- Trio wins chemistry Nobel for protein design, prediction
- SE Asian summit urges end to Myanmar violence but struggles for solutions
- Wimbledon replaces line judges with electronic system
- Record-breaking Root hits hundred as England power to 351-3
- Record-breaking Root hits hundred as England's power to 351-3
- Sabalenka relishes 'much-needed' tennis rivalry with Swiatek
- Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson set for six weeks out
- Taylor Swift got police escort to London gigs after Austria terror plot
- Cook tips Root to break Tendulkar's all-time runs record
- British skull auction sparks Indian demand for return
- Joe Root: England's elegant Test record-breaker
- Braving war: Lebanon's 'badass' airline defies odds
- Klopp to return as head of Red Bull football operations
- Hezbollah strikes Israel, says it foiled Israeli incursions
- Jurgen Klopp to return as head of Red Bull football operations
- Sinner to face Medvedev in Shanghai Masters quarter-finals
- US weighs Google breakup in landmark trial
- Record-breaking Root guides England to 232-2 in reply to Pakistan's 556
- Japan PM dissolves parliament for 'honeymoon' snap election
- Chinese stocks tumble on stimulus upset, Asia tracks Wall St higher
- 7-Eleven owner confirms new takeover offer from Couche-Tard
- Goodbye Tito? Tomb at risk as Serbs argue over Yugoslav legacy
- Restoration experts piece together silent Sherlock Holmes mystery
- Sinner avoids Shanghai deja vu with assured Shelton win
- Pyongyang to 'permanently' shut border with South Korea
- Trumpet star Marsalis says jazz creates 'balance' in divided world
- No children left on Greece's famed but emptying island
- Nepali becomes youngest to climb world's 8,000m peaks
- Climate change made deadly Hurricane Helene more intense: study
- A US climate scientist sees hurricane Helene's devastation firsthand
- Padres edge Dodgers, Mets on the brink
- Can carbon credits help close coal plants?
- With EU funding, Tunisian farmer revives parched village
- Sega ninja game 'Shinobi' gets movie treatment
- Boeing suspends negotiations with striking workers
- 7-Eleven owner's shares spike on report of new buyout offer
- Your 'local everything': what 7-Eleven buyout battle means for Japan
- Three million UK children living below poverty line: study
- China's Jia brings film spanning love, change over decades to Busan
- Paying out disaster relief before climate catastrophe strikes
- Chinese shares drop on stimulus upset, Asia tracks Wall St higher
- SE Asian summit seeks progress on Myanmar civil war
- How climate funds helped Peru's women beekeepers stay afloat
- Nobel Peace Prize to be awarded as wars rage
- Pacific island nations swamped by global drug trade
- AI-aided research, new materials eyed for Nobel Chemistry Prize
- Mozambique elects new president in tense vote
- The US economy is solid: Why are voters gloomy?
- Balkan summit to rally support for struggling Ukraine
- New stadium gives Real Madrid a headache
Irish PM urged to call early election after surge in support at polls
Ireland's prime minister Simon Harris was being urged Monday to call an early general election to capitalise on a surge in support for the government and a slump for the main opposition in European and local polls.
An election has to be held by March next year and Harris, who succeeded Leo Varadkar in the top job in April, said on Sunday he intends to lead the government to a full term.
But political commentators say he could be tempted to call an election later this year after his governing coalition's relative success in the two votes at the weekend.
"An early general election is now more likely," said the Irish Times daily.
"Despite their protestations, it would be astonishing if the government parties were not seriously considering it."
Some prominent figures in Harris's centre-right Fine Gael party have already urged him to take the plunge.
Both Fine Gael and coalition partner the centre-right Fianna Fail secured vote shares of more than 20 percent at local elections.
Early count results in the European election held at the same time on Friday also indicated leads for Fine Gael and Fianna Fail candidates. Final European results are expected only later this week.
- Sinn Fein suffer -
In contrast, support for the biggest opposition party, the leftist-nationalist Sinn Fein, has plummeted in recent months.
The party, led by Mary Lou McDonald and until recently Ireland's most popular party, slumped well below expectations at both ballots.
At the local elections Sinn Fein's vote share plunged to under 12 percent -- around a 20-point fall from opinion polls last year when it was widely seen as a shoe-in to take power.
Analysts said the drastic drop in its support is partly due to its pro-migration stance being out of kilter with its working-class voter base.
Sinn Fein's strategy of standing its highest ever number of candidates was also seen as a mistake that split an already falling vote share.
"We will regroup, I am sorry that we didn't do better," McDonald told reporters on Sunday while vowing to stay on as party leader.
For the first time in Ireland, migration dominated the local and European election campaigns amid record number of asylum-seeker arrivals and unease at migrant tent cities appearing on Dublin streets.
The past year has also seen a series of arson attacks on properties earmarked to accommodate asylum-seekers and riots in Dublin in part fuelled by far-right agitators on social media.
After taking over as taoiseach (prime minister), Harris quickly tightened the asylum system and cut financial support for refugees, moves that critics said were pandering to the far-right but were also seen as shoring up the party's support.
D.Moore--AMWN