Judge slams senior counsels

A CIRCUIT court judge has said that she is concerned about the practice of senior barristers not showing up for sentence hearings despite being assigned to a case.

Sitting at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court Judge Mary Ellen Ring said that the court is concerned that senior counsel are being granted to defendants but that the barristers are then not representing their clients after the defendants plead guilty.

She said they are leaving the sentence hearings up to junior counsel.

Ash detector takes to skies

Technology to help aircraft detect volcanic ash is to go into commercial production, with easyJet planning to be the first airline to use it.

Effectively a weather radar for ash, the AVOID system has been supported by easyJet and should reduce the chances of a repeat of the Icelandic volcanic ash-cloud crisis of spring 2010.

Mandarins told to ditch cars

china is telling thousands of civil servants to give up their Audis and get on the bus.

Most Chinese officials must sell their government vehicles in return for up to €154 a month in public transport aid. The officials will have to help their drivers find another job.

The ban is part of a campaign to mollify public frustration at extravagance.