If there are two commandments in Irish politics - get thyself elected and mind thy seat - there might be room for another about boosting thy salary. But do government wages in this country need an overhaul? Irish politicians could be forgiven for a touch of envy as they look at the salary of the prime minister of Singapore, Lawrence Wong.
Getty Images Footfall in London's West End reached its highest level since 2020 over the 2025 festive season, new figures show. The Heart of London Business Alliance (HOLBA) said visitor numbers in December were up 19% on the same month in 2024 across its central London district. The area, which includes Piccadilly, Leicester Square and Haymarket, also recorded longer visits, with people staying an average of 42 minutes more than in December 2024.
If there are two commandments in Irish politics - get thyself elected and mind thy seat - there might be room for another about boosting thy salary. But do government wages in this country need an overhaul?
The murder of Tadgh Farrell (4) in last month's Offaly firebombing has hit his father "like a train coming down the tracks", his barrister has said.
"If we have a referendum I would vote for the unification with Romania. Look at what's happening around Moldova today. Look at what's happening in the world," Moldovan President Maia Sandu said in an interview with British podcast, The Rest is Politics, on January 11. "It is getting more and more difficult for a small country like Moldova to survive as a democracy, as a sovereign country, and of course to resist Russia," she added.
With the fight evolving quickly, arms companies in Ukraine and Europe say that they can't afford to start from scratch and completely redesign entire systems each time conditions shift. Instead, companies making aerial drones and ground robots told Business Insider that their focus is now on creating weapons that can be upgraded by simply changing parts or software rather than overhauling the whole system. Designs are modular, like Lego pieces, with parts being easily swapped out as new mission demands arise.
Ukraine is currently undergoing a particularly cold spell with temperatures in the capital Kyiv reaching lows of minus 17 degrees Celsius. Because of Russia's ongoing destruction of the country's energy infrastructure, the situation is critical. Authorities have imposed strict timetables for when electricity can be used. About 400 high-rise buildings in the capital have no heating at all. Some do not have access to water.
Microsoft has taken its cybercrime fight to the UK in its first major civil action outside the US, moving to shut down RedVDS, a virtual desktop service used to power phishing and fraud at global scale. Redmond says it has filed parallel civil actions in the US and the UK, yanking RedVDS's marketplace and customer portal offline and seizing chunks of its infrastructure as part of a wider cross-border operation involving Europol and German law enforcement.
On average, the cartoons published on the Instagram account of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo get a few hundred reactions, but a recent drawing by cartoonist Eric Salch has prompted more than 15,000 social media users to express their dismay. It was published as Switzerland observed a national day of mourning to commemorate the victims of the deadly fire in a bar in Crans-Montana on New Year's Eve, which killed 40 people, most of them teenagers.
Russia has kicked out a British diplomat who has been accused of spying, Moscow's Foreign Minister confirmed on Thursday. The ministry said they had received information "regarding the affiliation of a diplomatic employee at the embassy with the British secret service". The ministry said they summoned the British charge d'affaires Danae Dholakia to make a "strong protest" telling her the diplomat has been expelled.
New legislation will be unveiled by the government which will allow for the rapid deployment of tens of thousands of former military personnel which see them summoned back to military, as there is growing fears the UK will be at war with Russia within three years. Under the new legislation there will be an upper age limit for the strategic reserve, which will comprise of former armed forces personnel instead of civilians, the age will rise from 55 to 65.
In 2025 the Prado, which is home to such masterpieces as Velazquez's Las Meninas and Hieronymus Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights, was visited by 3,513,402 people, an increase of more than 56,000 from the previous year. Visitor numbers have risen by more than 816,000 over the past decade. While some museum bosses would be toasting such a success, the Prado's director, Miguel Falomir, is treating it with caution. The Prado doesn't need a single visitor more, he told a press conference on Wednesday.
The 15-month investigation began in October 2024 when Policia Nacional officers found 88kg (194lbs) of cocaine in a vehicle in the southern Spanish town of Mijas. The drugs led them to three gangs, including a Balkan cartel, who were working together to bring huge quantities of cocaine into Spain from Colombia. The gangs used the so-called monkey' technique to get the shipments of cocaine into maritime containers that were being transported on container ships, the force said in a statement on Thursday.
The High Court will hear an application from the school's board of management at 2pm Returning to the school today, Mr Burke said: "this is my work place, this is where I teach" Mr Burke left Mountjoy Prison yesterday Wilson's Hospital School is to seek the reimprisonment of Enoch Burke after the teacher returned to its premises this morning following his release from prison yesterday.
USA's Katie Uhlaender, a five-time Winter Olympian in skeleton, accused the Canadian team of deliberately pulling four of its six athletes from a race in Lake Placid, New York, last weekend in order to make it harder for athletes from other countries to qualify. The reduced field meant fewer qualifying points were available and Uhlaender, who won the event, missed out on a place at this year's Games, which will take place in Milan-Cortina, Italy.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that a state of emergency was being declared for Ukraine's energy sector, after repeated Russian attacks destroyed electricity and heat infrastructure. Zelenskyy said he asked the government to review curfew restrictions during this extremely cold weather. Kateryna Pop, spokeswoman for the Kyiv City Military Administration, said 471 buildings in Ukraine's capital remained without heat on Wednesday as temperatures again dropped to minus 19 degrees Celsius (-2.2 Fahrenheit) overnight, according to Ukraine's Ukrinform news agency.
The alarm was raised just after 9am, today, January 15 when the Coast Guard's Marine Rescue Co-Ordination Centre in Valentia received a call from Spanish counterparts in Madrid requesting their assistance for a Medivac for two injured fishermen. The men were on board the boat Novo Alborada which was approximately 30 miles southwest of Valentia. It is understood the men were injured when a rope snapped.
The FTSE 100 once again remains a leader in Europe, although the pullback in oil and precious metals has meant that commodity stocks are lagging behind as financials take the lead. Strong gains for the likes of HSBC, Barclays, and NatWest bring a recovery from a sector that has been hit by Trump's recent move to limit credit card interest rates to 10%.
Mary McAleese, the independent chair of the Integration Steering Group for Gaelic games, has been told by the GAA's management committee that the deadline for full integration by 2027 is now "unrealistic." The former President of Ireland, who was appointed to head the group in 2022, heard the concerns at a meeting of the management committee shortly before Christmas. She rejected the view and expressed disappointment in them.
From ordering a Singapore Sling at Raffles to taking a scenic dip at the floating swimming pool on Lake Como at Grand Hotel Tremezzo, hotels have long enticed guests via destination restaurants, bars and swimming pools.
