The Irish Press - News from Dublin, Kilkenny, Waterford, Drogheda, Galyway, Ireland and the world

President Xi Jinping said China will put in place "more proactive" macroeconomic policies next year, state media reported, as he addressed a top political advisory body on Tuesday.

Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini and Taylor Fritz all clocked impressive wins Tuesday as tennis powerhouses Italy and the United States surged into the quarter-finals of the mixed-team United Cup.

The wall was tagged with graffiti above 22-year-old Sidi's bed in the lone psychiatric hospital in Mauritania, a country whose mental health system is as sparse as its desert landscapes.

Josh Hart delivered his third triple-double of the season on Monday to spark the New York Knicks to a 126-106 victory at Washington that stretched their win streak to eight games.

Famed actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie signed off on a divorce settlement Monday, according to People Magazine, marking a turning point in the eight-year legal saga.

Aryna Sabalenka overcame a sluggish start to open her season with a straight-sets victory Tuesday and kickstart her bid to win the Australian Open for a third consecutive time.

South Korean authorities began releasing the bodies of plane crash victims to families Tuesday, as investigators raced to determine why the Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 crash landed and burst into flames.

Animal ears and pom-poms on fuzzy hats adorn tourists' heads on the streets of the frigid northeastern Chinese city of Harbin, which is enjoying a surge in visitors driven by social media.

A red-hot Jasmine Paolini led Italy into the quarter-finals of the mixed-team United Cup on Tuesday, with the world number four in sizzling form.

Josh Hart delivered his third triple double of the season on Monday, sparking the New York Knicks in a 126-106 victory at Washington that stretched their win streak to eight games.

Asian stocks ended the year in the red on Tuesday after worries about 2025 and profit-taking turned Wall Street's usual holiday-period "Santa Claus rally" into a mini-rout.

Crowds will marvel at fireworks and toast champagne to greet 2025 on Tuesday, waving goodbye to a year that brought Olympic glory, a dramatic Donald Trump return, and turmoil in the Middle East and Ukraine.

Australia coach Andrew McDonald said he was optimistic Tuesday that pace spearhead Mitchell Starc will be fit for the decisive fifth Test against India while also backing misfiring Mitch Marsh.

A South Korean court has issued an arrest warrant for impeached, suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol, investigators said Tuesday, over his short-lived bid to impose martial law on the country.

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, celebrating his 40th birthday Monday, said he could play another five to seven years in the NBA at a high-caliber level -- though he conceded he would probably retire before then.

Former US Open champion Emma Raducanu on Tuesday pulled out of the Auckland Classic with a "back niggle" in a blow to her preparations for the Australian Open which starts in less than two weeks.

King Charles III announced awards for actors Stephen Fry and Carey Mulligan, as well as victims of Britain's Post Office scandal in the country's traditional New Year's Honours on Tuesday.

Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim said the English giants are in a battle for Premier League survival after Newcastle cruised to a 2-0 win at Old Trafford to inflict a fourth consecutive defeat on the hosts.

Ruben Amorim said Manchester United are in a battle for Premier League survival after losing 2-0 to Newcastle on Monday to end 2024 14th in the table.

Aston Villa wasted a chance to close the gap on the Premier League's top four as Tariq Lamptey's late equaliser salvaged a 2-2 draw for Brighton on Monday.

Chelsea's bid to climb back into the Premier League title race suffered a major blow as lowly Ipswich beat the Blues 2-0 at Portman Road on Monday.

Manchester United ended a 2024 to forget with a fourth consecutive defeat as Newcastle cruised to a 2-0 win at Old Trafford to intensify the scrutiny on Red Devils' boss Ruben Amorim.

In Jimmy Carter's tiny hometown of Plains, Georgia on Monday, the former US president's death was only beginning to sink in, even if friends and neighbors have been bracing for it since he went into hospice care nearly two years ago.

The US Treasury Department said Monday that a China state-sponsored actor was behind a cyber breach resulting in access to some of its workstations, according to a letter to Congress seen by AFP.

Venezuela's highest court on Monday fined TikTok $10 million in connection with viral challenges that authorities say left three adolescents dead from intoxication by chemical substances.

United Nations rights experts on Monday said Israel must face the consequences of "inflicting maximum suffering" on Palestinian civilians in Gaza, alleging Israel was defying international law and being sheltered by its allies.

About half of school-age children in Syria are missing out on education after nearly 14 years of civil war, Save the Children told AFP on Monday, calling for "immediate action".

Retiring Spanish football legend Jesus Navas tearfully bid farewell to his playing career on Monday with songs, chants and other tributes at a ceremony at Sevilla's packed Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan stadium.

The death toll from a road accident in southern Ethiopia has risen to at least 71 after a vehicle carrying a wedding party veered into a river, a local official said.

A Mexican mayor is under investigation for possible criminal links after public thanks were offered to a notorious cartel leader for giving gifts to children, President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday.

The German government, under fire for failing to prevent a deadly car-ramming attack on a Christmas market, argued on Monday that the tragedy would have been hard to prevent and said that the suspect appeared to be mentally disturbed.

The World Health Organization on Monday implored China to share data and access to help understand how Covid-19 began, five years on from the start of the pandemic that upended the planet.

Germany's government said Monday US billionaire tech baron Elon Musk is trying to sway February elections by praising the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), a move strongly rejected by major parties.

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has tapped dozens of former rebels for high-ranking army positions, several of whom are foreign fighters, a war monitor and experts said on Monday.

The United States on Monday unveiled almost $6 billion in military and budget aid for Ukraine, as Washington races to provide assistance before Donald Trump takes office next month.

Five people have been indicted in Argentina over the death of British singer Liam Payne, who fell from a Buenos Aires hotel balcony in October after consuming alcohol and drugs, prosecutors said Monday.

Part II of the AFP Sports deaths of the year includes Bela Karolyi, who coached Nadia Comaneci to the first 'Perfect 10' in Olympic gymnastics and Welsh rugby legends Barry John and JPR Williams:

Flags flew at half-staff across the United States on Monday as global tributes poured in for the life and legacy of Jimmy Carter -- the longest-lived US president who died aged 100.

Afghanistan veteran Hashmatullah Shahidi and Zimbabwe rookie Brian Bennett starred as the first Test was drawn after a rain-shortened final day in Bulawayo on Monday.