www.reuters.com
Reuters news agency, now 150 years into what it calls "the business of information", is still dedicated to delivering news with speed, accuracy, integrity, impartiality and innovation. If you are doing a school or college project based on any current issue this should be one of the first calls you make. Reuters is particularly strong on anything to do with the US, but is also very good on world politics, business, technology, science and sports.
www.newsnow.co.uk
British-based NewsNow aims to provide "Quality news headlines updated every five minutes, every day". The site, which operates as a portal of links to other sources, is divided into well-stocked sections on business and finance, technology, current affairs, sport and entertainment. It is designed for people who want to be kept informed, but who don't have the time to go to lots of different sites. Generally right up to date, it does what it does very well.
www.ap.org
AssociateD Press, the world's oldest and largest news organisation, was founded in 1848 by six New York newspapers that had begun to find competing with each other for news from Europe too expensive. The history section - something that so many sites fall down on - is wonderful. But the news content is what most people will be visiting for, and AP will not disappoint them. It does not serve 15,000 news organisations every day for nothing.
www.ireland.com
As, of course, you all know, this is the online edition of The Irish Times. But it is also so much more than that. A newspaper is one day; ireland.com is an archive search of years of the paper - an invaluable service for any research project. It is also a portal, with separate sites for the excellent breaking news service, technology, sports, weather, Northern Ireland and more. Special reports on Irish current affairs can also be found here.
www.janes.com
If you are writing about any of the world's many current conflicts Jane's is the place to go. It claims to be, and in many cases is, the leading source for global defence, geopolitical and law enforcement information. It all started 100 years ago when Fred T Jane (hence the odd name for a publication dedicated to war) first sat down to annotate the details of the world's fighting ships. A good site, even if a lot of it is links to things they want you to buy.
