The Republic of Ireland outclass Northern Ireland’s young line-up in Tuesday’s Nations Cup clash in Dublin.
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The Grimsvotn eruption has been causing havoc with flight schedules in parts of the UK
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There are hopes that the worst of the disruption caused to flights by the Icelandic ash cloud is now over.
Weather forecasts suggest that ash over the UK could dissipate between Tuesday night and Wednesday night.
The majority of affected flights in NI have been to and from airports in Scotland and north-east England.
A number of flights from City of Derry Airport were also cancelled. Airports are still advising passengers to check with their airline before leaving home.
Despite later cancelling its flights, the Irish carrier Ryanair claimed it had made a test flight through ash over Scotland and challenged a ruling some flights should be grounded.
Ryanair said its 90-minute flight at 41,000ft showed there was “no visible volcanic ash cloud or evidence of ash on the airframe, wings or engines”.
Ryanair said the “red zone” over Scottish airspace where ash has been classified “high-density” was invented by the Met Office and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
But a CAA spokesperson said: “The CAA can confirm that at no time did a Ryanair flight enter the notified area of high contamination ash over Scotland this morning.”
BBC transport correspondent Richard Scott said the CAA confirmed Ryanair were being, at best, “misleading”.
The cancellations come just over a year after another volcanic eruption in Iceland caused widespread disruption across Europe, including the closure of UK airspace, amid concerns about the damage volcanic ash could cause to engine aircraft.
This year, in the UK, the decision on whether to fly or not in ash cloud conditions is down to individual airlines subject to aviation authority approval.
The CAA said procedures were “totally different” to last year and although no airlines had applied to fly in high-density ash, some had applied for, and been given, permission to fly in medium ash.
The Grimsvotn volcano in Vatnajokull National Park began erupting on Saturday and closed Iceland’s airspace for a period.
Experts say the eruption is on a different scale to the one last year and ash particles are larger and, as a result, fall to the ground more quickly.
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Police said inquiries were continuing into the attacks
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Cars belonging to journalists and photographers camped outside the home of Manchester United footballer Ryan Giggs have been vandalised.
A group of masked men pulled up in a Transit van on the street in Worsley, Salford, and attacked six vehicles.
Reporters said tyres were slashed and cars were kicked and covered in flour and eggs.
Greater Manchester Police were called to the scene earlier and said inquiries were continuing.
Giggs was named in Parliament as the married footballer exposed on Twitter as having an injunction over an alleged affair with reality TV star Imogen Thomas.
The 37-year-old midfielder is United’s most senior player, having appeared in 613 games for the club since 1990.
Giggs was earlier absent from an open training session in front of the world’s media, as part of United’s preparations for the Champions League final against Barcelona at Wembley on Saturday.
Ferguson moves to ban Giggs questioner
Manager Sir Alex Ferguson was caught on tape asking a press officer to ban a journalist who had asked a question about the Welshman during a press conference.
Associated Press (AP) reporter Rob Harris asked how important Giggs was for Saturday’s Champions League final against Barcelona.
Sir Alex replied: “All of the players are important, every one of them.” He then moved on to another question.
He was later overhead on a microphone telling a press officer to “ban him on Friday”. Another press conference is scheduled the day before the Champions League final.
A United spokesman pointed out that as Friday’s event is organised by Uefa, the Old Trafford club has no jurisdiction to ban Harris.
Lib Dem MP John Hemming named Giggs during an urgent Commons question on privacy orders on Monday.
Using parliamentary privilege to break the court order, he said it would not be practical to imprison the 75,000 Twitter users who had named the player.
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Hosni Mubarak and his sons could even face the death penalty
The decision to put Egypt’s former President Hosni Mubarak on trial looks to be a clear response by the country’s military rulers to pressure from the opposition.
A matter of days ago, the possibility of an amnesty for Hosni Mubarak was being openly discussed. His wife Suzanne Mubarak was released from custody after handing $4m (£2.5m) of assets to the government.
The same deal was under consideration for the former president, according to apparently well-sourced leaks in the newspapers.
But if it was an attempt to test the idea on the public, it backfired badly on the military.
They quickly denied that there was any plan for amnesty. Yet the idea still provoked calls for a major demonstration this Friday, in which there will be new demands for the army to hand over to civilian rule.
“Cynics suggest the military are putting the president on trial to save their skins”
So, the cynics suggest, the military are playing to the crowd, and putting the president – their former commander and colleague – on trial to save their skins.
There’s continued speculation over whether Mr Mubarak will be brought from Sharm el-Sheikh, where he is in hospital, to Cairo – another gesture that might please the opposition.
A committee of experts is reported to be visiting him to assess his condition.
He could either be moved to the military hospital in Cairo, or even to the hospital wing of the prison in which his sons Gamal and Alaa, and many other former officials and businessmen, are already being held.
Protesters are demanding tough sentences for members of the former regime
That would be a humiliating blow for a former president who is already reported to be confused and depressed following his rapid fall from grace.
In theory, Mr Mubarak and his sons could even face the death penalty on the charge of ordering the security forces to open fire on protesters.
That might satisfy some of the more outspoken protesters. But there is evidence that many other Egyptians feel that the detention and trial of the 83-year-old and his family is a distraction from the urgent task of rebuilding the country, whatever his alleged crimes.
It is all part of the ongoing tussle for power between the ruling military council, and the various sections of Egyptian society.
It was always going to be a complicated situation when President Mubarak was succeeded, ousted maybe, by the military officers who had helped keep him in power for so many years.
At the time, there was much debate over whether to call it a revolution or a coup.
Since that day, three and a half months ago, the opposition have made it abundantly clear they are not prepared to accept the replacement of one military dictatorship by another.
The military themselves do seem ready to hand over power, while fighting also to maintain their privileged position in Egyptian society.
The day-to-day affairs of the country are being run by the third prime minister and cabinet to be sworn in since January.
It is a struggle for power which could be played out for many months and years, and Hosni Mubarak’s fate is just one of the many issues in play.
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