Cheryl Cole’s four-year marriage to footballer husband Ashley ended today on the grounds of his admitted unreasonable behaviour.

Retail sales volumes in both the euro zone and the EU27 rose by 1 per cent from June to July, according to new data from Eurostat.

Soccer:Former Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier has emerged as a leading candidate to replace Martin O’Neill as Aston Villa manager. The Frenchman has been interviewed by Villa owner Randy Lerner and created a favourable impression with the American multi-millionaire.

Golf:Hurricane Earl has prompted PGA Tour officials to bring tee times forward by 40 minutes for the first round of the Deutsche Bank Championship today. The first groups will tee off at 7am local time (12pm Irish time) because officials are fearful foul weather will disrupt play later in the day.

Tennis:It looms as a mismatch of classic proportions. Andy Murray, the world number four and one of the favourites to win the US Open title against Dustin Brown, a dreadlocked Jamaican ranked 123rd in the world.

Architectural and Metal Systems (AMS) is to create 31 new jobs in Co Cork as part of a €8 million expansion.

There were no signs last night of an oil spill following a fire on an oil and gas platform operated by Mariner Energy in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP has said the cost of dealing with its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico had risen to $8 billion as the oil giant prepared to release the findings of an internal probe into the causes of the disaster.

Kerry Group's bid to acquire Newmarket Co-op got a boost today after shareholders at the Cork-based co-op voted in favour of a rule change which allows the PLC to proceed with an offer.

With little rain forecast, fans, musicians – and even charity cyclists – can expect a bumper weekend in Laois, writesRONAN McGREEVY

The pace of recovery in the euro zone's dominant service sector barely changed in August from July, according to a business survey that showed growth of the bloc's wider private sector slowed slightly last month.

The head of the UN nuclear watchdog has invited Israel to consider joining a global anti-nuclear arms pact and to place all its atomic facilities under his agency's inspections, an IAEA report said today.

Labour Party Wicklow TD Liz McManus has announced her intention not to stand in the next general election.

Losses at Merrion Pharmaceuticals narrowed by 65 per cent in the first-half of this year.

The board of the National Transport Authority (NTA) is to meet later today to decide the fate of the Rosslare to Waterford rail line, which Iarnród Éireann is proposing to shut down.

The expansion of Ireland's services sector slowed in August but companies remained confident about future prospects and recorded rising orders from both home and abroad, a survey showed today.

Militant groups in the Gaza Strip said last night they had joined forces to step up attacks against Israel, possibly including suicide bombings.

A website supporting Iran's reform movement says assailants have attacked the home of an opposition leader and wounded one of his bodyguards.

Irish banks may need to impose much larger ATM fees on their customers if the number of bank robberies involving hostage taking is to be reduced, Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern has said.

Israeli and Palestinian leaders have agreed to engage in a series of direct talks, seeking to forge the framework for a US-backed peace deal within a year and an end to the six decade-long conflict.