Today's other news stories in brief
Murder inquiry after body found
Gardaí are conducting a murder investigation after a woman in her 60s was found dead at her home in Ballybrack, Dublin, last night.
Gardaí believe the woman was strangled in her house in Willowvale, Church Road, shortly after 8pm.
A man was arrested at the scene and is undergoing medical treatment in hospital.
Irish woman drowns in Australia just three days after arriving
An Irish woman has drowned in a hotel pool, just three days after arriving in the Australia.
The body of Niamh Conlon (29) from Co Kildare was discovered by guests at the bottom of the Figtree Lodge pool in Cairns on Wednesday.
Ms Conlon had recently graduated from Athlone Institute of Technology. The Department of Foreign Affairs has been in contact with her family.
Bloom alliance to help poor launched
A campaigning group aimed at ensuring the poorest people in the world are not forgotten amid current financial crises was announced last night.
The Bloom Movement for Global Justice was formally unveiled by Cathryn O'Reilly, one of the key leaders of the Dunnes Stores strike against South Africa's apartheid in the 1980s. She participated for the full duration of the strike from July 1984 until April 1987.
The Bloom Movement is an alliance of like-mined groups - Comhlámh, Debt and Development Coalition Ireland, the Latin America Solidarity Centre and the Africa Centre. It was founded to "reinvigorate the public outcry against global injustice", said Ms O'Reilly.
Nessa Ní Chasaide, co- ordinator of the Debt and Development Coalition, said there was a sense that the voices for global justice in Ireland may be lost while the national focus was so firmly on recession and cutbacks.
"We have a long history here in Ireland of solidarity with the poorest people of the world and we want to ensure that that work is strengthened." She said the movement would deepen and strengthen the work of member groups by co-ordinating them.
José Antonio Gutierrez of the Latin America Solidarity Campaign said the majority of the world's population lived in economic slavery. "Our leaders must listen to the people's outrage at global injustice."
See www.bloommovement.org
Childline concert for O2 confirmed
The annual Childline concert has been confirmed as the first concert to be staged at the new O2 Point in Dublin. Boyzone, Shayne Ward, Scouting for Girls and The Script are among the acts who will take part on December 16th.
It is hoped that Childline, the State's biggest children's charity, will receive €400,000 for the event. Tickets priced at €40 go on sale next Thursday. Previous concerts have raised €2.5 million for the charity since their inception in 1997.
Trinity talk on space and asteroids
The three men who were the first Irish for more than 149 years to discover asteroids will give a talk at the annual Astronomy Ireland conference exhibition tomorrow in the Science Gallery, Trinity College.
David McDonald, David Grennan and Andreas Doppler will give a lecture. Also speaking at the event will be space author Brian Harvey who will explain how China is poised beat Nasa by landing a man on the moon in the next decade. Nasa scientist Dr James McAteer will give a talk on Nasa spacecraft monitoring the sun 24 hours a day.
Seán Kelly opens sports complex
Cycling legend Seán Kelly performed the honours as a €22 million sports complex was officially opened at NUI Galway yesterday.
The state-of-the-art facility on the banks of the River Corrib will cater for thousands of students at the university as well as the general public.
The 6,500 sq m complex is part of a €400 million capital programme at NUI Galway.
The new sports centre includes a 25 metre six-lane swimming pool with moveable floor, squash, racquetball and basketball courts, multipurpose studios, gym and a hi-tech climbing wall.
Funding for the centre came partly from the students themselves by agreeing to increases in the annual student levy, while the international philanthropic organisation, Atlantic Philanthropies, also made a major contribution towards the project.
The opening was welcomed by university president Dr Jim Browne.
Showjumper Benny Kuehnle dies aged 20
The world of Irish show jumping has been shocked by the death of talented rider Benny Kuehnle who had been competing at the international show in Cavan.
Kuehnle (20) represented Ireland at this year's European young riders championships in Prague where he led the team to sixth place and finished 11th of 65 in the individual competition. As a senior rider, he was making his mark on the national circuit and last month won the opening Welcome Stakes at the Northern Ireland International Horse Show in Belfast, riding Looping Star.
Gormley, Smith row on emissions
Environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth says a row between Minister for the Environment John Gormley and Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith highlights the needs for climate change law here.
Mr Gormley criticised comments made by Mr Smith at a Teagasc conference earlier this week when he argued against reducing cattle numbers to help Ireland meet the EU target of a 20 per cent reduction in emissions by 2020. He said it would make no sense as Irish beef would be replaced by beef from other countries.
Friends of the Earth director Oisín Coghlan said a climate change law, such as that introduced in Britain recently, would ensure all Ministers took their responsibility seriously.
Garrett Tubridy to run for FF
The operations manager for the Heineken Cup, Garrett Tubridy, is to run for Fianna Fáil in next year's local elections. Mr Tubridy (33) will compete for a seat on Dublin City Council representing Pembroke and Rathmines.
He was one of eight Dublin candidates announced yesterday by Fianna Fáil's National Constituencies Committee.
He is married with one son. Both his grandfathers, Seán Tubridy and Todd Andrews, were founding members of the party and he has worked on campaigns for his uncles - former foreign affairs minister David Andrews and the late Niall Andrews. He is a brother of RTÉ presenter Ryan Tubridy.
Siptu warns of brewery action
Siptu has warned of possible industrial action at Beamish and Crawford brewery following its recent takeover by Heineken.
The union has expressed concerns in letters to management about the announcement of a redundancy package and the advertising of redeployment options without consultation.
Murder trial jury sent to hotel
The jury in the trial of a man who strangled his girlfriend and is accused of her murder has been sent to a hotel overnight.
Stephen Carney (33) has pleaded not guilty to murdering Amanda Jenkins (27) at their home in October 2007.
He admits killing her after a row over cannabis.