Sunday 25 October 2026Lunchtime (Europe/Dublin)
DailyBotThe lunchtime paper
Lunchtime edition
17 stories
Brazilians are voting in the presidential election runoff pitting the leftist Lula against the far-right Bolsonaro; the incumbent president lost the first round to the senator and son of the convicted ex-president.
More than one million Lula supporters rallied on the eve of Brazil's election runoff, with nearly 159 million people due to head to the polls on Sunday.
'We can't let the far right take power again': Lula voters are making a final push before Brazil's runoff, striving in bellwether Minas Gerais to win over those who abstained or backed Flavio Bolsonaro.
'Gaza's suffering has become campaign fodder': Palestinians fear the worst from the Israel election, with the humanitarian catastrophe largely ignored as rivals Gadi Eisenkot and Benjamin Netanyahu vow to end Hamas rule.
Obama has rallied a rapturous Michigan crowd for El-Sayed - 'He'll finish the job we started'; the former president spoke to thousands in support of Abdul El-Sayed for US Senate and the Democratic ticket.
California's leader has called the attack on alleged noncitizen voting 'weaponizing the law'; the state attorney general said the Trump justice department's directive to verify 20,000 ballots is completely improper.
Vance is front and centre in the Republican midterms push - but is this a dry run for a White House bid? His visibility has risen as Trump's popularity wanes, though the path to inherit the Maga throne is more complicated than it seems.
Exclusive: signs suggest Thomas Markle Sr may be a 'sex offender of the grossest kind', a Philippine minister says; forensic analysis of found images continues as Meghan's father denies possessing child sexual abuse images.
Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi 'sounds strong' but is isolated, her son says; Kim Aris tells the Guardian the chance to speak with the detained Nobel laureate was a 'public relations' move by the military leaders.
Exclusive: cocaine-linked crimes are on the rise in Britain as consumption surges; wastewater analysis in England suggests people took roughly 2.5bn lines of the drug in one year.
Analysis: ageing users and record deaths - the data behind Britain's GBP 9.8bn-a-year cocaine habit; sewage samples and crime statistics paint a picture of established users taking more cocaine, more often.
How cocaine conquered the UK: in pubs, festivals and workplaces the drug has become an everyday habit; once considered a middle-class drug, price drops have made it more widely available and created a new set of problems.
The US military is giving Elon Musk's SpaceX access to sensitive tracking data, an advantage in tracking objects in orbit that raises national security concerns and fears of greater control over the space industry.
Hundreds of thousands have marched across France in protests over schools and policing; almost 1,000 were arrested as police charged crowds in Paris and teargas was used to stop protesters reaching other city centres.
In pictures: major protests in Paris and other French cities in a challenge to Macron - the Paris march drew 110,000 people, police say, amid nationwide demonstrations over school funding and the cost of living.
'It's magic': scientists have rediscovered how to make ancient Roman colour-changing glass; the optical engineering behind the 1,600-year-old Lycurgus Cup has baffled experts for centuries.
The Sunday read: 'That's the way the city works' - how the UAE changed the face of Andy Burnham's Manchester, a story winding from the Arab Spring to some of the most deprived places in England, with complicated results.
21 stories
Thousands of homes are without power after the strong winds brought by Storm Boelo; weather warnings remain in place but are set to expire through Sunday morning.
An inquiry has begun after the 'unexplained' death of a man (35) near Crookstown, Co Cork; the course of the investigation will be determined by the postmortem findings.
Rite and Reason: what the Burke family really need from us - who are the controversial children trying to impress? Could it be their mother?
The restaurant criticised for using Dutch chicken has brought a 'luxury' award home for Ireland; plus Maurice Regan's 'Luck Penny', Vincent Browne on Charles Haughey, and a Garda clampdown on souped-up e-bikes.
The Listowel assault investigation is expected to be upgraded to a murder inquiry after the man's death; Glen Keane (21) was left in a critical condition after being attacked during last month's racing festival.
Ask Roe: 'We are sleeping in separate rooms. How do I know when I have given the relationship a fair chance?' - 'I am not prepared to move back into the same bedroom unless we address these issues properly through couples therapy'.
Ulster University is to make almost 500 redundancies as its provost warns education quality is under threat, with third-level institutions across the North facing reduced funding.
France dodged a rerun of looting and riots after its security boost; the government deployed some 70,000 security officials, including elite anti-terror forces.
Was that a stock market wobble, or the start of something more serious? Markets are becoming nervous about the scale of borrowing by 'hyperscalers'.
From breezy floorboards to a cosy A rating: a Lucan refurb more than worth the wait; this family went with a one-stop shop for the renovation and retrofit of their home.
Opinion: Ireland's left has failed to penalise the government for decades of inaction but the right has not; political failure around protests flows from the left's inability to turn economic dysfunction into a larger project of reform.
Andy Irvine on Donal Lunny: 'He glued Planxty together and made the structure work' - the friends made music together through decades when Ireland became a lot more liberal.
Podcaster Ger Gilroy on moving to RTE, his upstart attitude and starting over: after 24 years at the helm of Off the Ball on Newstalk, he has jumped to RTE to present a new daily sports podcast, Howler.
Impossible to look away from Elizabeth Holmes in the latest documentary on the Theranos fraudster; her unblinking gaze, like the eyes on the billboard in The Great Gatsby, represents moral decay.
An AIG executive accused of posting anti-Semitic comments is no longer working for the company; John Gillick claimed his X account, which accused Jewish people of being 'filthy dogs' and 'human scum', was hacked.
What limits apply to the new personal investment accounts? Investment will be limited to Irish residents over a certain age in whatever products are offered by providers.
Babies may be conscious at birth 'to help them really hit the ground running'; what is consciousness and how can we tell if another being possesses it?
Sarah Moss: is it possible for me, an immigrant writer, to produce 'Irish fiction'? Whenever I give a straightforward answer to 'where are you from?', I feel I'm missing something.
I love Vinted. I just wish it loved me back when I was scammed - 'No! You don't understand!' I typed, feeling like K in Kafka's The Trial, if K had simply been trying to return an ugly blouse.
Dogs are not welcome if we want to enjoy the spectacle of returning overwintering birds; pets should be kept away or on a leash as the bay welcomes these beautiful visitors.
Ross O'Carroll-Kelly: 'Oh my God,' Sorcha goes. 'Did you lock Brian in the attic?' - I'm doing it for his rugby career. He can thank me when he wins his first cap for Ireland.
14 stories
Storm Boelo: thousands of homes are without power and traffic is disrupted as high winds batter Northern Ireland, bringing severe gales and heavy showers on Sunday.
'Profound consequences must mean profound consequences': Carla Lockhart's defiant message as Portadown rally draws a large crowd, with over 25 bands taking part in the centre of the town.
Why Irish could be 'at risk' with proposed changes to Northern Ireland's curriculum; concerns have been raised about a change in language teaching under the education department's TransformEd plans.
'We're becoming a family tradition': Belfast jewellery institution Steensons celebrates 50 years in business; Brona Steenson talks about creating crowns for Game of Thrones and putting her own stamp on the family business.
Sophie Clarke: Give My Head Peace and The Blame Game can't last forever, but our place on television should; as familiar favourites leave our screens, what will replace them and how much of ourselves will we see?
A historic Co Down building thought to have housed missionaries gets a new lease of life; Bangor-based Boom Studios is reviving the 1800s building, understood to have been mostly vacant for nearly two decades.
'Generations of young men have come through the doors': West Belfast's De La Salle College celebrates 60 years serving the community; it was officially opened on October 25, 1966.
Half of Belfast's peak morning Glider services to the Titanic Quarter are now buses; Translink announced enhanced G2 services in January, but the additional routes are operated by regular Metro buses.
'Possibly the best coffee in the city' and a double helping of dessert: Last Orders with VINE's Nathan - from Regency House pancakes to dinner at Waterman, the Lisburn chef picks his perfect day of eating in Belfast.
Travel late deals: GBP 160 hotel breaks, discounted Northern Ireland stays and up to GBP 950 off Mexico escapes, plus coastal stays, a pre-Christmas Cumbria break and Krakow.
With no money, Healey can only hope for the best with his British budget; Eamon Quinn on a chancellor tasked with delivering a low-key budget while managing the UK's GBP 3 trillion public debt pile.
Bronagh Diamond: Bomb scare? Sure, I'll just finish my toast first - fear, I'm told, is the normal reaction to being warned there may be a bomb nearby.
What's on for Halloween 2026? Forty magical events across Northern Ireland - spellbinding family adventures, fright-filled fun and autumn experiences.
How art, humour and heartbreak help Northern Ireland's artists make sense of life; the Royal Ulster Academy's 145th exhibition reveals extraordinary talent and emotional power.
28 stories
Lockhart's exit from the DUP would be a huge body blow to the party - and doesn't Gavin Robinson know it.
Writer Harlan Coben says he has 'imposter syndrome' about his work.
A man has been charged following the fatal crash in Co Antrim.
A millionaire developer was 'floored by a businessman' in the toilets of a plush venue in a fracas dubbed the 'battle of the loos'; the alleged fistfight is linked to a 20-year-old feud over a GBP 1m property deal.
Police feared dissidents would use old Provo guns in a Drumcree violent outbreak; associates of a bomber seen on the Garvaghy Road are said to control a massive haul of weapons.
Fixing our crippled NHS is a life-and-death issue, yet politicians pay it lip service and then make cuts; for at least a decade they have known the gravity of the situation but keep choosing populism over courage.
'I've come to admire Rose Kennedy so much': Belfast's Laura Donnelly on playing the US political dynasty's matriarch.
A Sinn Fein MLA has urged the Arts Council to cut funds to loyalist bands which have vowed to snub the PSNI; it comes as UUP leader Jon Burrows warns bandsmen not to 'stoop to Sinn Fein's level'.
An ex-UVF gunman who was awarded an MBE has quit the Orange Order and his cash-strapped community group; Lurgan district master David Martin resigns as not-for-profit Brownlow House closes its cafe and lays off staff amid losses.
Presbyterian men cloak sexism in theology, calling women equal while denying them power.
A UTV favourite on retirement, grandchildren and the future: 'I don't think my work is quite done yet' - after three decades exploring Ulster's people and places, Joe Mahon is bringing Mahon's Way to a close.
If you were wondering what Sinn Fein's so-called 'shrine to terrorism' would have looked like, check this out.
'We're hoping to be a wee bit different': a lottery winner has submitted plans for a new Belfast Christmas market.
Belfast musician Katie Richardson is revelling in a run at London's Globe theatre with a musical twist on a Belfast story.
'It had a groove cut into it so the rope wouldn't slip': the church where criminals sentenced to death were hanged.
A new BBC documentary lays bare the IRA cover-up after the brutal Robert McCartney murder: 'This wasn't the killers' first...' - unseen footage shows the bloody aftermath of the 2005 killing that shook the peace process.
'A safety blanket until those struggling get help': a new mental health app for men; the East Belfast men behind it say the idea is to buy time, with 24-hour support and helpful tools and tips.
The UDA attacked a woman and trashed her home after a young man's death was wrongly linked to a pink cocaine party; a masked baseball bat gang beat the victim and smashed windows.
Stormont has descended into chaos as Michelle O'Neill walked out and Emma Little-Pengelly was left unable to continue; shouting MLAs and a First Minister leaving early expose divisions now impossible to conceal.
Events at Drumcree have seriously undermined unionist confidence in policing, a loyalist focus group says, setting out its concerns in a letter to the PSNI chief constable.
An unexplained aspect of police intelligence over dissidents at Drumcree may help bring understanding; more on the policing of Drumcree is expected on day two of the Orange Order case.
A judge is to rule next week on the Orange Order challenge over the banned Drumcree march.
Rhinos, Provos and loyalist terror bosses: Northern Ireland has become the land of the absurd where words fail - a society pretending all is well while deeply abnormal behaviour is not only accepted but encouraged.
Five sisters, a survivor and their search for justice after an IRA murder: 'We were too angry to be afraid'.
It's not just the plane that's sky high at NI's airports - so are the car park pick-up charges.
Concerns have been raised after an MLA claimed children need to be self-harming in order to access specialist young people's services; the Department of Health rejects the allegation but admits the service is under strain.
'We are on our knees': home care workers say they are paying to do their jobs; a UNISON meeting heard claims of inadequate mileage payments and low pay as the stalled Good Jobs Bill leaves employment reforms in limbo.
Sickening 'shoot Orange b*****d' sectarian stickers have been displayed in Belfast.