Israel is facing growing international pressure to agree to a ceasefire with Hamas, as it planned an incursion into the southern Gaza city Rafah where more than a million Palestinians are trapped. CIA Director William Burns was due in Cairo for a new round of talks on a Qatari-mediated ceasefire …

The Cabinet will be asked to approve the extension of child benefit to 18-year-olds from 1 May, for those in full-time education or who have a disability. The measure is being proposed by Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys, who estimates it will benefit families of 60,000 18-year-olds. It was …

Maria Andreeva is a 34-year-old paediatrician and mother of a two-year-old boy who lives in Moscow. Her husband, an army medic, was mobilised by October 2022, one month after the Kremlin’s mass mobilisation of 300,000 army reservists. He was sent to the front in Ukraine in January 2023 and has …

Chartered Accountants Ireland has outlined a plan aimed at improving childcare policy for the benefit of both providers and parents. The institute has proposed a series of steps which it said could leave working parents up to €4,500 a year better off and free up vital working capacity in the …

The clue is in the nickname. On Árainn Mhór, off the coast of Co Donegal, Boyle is a very common surname so, to tell them apart, many of the families have an extra name. In the case of 17-year-old Seán Boyle’s family, they are the Sailor Boyles. The youngest of …

Sinn Féin will table a private members motion in the Dáil later today which seeks to replace the TV licence with immediate effect and introduce an amnesty from prosecution for those who have not paid the charge. The party’s finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty said direct exchequer funding should pay for …

The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying will hold its final public meeting today, before its 14 members draft their final report which is due to be published on 20 March. The committee chair, deputy Michael Healy-Rae, said that representatives from the Department of Health and the HSE will be …

Fine Gael TD Paul Kehoe has announced that he will not be contesting the next general election. In an address to Wexford Fine Gael Members, Mr Kehoe said “this has been a very difficult decision to make but I feel that now is the right time for me and my …

Former US President Donald Trump has a crowded calendar this year as he seeks the Republican nomination in the presidential election while also facing four criminal trials. Here are key dates in Mr Trump’s legal and political schedule: 15 February A Georgia judge will hold a hearing to consider Mr …

Prayers were said tonight in a local church for the parents and family of Matthew Healy, the six-year-old boy who died after being found unresponsive in a car near Dunmore East area last Friday. Hundreds of people packed into the Church of St Nicholas in Faithlegg, Co Waterford, close to …