Merkel says backstop deadlock can be broken

The German Chancellor has said it may be possible to break the deadlock over the Brexit border backstop before the UK leaves the EU on October 31st.

Angela Merkel was speaking ahead of a bilateral meeting with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Berlin this evening.

She said the backstop “has always been a fallback position” and noted that it will only come into force if no solution to the Irish border issue can be found.

She warned however that it must remain until there is “absolute clarity” on the future relationship between Britain and the EU.

Woman charged with Santina Cawley murder

A 35-year-old woman has been charged with the murder of two-year-old Santina Cawley in Cork city.

Karen Harrington - who is four and a half months pregnant - appeared before a special sitting of Cork District Court on Wednesday morning.

Detective Garda Cormac Crotty told the court that he arrested Karen Harrington at an address at Lakelands Crescent, Mahon just before 8.00am this morning.

She was taken to the Bridewell Garda station where she was charged with the murder of Santina Cawley at Elderwood Park, Boreenmanna Road on July 5th last.

Ryanair expects to run full flight schedule in Ireland and UK

Ryanair expects to operate a full flight schedule in and out of Ireland and the UK tomorrow.

It comes after the High Court granted airline's application for an injunction to stop this week’s planned strikes by 180 Dublin-based pilots.

It means members of the Irish Airline Pilots Association (IALPA), which is part of Fórsa, won’t be able to go on strike tomorrow and Friday.

In the UK meanwhile, the airline lost its court battle to prevent its British-based pilots from going on strike.

In a statement however, it said only 30% of its pilots were involved and it expected to operate its full schedule of flights in and out of UK airports.

Trump cancels Denmark trip over Greenland rebuke

The US President has said he cancelled his trip to Denmark because the country’s prime minister was “nasty” to him over his plan to purchase Greenland.

Donald Trump said his move to buy the world's biggest island was “just an idea” and said it was “not nice” of Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to dismiss it out of hand.

After it reported that he had repeatedly asked his aides to look into whether it would be possible to do a deal, politicians in Denmark and Greenland reacted with varying degrees of amusement and shock.

After he began talking about it publicly, Ms Frederiksen called it an “absurd discussion.”

Huge rise in wildfires in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest

There have been a record number of fires in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest this year, according to the country’s space agency.

The National Institute for Space Research (INPE) said there have been 74,155 fires detected so far this year.

It is the highest number since records began and marks an 84% rise on the same period last year.

There have been 35,590 this month alone.