10 years jail for heroin dealer

A DUBLIN man found storing heroin valued at almost €200,000 following a garda investigation into gang related drug dealing has been given a 10-year sentence.

Gardai also found €5,000 in cash, weighing scales, a stun gun and bullet proof vest. Christopher Conroy (25), with an address at Redmonds Court, Kilbarrack, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of the drugs for sale or supply at Melrose Park, Kinsealy, on October 21, 2008.

Passive smoke kills 600,000

Secondhand smoke kills more than 600,000 people worldwide every year, according to a new study.

In the first look at the global impact of secondhand smoking, researchers analysed data from 2004 for 192 countries. Scientists then estimated that passive smoking causes about 379,000 deaths from heart disease, 165,000 deaths from lower respiratory disease, 36,900 deaths from asthma and 21,400 deaths from lung cancer a year.

Korea 'on the brink of war'

North Korea lashed out at planned US-South Korean military drills today, saying they were pushing the peninsula to the "brink of war".

The comments came as a US general headed to an island devastated by North Korean artillery to show solidarity with American ally Seoul.

"The situation on the Korean peninsula is inching closer to the brink of war," the dispatch from the Korean Central News Agency said.

Joyce to fly on Airbus return

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce will be onboard tomorrow as the carrier flies its first Airbus SAS A380 service since a mid-air engine explosion.

Dublin native Joyce (44), who became CEO about two years ago, announced the withdrawal of the superjumbos in a televised press conference after an A380 made an emergency landing in Singapore.

The Rolls-Royce powered aircraft touched down with the rear of an engine cover blown away and damage to a wing and its fuselage. None of the passengers onboard was hurt.