A BOMB scare at Paris Beauvais airport meant some Irish air travellers were stranded in France late last night.
Ryanair passenger Gerry McDonagh said a controlled explosion was eventually carried out on a suspect suitcase that was on a footpath near the main terminal.
A Ryanair spokeswoman saidd: "Due to a security alert at Paris Beauvais, Ryanair flights to Bergamo, Dublin and Prestwick were forced to depart with not all passengers on board.
"The circumstances were beyond our control.
"Beauvais airport security was unable to clear all passengers and their bags through security in time for the flight departure before the closure of the airport. The flights remained at the airport for as long as possible before the airport closed."
Man dies in house fire
A man in his 40s has died in a house fire in Co Tipperary, writes Ronan McGreevy.
The fire at the semi-detached bungalow in Father Terry Park in Fethard broke out at around 1.30am yesterday morning.
The occupant of the house next door was alerted by neighbours and escaped unhurt. Gardaí and units from Clonmel Fire Brigade attended the scene and human remains were subsequently discovered.
The man, who has not yet been named, was the only person in the house.
£100m back-pay for civil servants
Up to 9,000 civil servants in the North are in line for back-pay that will cost over £100 million (€125 million), writes Gerry Moriarty, Northern Editor.
The payment is due to a long-standing pay inequality in the system highlighted by the Department of Finance.
Lower-grade civil servants will benefit, some to the tune of up to £20,000, due to underpayments they had been receiving for 38 years.
The back-pay will, however, only cover the past six years.
The department said its legal advice recommended that the compensation not go beyond six years.
'Career criminal' refused bail
A man (34) with 464 criminal convictions was refused bail at the Magistrate's Court in Derry yesterday when he appeared on a burglary charge.
The court was told that Eamon Edward Lynch from Duddy's Court in the Waterside area of the city has 276 road traffic convictions, the largest number recorded in Northern Ireland.
He also has 50 previous convictions for burglary and he appeared in court yesterday charged with entering as a trespasser, with intent to rob, his godfather's house at Winchester Court in the Waterside last Wednesday.
A police officer described him as a "prolific career criminal".
Fellowship for journalist
Irish Timesfeatures writer Rosita Boland has been awarded a fellowship at Harvard University by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism.
Boland is one of 28 journalists from around the globe to be named to the 71st class of Nieman Fellows.