The money is part of a €520 million aid package from the EU to help Mali rebuild its country following a war with Islamist militants earlier this year.
Irish troops will go to Mali next month, where approximately 375,000 people have been displaced due to internal conflict. The immense humanitarian fallout of the situation must not be overlooked, writes Emilia Sorrentino.
The Al-Qaeda leader was suspected of being behind a series of brutal kidnappings in several countries, including those of a British national and a French aid worker.
French and Malian troops now control the historic town in which Islamist rebels are said to have destroyed thousands of ancient Muslim and Greek manuscripts.
Survivors of the four-day crisis say they were strapped to explosives while some describe finding bodies riddled with bullets, their heads half blown away by the impact.
British prime minister David Cameron has confirmed that three Britons are dead and another three are presumed dead as other governments scramble for information on their citizens.
The Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has called for the immediate release of an Irish citizen reportedly among those kidnapped from a BP oil field in the south of Algeria.
The French government believes that its intervetion in the west African country will be over in a matter of weeks but officials have said that Islamist militants are better trained and armed than expected.
We take a brief look at the explorers, including one Irish man, who tried and failed to make it to the fabled city, the one who finally did and the other who made it out alive.
The bloc of West African nations has suspended Mali’s membership and send a delegation a week after the military ousted the democratically-elected president.
A NEW STUDY has claimed that the number of deaths caused by smoking in the home could be comparable to the number of road deaths recorded in Ireland.
According to the NUI Galway-led research, the concentration of particulate pollution in the homes of smokers (who smoke indoors) is six-times higher than the World Health Organisation’s recommendation for general outdoor air quality, 10 times the allowable level for healthy breathing in homes and up to 17 times greater than levels actually found outdoors.
Smoking at home causes greater levels of air pollutants than using solid fuels such as coal, wood, peat and gas, says Dr Marie Coggins.
Since the introduction of the smoking ban in Ireland, many people have found it easier to stop people smoking in their own homes. So, in today’s poll we ask: Do you allow smoking in your home?
A blend of sun and clouds
Max: 17 °C
Min: 7 °C
Clouds giving way to some sun
Max: 14 °C
Min: 4 °C
Mostly cloudy, showers around; cooler
Max: 11 °C
Min: 4 °C
