Conflict
News in Brief
04 Mar A round-up of other Irish and international news stories.
941 migrants rescued off Italian coast in 24 hours
04 Mar Italy's coastguard has said it carried out seven rescue operations in less than 24 hours, saving 941 migrants in the Strait of Sicily, which separates the Italian island from the North African coast.
Iraq launches attack to retake Tikrit from IS
02 Mar Iraq's armed forces, backed by Shia militia, attacked Islamic State strongholds north of Baghdad today.
Hundreds of boys feared kidnapped in South Sudan
01 Mar The UN children's agency said this morning it fears hundreds of boys were kidnapped last month in the northeast of South Sudan, raising suspicions that the abductors were from a pro-government militia.
Pegida protest in England draws small crowd
28 Feb A speaker at the UK's first demonstration by the controversial anti-Islam group Pegida estimated 300 people turned out to support the cause.
Egypt deems Hamas a terrorist group
28 Feb An Egyptian court has listed the Palestinian group Hamas as a terrorist organisation, one month after a judge listed the group's armed wing as a terrorist group.
Cameron vows to tackle Islamic State militants
27 Feb British Prime Minister David Cameron has vowed to find those who commit "appalling and heinous crimes" and "put them out of action".
Deaths shake fragile Ukraine ceasefire
27 Feb Ukraine today reported the first deaths in three days in the east of the country, denting hopes a ceasefire will hold.
Militant who appeared in IS videos 'identified'
26 Feb Media reports have identified the militant who appeared in various Islamic State beheading videos as British man Mohammed Emwazi.
Banksy video takes aim at Gaza destruction
26 Feb British street artist Banksy has posted a mini-documentary on his website showing squalid conditions in Gaza, six months after the end of the war between Hamas and Israel.
Amnesty condemns failure to protect civilians
25 Feb Amnesty International has condemned world leaders for what it termed their "shameful and ineffective" failure to protect civilians from groups like Islamic State, calling 2014 a "catastrophic" year.
Fears grow for abducted Syrian Christians
25 Feb Fears are growing for dozens of Christians abducted by Islamic State militants in Syria who recently beheaded 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians.
Ukraine truce not even close - John Kerry
25 Feb Russia and pro-Moscow rebels in Ukraine remain far from meeting the terms of a tattered ceasefire deal, US Secretary of State John Kerry said today.
New York residents arrested over IS extremist plot
25 Feb Three New York residents have been arrested for plotting to join extremists fighting in Syria and two threatened to carry out attacks within the United States.
IS abducts at least 90 Christians in Syria
24 Feb Islamic State militants have kidnapped at least 90 Assyrian Christians in northeast Syria, a monitor has said.
Pro-Russian rebels agree to weapons pullback
24 Feb Pro-Russian separatists brought reporters today to witness the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front line in east Ukraine under a ceasefire deal.
Three UK 'IS-bound' girls believed to be in Syria
24 Feb Police in Britain say they believe three schoolgirls feared to be intent on joining Islamic State have crossed into Syria from Turkey.
Putin: War between Russia and Ukraine unlikey
23 Feb Russian President Vladimir Putin has said war with neighbouring Ukraine is unlikely.
Additional Russian sanctions being discussed
21 Feb US Secretary of State John Kerry has said the US and its allies were not prepared to play games with Russia and were discussing additional sanctions against Moscow over its role in eastern Ukraine.
Norwegian Muslims form human shield at synagogue
22 Feb More than 1,000 Muslims formed a human shield around Oslo's synagogue, offering symbolic protection for the city's Jewish community and condemning an attack on a synagogue in neighbouring Denmark last weekend.
Two killed in bomb attack at Ukraine rally
22 Feb An explosion has killed two people and wounded 11 in Ukraine's government-controlled eastern city of Kharkiv, officials said.
Turkey enters Syria to evacuate Suleyman Shah tomb
22 Feb Turkey says its forces have carried out a successful operation in northern Syria to repatriate troops guarding a Turkish enclave surrounded by Islamic State militants.
'Up to 25,000 troops' needed to retake Mosul
20 Feb The United States wants Iraq to launch its offensive to retake the strategic northern city of Mosul from the so-called Islamic State group in April or May, military officials have said.
US accuses Russia of 'undermining' global order
20 Feb In some of its sharpest criticism to date, the United States has accused Russia of "undermining" the global order by supporting rebels in eastern Ukraine.
At least 31 killed in suicide attack in east Libya
20 Feb Militants claiming affiliation to Islamic State have claimed responsibility for suicide attacks that killed at least 40 people in the eastern Libyan city of Qubbah.