Three-quarters of Premier League fans are against the use of VAR, a survey by the Football Supporters’ Association has found. More than 90 per cent also feel the technology has removed the spontaneous joy of goal celebrations. The introduction this season of in-game announcements to explain VAR decisions is supported by more than half of fans but there is still disgruntlement about the communication process overall. The FSA’s Premier League network manager Thomas Concannon said: “These findings back up the FSA’s previous survey in 2021, where fans expressed misgivings about the introduction of VAR. “As part of ongoing dialogue with supporters, Premier League research indicates fans are largely in favour of keeping VAR, but improving the way it is used.”

On the road outside Artigarvan Primary School in Co Tyrone, two police officers have their speed guns poised and ready. Inside, the “Kids’ Court” is waiting. In the classroom, a single, empty chair faces a row of 11-year-old pupils at a long table, stern-faced as judges, ready to hold speeding drivers to account. Photograph: Bryan O’BrienArtigarvan Primary School, Strabane where a ‘Kids Court’ set up by the PSNI to tackle speeding took place recently. Robert, Mason and Alicia on the ‘bench’ at Artigarvan Primary School, Strabane, where a ‘Kids’ Court’ aims to re-educate drivers about the dangers of speeding.

Yet he is hardly the first American president to be tempted into a disastrous war by the bloated size of the American military. The US has always been a violent country, but before the second World War, it was far less militarised than Europe. The former second World War general worried that “we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions”. Though that power is reserved in the US constitution for Congress, the last time the US formally declared war was during the second World War. For decades, there has been a bipartisan consensus in the US on the excessive military spending that has enabled Trump’s war.

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Camus, who was active in the French Resistance against Nazi occupation, analysed our moral condition in an unusual fashion. Photograph: Loomis Dean/Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesWere he here today, what stories would Camus tell? Weeks later, an anti-war demonstration is organised by women in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahia. When Camus told his four stories, he left the audience to think for themselves on how to respond. The second thing to do is to unburden the world of the terror that reigns today and prevents clear thought.”

A service takes place in an empty Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, in November 2023. Photograph: Neil Hall/EPAIsraeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said he is restoring access to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem after police prevented a Catholic leader from holding Mass on Palm Sunday, prompting international backlash. Netanyahu said Iran has repeatedly targeted holy sites in Jerusalem with ballistic missiles, including a strike that sent fragments close to the church. “As a result, and for the first time in centuries, the heads of the church were prevented from celebrating the Palm Sunday Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,” the patriarchate said. “Freedom of worship in Jerusalem must be fully guaranteed, without exception, for all faiths,” the EU’s Kallas said.

The majority of those reported killed were in Iran and Lebanon, and many were civilians. Trump also threatened to attack the desalination plants that supply clean water in Iran. He said last week he would pause attacks on Iran's energy plants for 10 days, which would be until April 6, U.S. time. Baghaei also said Iran's parliament was reviewing a possible exit from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which recognises the right to develop, research, produce and use nuclear energy as long as nuclear weapons are not pursued. Trump has cited preventing Iran obtaining nuclear weapons as one of the reasons for attacking Iran on February 28.

Greetings from my walking pad, where I’m bringing you my latest column while striving for buns of steel. You may be wondering what a walking pad is. Anyone who’s anyone has a walking pad. This is where the walking pad comes in. Will I become the sort of person who mentions owning a walking pad in passing conversation?

The idea of working in a chocolate factory conjures up images of opulent chocolate fountains, gorgeous scents wafting in the air and an endless supply of delectable sweet treats throughout the day. “The amazing thing about this job is that everyone has fantasies about working in a chocolate factory,” says Mullins. “I don’t do Easter eggs, because I don’t have enough space for the moulds and the eggs. “Even the name of our chocolate, Grá, lets people know that there’s a lot of love that goes into what we do. “I think all of the amazing artisan chocolatiers around Ireland are collectively showing and educating our customers about what chocolate is, so it’s a really exciting time in the Irish chocolate world.”Linehan is also more than positive about the overall Irish chocolate trade.

Photograph: Alan BetsonAn Afghan doctor who has lived in Ireland for more than a decade said she feared for her family’s safety after her brother was physically attacked in Co Meath earlier this month and told to “speak English”. Fatima Abdullah (33) moved to Ireland in 2015, joining her husband, who had moved here the year before to work as a doctor. Abdullah’s parents and siblings moved to Ireland in 2022, after the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan in 2021. Her brother, Ibrahim Samim, was allegedly headbutted by a man in a takeaway in Navan, Co Meath. If you want to be seen, it has to be [one of them].’”Despite the recent assault, Abdullah said her family had no plans to move.

Main PointsKey ReadsDenis Staunton: Four regional powers may offer best chance to end Iran war. “I tell president Trump: nobody can stop the war in our region in the Gulf but you,” he said at the Egypt Energy Show 2026 energy ​conference in Cairo. Last week after President Trump said the US and Iran had held “very good and productive conversations” about ending the war, Iranian officials quickly denied any such talks had occurred. President Trump ‌has threatened to cut trade with Madrid for denying the US use ​of Spain’s bases in the war. PRESIDENT TRUMP: "Yeah, Cuba's going to be next.

Belgian prime minister Bart De Wever, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban and Slovakia's prime minister Robert Fico at the start of an EU leaders' summit in Brussels last year. Photograph: EPAGovernments in five EU member states are “consistently and intentionally” eroding the rule of law, Europe’s leading civil liberties group has warned, while democratic standards are deteriorating in six more, including historically strong democracies. Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban is seen after a speech during the Conservative Political Action Conference in Budapest earlier this month. But after seven annual editions, Liberties’ findings highlight “not only backsliding, but also ongoing and deliberate efforts to undermine the rule of law. When that happens, McCourt added, the institutions “undermine the credibility of the EU and of its own rule of law reports”.

Munster can rightly take encouragement for a late campaign push in the final weeks of league play. “That’s what we elected to do and you never quite know if it works until you play the game, but we had a good week’s preparation. The Bulls though, had just stretched the lead when wing Cheswill Jooste finished from 50 metres after carving through the Munster defence. Munster had a chance when Edwin Edogbo smashed through the Bulls defensive wall for the team’s fifth try, giving the tourists hope of victory. We’ll go back with good energy.”Scorers for Bulls: Tries: E Papier (2), C Moodie, C Jooste; Cons: H Pollard (4); Pens: Pollard (2).

That Croke Park performance and Division 1 final win for Donegal on Sunday was both a statement and an answer - a statement to the possibilities that 2026 holds and an answer to the way 2025 finished. The hurt from that All-Ireland final loss poured out of them in a very positive way and drove them on with a steely determination. While it won’t disappear, it addresses it for now and fills their bucket of belief for the road ahead.

Land-access disputes and environmental concerns have made plotting greenways difficult in Ireland, stalling progress on flagship routes in the absence of straightforward, existing pathways along canals and old railway lines. “We don’t call it the Great Western Greenway any more. Seán Kelly on the Great Western Greenway in Newport, Co Mayo. He has recently published a book, Greenways of Ireland, (available from Three Rock Books) which charts many of the major routes. “What we need now is to try to connect them up a bit better, so that you can access them by public transport a bit easier.