larger vessels.
Brendan Keating, Chief Executive of the Port of Cork, welcomed the decision by An Bord Pleanála.
Peter Robinson released from hospital
Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson has been discharged from Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital this morning after suffering a suspected heart attack.
The DUP leader was admitted to hospital on Monday morning.
He underwent treatment to alleviate a condition that was affecting his heart function.
The DUP did not appoint a temporary replacement for Mr Robinson during the week and senior party members anticipate he will return to work after a rest period.
He is recuperating at home.
Two men arrested as firearms seized in Dublin
Gardaí have recovered two firearms and arrested two men in Dublin.
Members of the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau stopped and searched a car on Clonshaugh Avenue in Coolock, where they found two firearms. The driver of the car was arrested.
Gardaí alsi stopped and searched a van on Clonshaugh Road in Coolock and a man was arrested.
The two men, aged 39 and 44, are being detained at Coolock Garda Station as investigations continue.
Three killed in Saudi suicide attack
A suicide bomber disguised in women's clothing blew himself up at the entrance to a Saudi Shia mosque during Friday prayers killing three people, according to the interior ministry.
The so-called Islamic State jihadist group claimed the attack, the second in a week.
"Authorities have managed to foil a terrorist crime targeting people performing the Friday prayers at Al-Anoud mosque in Dammam," capital of Eastern Province, said a ministry spokesman quoted by the Saudi Press Agency.
Five more victims at Nepal helicopter crash site
Authorities have found DNA evidence that five more people may have been on board a US military helicopter that crashed during a humanitarian relief mission after the Nepal earthquake.
Investigators were exploring the possibility that the five new suspected victims of the crash were villagers picked up by the helicopter during its relief mission, a Nepali army spokesman said.
The helicopter and its crew were part of the large international aid effort after a massive earthquake and major aftershock struck Nepal on 25 April and 12 May, killing more than 8,600 people and making hundreds of thousands homeless.
Six US Marines and two Nepali soldiers are known to have died in the crash, the cause of which has yet to be determined.
6.8 magnitude earthquake strikes off Alaska
An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 struck off the southwest coast of Alaska last night, the US Geological Survey reported.
The USGS said the quake's epicenter was 104km south-southeast of Ugashik and 61.7km deep.
The USGS said the quake was unlikely to cause casualties and notable damage, and there were no immediate reports of such.
The area near the quake, centered 643km southwest of Anchorage, is lightly populated, according to the USGS.
Radioactive leak in Delhi was sodium iodide
The leak of radioactive material at Delhi's international airport was of sodium iodide 131, an official at India's Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) said.
Sodium iodide 131 is used in so-called nuclear medicine, and is used for treatment of hyperthyroidism and thyroid cancers.
It emits radiation and must be handled with care to minimize inadvertent exposure to health workers and patients.
The AERB official said one of four consignments of sodium iodide had leaked. It had been "separated" and the area cordoned off, he added.
Nine killed in Baghdad hotel bombings
At least nine people were killed after car bombs were detonated at two Baghdad hotels.
The blast at the Ishtar Hotel - formerly a Sheraton - shattered windows of the recently renovated building, turning rows of expensive cars and SUVs into charred, twisted metal.
The Ishtar is a popular site for wedding celebrations, and the area - which also includes a club and the Palestine hotel - is crowded with people on Thursday nights.
A second bombing struck the car park at the Babylon, another upmarket and recently refurbished hotel that overlooks the Tigris river in the Jadriya neighbourhood.
Police said security forces found another car bomb in the Babylon's car park and defused it.
