Fresco raises €15m in funding to accelerate smart kitchen roll-out
Irish-based smart kitchen company Fresco has raised €15 million in funding to bring its personalised cooking companion app to more manufacturers and consumers globally. The company offers a platform to connect smart kitchen appliances. The funding will help boost the evolution of the AI Cooking Companion and accelerate its distribution, allowing Fresco to further grow its partnerships with the world’s biggest appliance brands. “The investment is now driving and bringing it to life.”Fresco is tapping into a global smart kitchen appliances market that is expected to reach $60 billion (€52 billion) by 2030. Despite the potential for growth, however, many appliance brands have not yet developed a way to offer personalised cooking experiences at scale.
Source:The Irish Times
December 10, 2025 14:57 UTC
Trump’s return to the rally stage delivers strange performance caught between past and future
“All these people,” he marvelled at the very end as the crowd in the Mount Airy Casino, Mount Pocono, chanted “USA! USA!” and Trump thundered: “We will fight, fight, fight, and we will win, win, win. For those who tuned in as a December freeze settled across the Plains and Rust Belt, this was a different rally. Audience members cheer for president Donald Trump at the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania. At one stage, Trump broke away to recall the conversation with his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, that persuaded him to leave the White House for the short flight up to the Poconos.
Source:The Irish Times
December 10, 2025 14:46 UTC
Best cars to buy in 2026: First-time EVs, seven seaters and long-distance drives
The era of the cheap electric car, for all the grumbling on Facebook (yes, we know you’re going to keep your diesel Avensis ...) is upon us. You’d think that all cars, electric or otherwise, would be able to do that. For rural driversIt’s an oddity that rural driving is actually spectacularly well-suited to electric cars, but still, few rural drivers will countenance buying and running an EV. Best: Dacia BigsterNew Dacia BigsterThere’s a very good argument that the Dacia Bigster is the single best all-round car on sale in Ireland right now. Also try: Volkswagen ID.7VW ID.7Can you really use an electric car for long journeys?
Source:The Irish Times
December 10, 2025 14:43 UTC
Planning permissions for apartments jump by 51%
Central Statistics Office figures show planning permissions for apartments rose by 51 per cent to 5,016 in the third quarter of 2025,. Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures indicate planning permissions for apartments rose by 51 per cent to 5,016 in the third quarter of 2025 compared with the same three-month period last year. Dublin had the highest number of apartment units granted planning permission at 2,782 which represented 55 per cent of the total for the State. Houses accounted for 55 per cent of all dwelling units granted planning permission while apartments made up the remaining 45 per cent. The number of one-off houses receiving planning permission in the third quarter rose by 21.6 per cent to 1,450 units.
Source:The Irish Times
December 10, 2025 14:39 UTC
PSNI officer lives in ‘CCTV prison camp’ after 2023 data breach, court hears
Within days of the data breach in 2023, it was confirmed that dissident republicans had accessed the information. Photograph: Peter Muhly/ AFP via Getty ImagesAn officer whose details were disclosed in the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) data breach now lives in a “CCTV prison camp”, the High Court in Belfast heard on Tuesday. The unprecedented data breach involved accidental publication on a website in response to the FOI request. The officer recalled his state of shock after learning about the data breach through news reports. It’s just terrible.”Later in evidence, MTB402 told how he decided to hand in his firearm as his mood continued to darken.
Source:The Irish Times
December 10, 2025 14:09 UTC
Abuse victims and sentencing
Sir, – Once again a judge has cited the age of a child abuser as a mitigating factor regarding the length of his sentence (“Former teacher at Willow Park primary school jailed for 10 years over indecent assault of eight boys,“ December 8th). As a victim of child abuse myself in the 1960s, I feel obliged to express my hurt and disappointment that this factor has been taken into account in this and several other sentences in the past. Where was the age of victims ever taken into account by the abusers? – Yours, etc,FINNIAN E MATHEWS,Skerries,Co Dublin.
Source:The Irish Times
December 10, 2025 13:07 UTC
‘Significant pressures’ on health services expected due to flu, Cabinet told
There has been early start to the flu season this year. Photograph: iStock“Significant pressures” on healthcare services is expected in coming weeks amid an early start to the flu season, the Cabinet has been told. Almost 2,000 new influenza cases were reported in the week ending November 29th, double the previous week. However, with flu cases set to put a strain on healthcare services, Ministers were told that co-circulation of RSV and Covid-19 will compound pressures. The number of people admitted as inpatients in hospitals due to flu also doubled in a week, with 418 hospitalisations recorded during the last week of November, compared with 213 the previous week.
Source:The Irish Times
December 10, 2025 09:02 UTC
Age classifications on websites and apps could be introduced under online safety reform plans
Photograph: George Chan/Getty ImagesLegally binding age classifications for websites and apps, similar to age ratings that exist for films and television shows, could be introduced under reforms proposed by a Government taskforce. The Coalition has already received legal advice on strengthening laws that make senior executives liable for noncompliance with online safety measures and is understood to have been told the area of law is extremely complicated. The online safety taskforce, which was chaired by children’s rights advocate Jillian van Turnhout, was set up in September 2024 in recognition of the harm that social media was doing to Irish children’s physical and mental health. The online taskforce is expected to recommend that the Government should go further and try to hold board members and big tech executives “accountable” for breaches of online safety rules that put children at risk. The online taskforce is expected to propose a new system where digital products and services are categorised by age-appropriateness, in a similar way to how films and TV shows are classified.
Source:The Irish Times
December 10, 2025 09:02 UTC
Storm Bram failed to dampen spirits on the one day all TDs are afforded a smile
Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy switches on the Oireachtas Christmas tree lights at Leinster House with disability rights activist Cara Darmody. While the crowd waited for Micheál and Simon to appear, the music played on and Leinster House got into the Christmas mood for one evening at least. This year, thanks to Storm Bram, the authorities decided to move the official start of the festive season from a windswept Leinster Lawn to the warm and dry confines of the Leinster House 2000 annex. Photograph: Barry Cronin/The Irish TimesWith M&S looking on, she proceeded to the main event – the switching on of the Leinster House illuminations. If all the promises come true, maybe Cara won’t have to come to Leinster House next year.
Source:The Irish Times
December 10, 2025 09:02 UTC
Trump increases pressure on Ukraine to accept US peace plan and calls for election
You know, when you’re losing, ’cause he’s losing,” Mr Trump told Politico magazine, according to a published transcript of their interview. “I give the people of Ukraine and the military of Ukraine tremendous credit for the, you know, bravery and for the fighting and all of that. They’re using war not to hold an election, but, uh, I would think the Ukrainian people ... should have that choice,” Mr Trump told Politico in the interview published on Tuesday. The Americans today are looking for a compromise,” Mr Zelenskiy said after meeting the leaders of Britain, Germany and France in London. Mr Zelenskiy held talks with EU and Nato officials in Brussels on Monday evening, before flying to Rome to meet Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni and Pope Leo XIV.
Source:The Irish Times
December 10, 2025 08:58 UTC
Drone sighting during Zelenskiy visit example of Russia’s hybrid attacks, says EU Council President
Taoiseach Micheál Martin with President of the European Council, António Costa, during a press conference at Government Buildings, Dublin, on Tuesday. A number of drones were observed by Irish security personnel in Dublin Bay at about 11pm on Monday last week. They were spotted close to the flight path of the plane carrying president Volodymyr Zelenskiy as it approached Dublin Airport. Mr Martin was speaking at a joint press conference with President of the EU Council António Costa during a visit by the former Portuguese prime minster to Dublin. “The recent violations of the airspace of EU member countries is reckless and threaten European security and regional stability,” said Mr Costa.
Source:The Irish Times
December 10, 2025 06:50 UTC
European shares little changed ahead of Fed rate decision
Traders also kept an eye on a bidding war between Paramount Skydance and Netflix over Warner Bros in the US. European shares ended flat on Tuesday as investors stayed cautious going into the US Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting. Plans announced by Google to launch artificial intelligence-powered glasses led to Ray-Ban owner EssilorLuxottica slumping, but Warner Bros shares are on the rise amid the bidding war between Netflix and Paramount. Rheinmetall, RENK and Hensoldt gained between 3.6 per cent and 5.9 per cent, lifting the sector index 0.9 per cent. Warner Bros shares on Tuesday.
Source:The Irish Times
December 10, 2025 06:00 UTC
Thousands of children treated for acute malnutrition in Gaza since ceasefire, says UN
Internally displaced Palestinian children play between the ruins of destroyed buildings in Al Remal neighborhood in Gaza City on December 7th. Photograph: Mohammed Saber/EPAThousands of children have been admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition in Gaza since an October ceasefire that was supposed to enable a major increase in humanitarian aid, the United Nations children’s agency said on Tuesday. Unicef, the biggest provider of malnutrition treatment in Gaza, said 9,300 children were treated for severe acute malnutrition in October, when the first phase of an agreement to end the two-year Israel-Hamas war came into effect. These give Israel control of more than half of Gaza, including most agricultural land and the border crossing with Egypt. The lieut gen’s commitment to keep troops in Gaza appears to contradict the ceasefire agreement signed in October, which specifies that “Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza”.
Source:The Irish Times
December 10, 2025 02:48 UTC
Irish farmers’ nitrates derogation extended by EU for further three years
The nitrates derogation, which allows 7,000 Irish dairy farmers to spread more fertiliser on their land than their European counterparts, had been due to expire at the end of this year. The Government has spent months intensively lobbying officials in the European Commission, the union’s executive arm that proposes and enforces EU laws, for further leeway, to prolong an existing Irish derogation to nitrates rules. The nitrates derogation, which allows 7,000 Irish dairy farmers to spread more fertiliser on their land than their European counterparts, had been due to expire at the end of this year. The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, which represents dairy farmers, welcomed the continued recognition of Ireland’s “unique grass-based system”. The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) said obtaining the extension was a “relief” but a longer-term solution is needed.
Source:The Irish Times
December 10, 2025 02:05 UTC
Claims that Enoch Burke is jailed for his beliefs are ‘lies’, judge rules
A High Court judge has comprehensively rejected claims by jailed schoolteacher Enoch Burke that there were errors in an earlier judgment jailing him over his repeated trespass at Wilson’s Hospital School in Co Westmeath. Mr Burke remained online even after the judge had given his judgment but interrupted again when the court resumed to continue other business. The judge ordered that Mr Burke’s microphone should be muted and at that stage Mr Burke picked up his belongings and left the screen. In his earlier judgment, the judge said: “There is something deeply unsettling about Mr Burke’s presence at the school. Confront the principal, confront the bishop, confront the school, confront the security guards; confront the courts.”His verbal aggression was one of the reasons for his dismissal, he said.
Source:The Irish Times
December 10, 2025 02:01 UTC