NewsBank (Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland))

The weather phenomenon known as the Azores high can make the difference between a summer to forget and one to remember. So called because it originates in the Azores off the coast of west Africa, the high pressure area builds from the south and gradually settles over Ireland and the UK. It displaces the jet stream which brings with it Atlantic fronts and unsettled weather.

The family of murdered French film producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier have welcomed the news that An Garda Síochána is to carry out a full cold case review of the west Cork killing, which took place more than a quarter of a century ago.

The Garda decision to establish a cold case review into the 1996 murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier, while sudden, was not unexpected given the attention the case has garnered internationally in recent years.

Sir, - In response to Steven Maloney's letter (June 27th), could it be that the problem is that the pre-2012 salaries for consultants were too high? It depends on what type of society we want; as Mick Lynch of the UK rail union said, if we want a fairer society us better-paid people are going to have to accept a little less. Consultants, even at the newer salaries, are still among the best-paid...

Volkswagen can overtake Tesla to become the largest electric vehicle manufacturer by 2025, as the challenge of lifting production weakens its fiercest rival, the German group's chief executive has claimed.

AIB and Bank of Ireland, the State's two main mortgage lenders, said they are continuing to keep their mortgage rates under review, after rival Permanent TSB (PTSB) suggested that it and the wider sector could resist passing on initial rate hikes from the European Central Bank (ECB) in the coming months.

Number 13 Dufferin Avenue, Dublin 8, is a fine example of the perfect marriage between technology and architecture. The Victorian mid-terrace house was originally brought back into a single-family home by Irish-born architect Mark Guard, a founding member of London-based firm Guard Tillman Pollock, who specialise in high-end modernist buildings.

Increasing numbers of autistic children in Northern Ireland are being homeschooled as mainstream classrooms "aren't fit to support their needs", a charity has warned.

Blixa Bargeld appears on my laptop screen sporting a striking head of lengthy lockdown hair. "This is the result of two years without a barber," he exclaims, tugging at his vast locks. "I don't know what it is like to play live any longer. I feel like I haven't been to a restaurant in a hundred years. Let's just say I've missed life terribly, but enough virus talk."

For decades Ireland has ably exploited the many advantages afforded to us as a full member of the EU, and as a country firmly committed to the rules-based multilateral order. This has allowed Ireland to become an attractive location for foreign direct investment, especially from the US. Internationally we have positioned ourselves as a militarily non-aligned intersection between the US and Europe,

Patient advocates have welcomed the approval of a first treatment for Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), also known as butterfly skin disease, by European medicines regulators.

Fujifilm's instax mini Link 2 Smartphone Printer may look very like the original mini Link on the outside. It's small, lightweight and even has the same styling.

[BYLINE1]Stephen Bourke

Nineteen of 20 co-accused were found guilty as charged last night at the culmination of a 10-month trial for the most murderous Islamist attack in French history.

Sir, - Nicola Sturgeon hopes to hold a referendum on Scottish independence on October 19th, 2023, but before doing so will make an application to the UK supreme court seeking confirmation that such a referendum will be lawful (World, June 29th). It seems unlikely that the court will accede to that application as, under the UK constitution, parliament is supreme, and there is already a legal...

Israel's outgoing prime minister Naftali Bennett has announced he is taking a break from politics and will not run in the autumn election.

The decision to travel to New Zealand with just three props on either side of the scrum and three hookers for a tour featuring five games in a 24-day period may have been designed to see how Ireland would cope with stress.

The first big gig that awaited Paschal Donohoe when he was appointed Minister for Finance this month five years ago was to sign off on the final paperwork surrounding the sale of a 25 per cent stake in AIB in an initial public offering (IPO) that raised €3.4 billion. Such was the demand for the stock at the time that investment banks managing the deal placed a further 2.8 per cent stake, reducing

Sir, - In Michael Harding's article about a couple in a cafe, he states: "She was eating her own sandwich. She took it out of her handbag'' ("I witnessed the intimacies and exquisite tenderness of mature love in the cafe of a large department store", Life, June 29th). There seemed to be no consideration that the lady may be a coeliac or had some other dietary constraints. I am coeliac and know...

Sir, - Angela Ruttledge's article "The latte levy is a signal that we need to change our behaviour" (Opinion & Analysis, June 17th) states that "not all reusable cups are made from plastic". It is obvious that given the commercial and practical aspects involved the vast bulk of "keep cups" will be made of hard plastic.

GPs are reporting a recent increase in Covid-19 cases among patients, but warn that community spread is happening in early stages of the disease when people are symptomatic but are still negative on antigen tests .

I have a soft spot for the Marshall Acton speaker range. The bluetooth devices look like an old-school amp but pack modern wireless technology under its grille so you can use it with your bluetooth-enabled devices. It's the most compact speaker in Marshall's home line-up, but it offers sound that will fill up the room, re-engineered to be even more immersive. Getting set up is simple, with a...

As if a €5.7 million prize fund isn't incentive enough, there are fringe benefits in play at the tournament this week with the R&A offering the leading three players who finish in the top-10 and ties who are not already exempt places in the 150th British Open at St Andrews on July 14th-17th.

Q I a m a photographer and a sole trader, and am looking to build an office in my back garden so I can dispense with renting an office in my local town and work from home. Before I proceed, I was wondering what the most tax-efficient way to do this is. For example, I've heard it might be possible to write off up to €3,000 pa for depreciation every year for seven years if you go the wooden/ garden

The Government has said it hopes to accommodate 2,000 Ukrainian refugees in 500 modular homes by the end of the year.

"Why should Africa care about the events in Ukraine?" a journalist from Lesotho asked Ukraine's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba.

Sixty-two criminal charges were brought last year against named individuals arising from investigative work by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE).

European shares fell yesterday, as fears about a global recession deepened after chiefs of the European Central Bank and US Federal Reserve stuck to their hawkish stance.

Switching to a new phone is easy enough these days. The wheezing older model formed a huddle with the shiny oversized new thing, and within a few minutes had effected a near-complete digital handover. One exception was the notification settings. As they reset to the default, my new phone began to beep and buzz incessantly, like the strange offspring of R2-D2 and a cheap vibrator.

Scientists have designed a tiny robot-fish that is programmed to remove microplastics from seas and oceans by swimming around and adsorbing them on its soft, flexible, self-healing body.