The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has directed that 57-year-old Richard Satchwell will stand trial at the Central Criminal Court for the murder of his wife Tina. Mr Satchwell, who is a native of Leicester in the UK, appeared before Clonmel District Court in Co Tipperary this morning. Sergeant Tom …

South Africa has urged the United Nations top court to place more legal pressure on Israel to halt a threatened offensive against the densely crowded Gaza city of Rafah. The South African government has already made a complaint against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, …

The Government has announced the appointment of two new Data Protection Commissioners, Dr Des Hogan and Dale Sunderland. Their appointments will take effect from 20 February for a five-year term with Dr Hogan appointed as Chairperson. The tenure of the outgoing commissioner, Helen Dixon, comes to an end on 19 …

The British broadcaster Steve Wright, who presented programmes for BBC Radio 1 and Radio 2 for more than 40 years, has died at the age of 69. In a statement, Wright’s family said: “It is with deep sorrow and profound regret that we announce the passing of our beloved Steve …

The Government has given formal approval to the public sector pay deal agreed last month. Following negotiations at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), unions, staff associations and government representatives reached agreement on a package that provides for increases of 10.25% over a two and a half year period. The agreement …

Polar bears in Canada’s Hudson Bay risk starvation as climate change lengthens periods without Arctic Sea ice, despite the creatures’ willingness to expand their diets. Polar bears use the ice that stretches across the ocean surface in the Arctic during colder months to help them access their main source of …

The British government has confirmed details of a £3.3 billion (€3.9bn) funding package to support the restored power-sharing administration in Northern Ireland. Elements of the financial plan, and conditions attached, were outlined in a letter to Stormont Finance Minister Caoimhe Archibald. The letter was sent amid a simmering political row …

Russian police have put Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, Lithuania’s culture minister and members of the previous Latvian parliament on a wanted list, according to the Russian interior ministry’s database. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ms Kallas was wanted for the “desecration of historical memory”. Russian state agency TASS said …

A powerful, fast-moving storm has brought heavy snow to the northeast of the United States, disrupting air travel and forcing schools to close. More than 30 million people from West Virginia to New England are under a storm warning as the Nor’easter brought as much as 15cm of heavy, wet …

Nine Fine Gael TDs have now announced that they are standing down at the next general election, and it must have party headquarters wondering. The latest in a slew of departing deputies is Paul Kehoe – TD for Wexford since 2002 – and a man with a decade’s experience at …