Donald Trump’s presidency has been dealt a double blow in two separate criminal courts in the US.
His former lawyer Michael Cohen has pleaded guilty to several charges relating to hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniel's, after making a deal with prosecutors.
Mr Cohen said he made the payments “at the direction" of a candidate for federal office.”
Meanwhile the president's ex-campaign manager Paul Manafort has been found guilty on eight counts of tax and bank fraud – the first conviction secured by Robert Mueller, the special prosecutor investigating Russian meddling in the US election.
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The Peter McVerry Trust says it's confident the homeless won't be left out in the cold during the Pope's visit.
The national housing and homeless charity says it's putting in as much preparation as it did for Storms Emma and Ophelia
CEO Pat Doyle said staff are doing everything they can to be ready for a very busy weekend.
He said the charity will be working with State authorities to ensure they have full access to the city despite traffic restrictions.
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A High Court judge is to rule later on whether to permit a judicial review of the appointment of Drew Harris as Garda Commissioner.
The former Deputy Chief Constable of the PSNI is due to take up the position next month.
Yesterday, lawyers for Belfast man Ciarán MacAirt told the court that appointing the former RUC officer to the role is a breach of Irish national security.
Lawyers for the State argued that view is simply a personal opinion, and doesn't merit a legal review.
Mr MacAirt - who lost his grandmother in the McGurk's bar bombing - says Mr Harris has obstructed the search for truth in the North.
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Publicans are blaming heavy alcohol excise taxes for killing off nearly 1500 pubs around the country in little over a decade.
The Drinks Industry Group of Ireland says hundreds of jobs have been lost due to a 17% drop in the number of pub businesses since 2005.
The group says rural areas lost a higher proportion of their pubs, with County Cork losing a quarter of public houses.
Padraig Cribben from the Vintners Federation of Ireland said government is favouring the off license trade.
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Kirsten Mate Maher has been crowned the 2018 International Rose of Tralee.
The Waterford Rose was selected as winner of the contest at the Festival Dome last night.
The 21-year-old student is the first woman of colour to win the annual competition.
Full of emotion as she received her crown, Kirsten thanked her fellow roses who she said were now her “friends for life.”
