Saturday 17 October 2026Lunchtime (Europe/Dublin)
DailyBotThe lunchtime paper
Lunchtime edition
15 stories
Trump has paused new Russia sanctions passed by Congress amid a deepening row, waiving the restrictions - championed by late senator Lindsey Graham - just as they were due to come into effect.
Starlink access is still not fully restored for Ukraine's military, Zelenskyy says, calling the US decision to limit it a dangerous and unpleasant surprise amid reports the order came from inside the White House.
'Drones all night. By morning, you smell the smoke': Ukraine in darkness - amid blackouts, artillery fire and the onslaught of Russian drone attacks, Kherson's Richelievsky provides a refuge for those with nowhere else to go.
Ukraine war briefing: Russia is building a non-negotiable 'security zone' inside Ukraine, Putin saying it will not be part of any peace talks, with the Kremlin putting its span at 660km. What we know on day 1,697.
Ministers must be honest about the Russian threat to the UK, says Peter Ricketts, calling for more resilience in protecting banking, energy and water systems from cyber-assaults.
The UAE has agreed with Saudi Arabia to re-enter the Yemen conflict, reportedly resuming payments to Yemeni forces as gains by Iran-backed Houthi fighters alarm Gulf rulers.
Nationwide protests in France against high prices and fraying public services, following calls on social media to revive the gilets jaunes movement that emerged in 2018.
Who hacked France's supermarket fridges? Whether youngsters proving their skills or state sabotage, Europe's most hacked country was left with a mountain of food waste.
'I cannot carry all of this alone': the couples kept apart by the war in Ukraine - families scattered, fathers separated from their children, couples unable to reunite and marry.
Katie Zacharia has been fired after five days as White House press secretary, after a widely panned first briefing and scrutiny after admitting she didn't pass the bar exam.
Analysis: Katie Zacharia's five days as press secretary expose flaws in Trump's TV-driven hiring - the president reportedly chose her after seeing her on television, and her first briefing and disastrous interviews sealed her fate.
Insults, odd obsessions and rambling thoughts: a week with Donald Trump - the president has hit red states to drum up Republican support, and his increasingly strange performances are on full display.
'Is this too little, too late?': Cornell students on the school's response to fraternities, saying it is more interested in scapegoating than committing to institutional change.
'We are in hiding': a Briton with severe health issues fears deportation from Sweden, saying he was told three times he needed to do nothing to remain after Brexit.
A plaque telling the story of African-Caribbean prisoners in Britain has been stolen from Portchester Castle; descendants say the theft reflects a racism that has haunted generation after generation.
17 stories
A man (32) has been charged with the murder of Mark Cullen, a father of three fatally injured in a gun attack at Kill Avenue in south Dublin last July.
A Kerry house with a couple and three children inside was attacked with a petrol bomb in Tralee early on Saturday morning; the property was damaged but no injuries were reported.
'We all call him baby Jesus': welcome to Marty Morrissey's Marty Party in Alicante, where kindness and community are to the fore, featuring six of Ireland's seven Eurovision winners.
Vincent Browne: Haughey loved Terry Keane, and she made his life miserable - the journalist says he shed tears on hearing of Haughey's death in 2006, but the former taoiseach would have hated his upcoming book.
A solicitor used client cash to fund the Forest Fest music event, a court heard, with the deficit in client funds rising from 450,000 to 1.13m euro between June and August, says a Law Society investigator.
Retailers on Dublin's O'Connell Street have been hit with legal notices under revaluation laws: Circle K, Peter Mark and Allcare Pharmacy face Dublin City Council enforcement cases over alleged planning non-compliance.
Fine Gael MEP Maria Walsh has announced the birth of her child following fertility treatment, the former Rose of Tralee thanking staff at University Hospital Galway.
Pope Leo is to leave hospital today after lung cancer surgery, and will lead prayers from his Vatican apartment in St Peter's Square on Sunday.
The Waterford village fighting back against a data centre: a proposed development in Kilmeaden has residents asking pointed questions, including who data centres are good for.
'Leave my health out of it': Patrick O'Donovan characterises anonymous Fine Gael party briefings on health as a sad day for Irish politics.
Legal deals with planning objectors raise concerns over the risk of ransom payments, with millions in taxpayer money paid out to prevent further delay of infrastructure projects.
Sabena Power, matriarch of the Paddy Power bookmaker family and artist Anne Madden le Brocquy, has left an estate valued at more than 6.5m euro.
The Gaeltacht is being destroyed because we won't build houses: young families make communities, and if they have no place to live, the community dies.
Sales of Sally Rooney books have surged in Northern Ireland after the Palestine Action ruling, with Kenny's Bookshop in Galway saying sales have increased tenfold.
A public pay deal will be done - and here's what it will look like: the Government has to make a show of safeguarding public money, unions have to fight for every last euro, and there will be late nights.
It's a relief to see another 'god' of swimming jailed, writes an abuse survivor, but swimmers abused by Irish coaches have never received an official, public apology from anyone in Irish sport.
Roisin Ingle: I wore my own wedding dress to my friend's wedding - the bride insisted so vociferously that it would have been rude not to.
12 stories
BBC Northern Ireland is set to cut its Irish language staff by more than half - 60 percent - and axe its flagship Irish language programme, The Irish News understands.
A man has been charged over a 2025 fatal hit-and-run crash in Ballyclare in August of last year.
DUP leader Gavin Robinson has called for the full picture over Drumcree, saying transparency is key to understanding the decisions taken around the contentious parade.
Five 'drug' bags have been discovered in toilets at Stormont buildings, with suspected drug paraphernalia found in a Parliament Buildings toilet this summer, the Assembly has confirmed.
Newton Emerson: Stormont can go through the motions but can't balance the books - our Saturday columnist's inimitable take on the week's news.
The Department of Health is facing calls for a tougher response to illegal 'pop-up' clinics, and an MLA says more needs to be done for patients needing follow-up care after travelling abroad for dental treatments.
Review: a hotel dining experience that's one to remember from start to finish - Chris McClurg at Regency House is aiming for the highest peaks of Belfast's culinary landscape.
Assault, intimidation and harassment are among over 70 incidents of abuse against those working for DAERA and its arms-length bodies, described as unwarranted and unacceptable.
Gearradh direireach agus buille mearfach don Ghaeilge iad ciorruithe an BBC: drochbhlas do phobal na Gaeilge (Irish-language opinion on the BBC cuts).
Brian Feeney: there will be no return to 'normal' for the world after Trump, who has altered America's role so radically that no Democratic presidential candidate will campaign to turn back the clock.
The DUP is accused of forcing through damaging and expensive beach cleaning equipment on the coasts.
Patrick Murphy: five hours, four buses and one sick health service - extreme solutions need to be considered.
33 stories
London shouldn't give Stormont any more money: Stormont's financial chaos, moral hazard and failing services exposed as London cash keeps flowing - but John O'Dowd says enough is enough.
Paedophile Jeffrey Donaldson will be under threat every day of his sentence in Maghaberry jail, a former governor of the Maze prison has warned.
An MLA has called for an urgent meeting with BBC chiefs over proposed cuts, as BBC NI seeks to shed 25 more jobs.
Velvety butterbean sauce, risotto-style orzo and fresh fish: sourcing good locally caught fish on an island, with a few fishmongers leading the way.
McDonald accuses the Government of playing chicken with the public pay deal.
Jeffrey Donaldson is to be questioned behind bars by Met Police over an allegation he sexually assaulted a woman in his House of Commons office in 2016.
'It's a sad day': a fresh blow for local comedy as co-writer Tim McGarry, who has also lost Give My Head Peace and The Blame Game, says the BBC has basically cut everything we've ever done.
Exclusive: Jeffrey Donaldson's MoD role in Cameroon's Anglophone crisis, with luxury trips, fees and soft power influence revealed in a Belfast Telegraph investigation.
Jeffrey Donaldson's victims speak out for the first time: the two women reveal how they overheard strangers discussing their abuse in hairdressers and coffee shops.
Inside the courtroom as Donaldson's catastrophic fall played out: a paedophile who once had the ear of prime ministers and presidents.
All you need to know as Donaldson is to walk free from prison in seven-and-a-half years, the Lady Chief Justice's office confirms.
'When he got his award he was asleep under the table': a Co Down social worker whose pet Sebastian won an award for his work as a court therapy dog.
Comment: speeding drivers who kill get meagre sentences, while the victims' families serve life - recalling one of the most shocking road safety TV ads ever shown here.
From attic monitor to lost evidence: inside the CCTV saga of the Noah Donohoe case, an extract from Donal MacIntyre's new book 'Noah Donohoe: The Search for Truth'.
How MLAs traded insults during a three-hour debate before the no-confidence votes, none of which received cross-community support.
Live coverage of the Drumcree dispute as a DUP delegation meets the PSNI chief and the party demands full transparency.
The DUP could be the biggest losers from Drumcree as a new political climate emerges, with the parading row heading back to court.
Chris Bryant rejects claims he bowed to mob rule over the Drumcree parade decision.
Why travelling solo with my children has become our greatest adventure: honest challenges, budget tips and inspiring real-life experiences.
The Education Authority chief says a typo prevented funding, as an MLA accuses the Education Minister of trying to invent a mechanism to hand money to Richhill AFC.
The family of a GAA fan murdered by loyalists who claimed security force collusion with the killers are to receive an apology and undisclosed damages from the PSNI.
Look inside: the Regency-style Glenganagh Estate on Bangor Road offers 12 acres, period interiors, outbuildings and formal gardens for buyers seeking history.
Opinion: the only person in the world to publicly support Jeffrey Donaldson; he and Jonathan Aitken have plenty in common after decades in Westminster's corridors of power.
NI airport ground staff used an internal system for underhand practice, with Swissport saying it took all appropriate action during its investigation.
A Belfast family searches for answers after their mother, who had dementia, was allegedly assaulted inside a care home; a doctor said it significantly contributed to her declining health before her death.
How Eddie Coll became Northern Ireland's longest-serving prisoner under the two strikes law, and now speaks from prison.
My weekend: adventure addict Zoe McGivern shares her energetic weekend routine, love of travel, Peruvian cooking, dancing and her role with RTS Northern Ireland.
Silence on Stormont's 750,000 pound instrument fund, as over 10 loyalist bands - a publicly-funded programme that supplies musical instruments refuses to say if those who have vowed to cut ties with police are excluded.
'What's the point keeping all these hidden gems behind closed doors?' - Open Cabinets Month runs at Castle Ward until November 1.
There's nothing wrong with saying that you 'love reading': classicist and author Mary Beard can't bear it when people insist on more refined words.
A Co Down RAF veteran, Carole McCullough (52) from Bangor, is to lead a five-month mission to Antarctica after applying while looking for a bit of an adventure.
Take a look: a refurbished five-bedroom detached home off Belmont Road in Belfast, on the market for 850,000 pounds, with multiple reception rooms, modern kitchen and landscaped gardens.
Podcast: Ammi Burke - the solicitor's legal showdown with her former employer; the Burkes are back, but this time it's not Enoch grabbing the headlines.