Northern Ireland

With the support of 59 of the 122 deputies in parliament, Macedonia on Monday adopted changes to the Police Law allowing police to use rubber bullets to disperse violent crowds.

The police will now be allowed to use rubber bullets, stun guns and shock grenades if protesters who "violate the public order do not disperse on the call of the police".

The fifth season of the hit series Game of Thrones kicks off on April 12 and promises another 10 episodes full of fantasy, intrigue, sex and violence in the mythical kingdom of the Westeros and Essos.

The Government hailed the anniversary, on Friday, of 135 years of diplomatic relations with the French Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a release of the Executive remitted to AGERPRES shows.

Photo credit: (c) Liviu SOVA / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

The British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Philip Hammond will meet on Wednesday, in Bucharest, with several Romanian high officials.

UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond
Photo credit: (c) Fadi AROURI / XINHUA

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Foreign Affairs Minister Philip Hammond will pay a visit to Bucharest on Wednesday, where he will meet his Romanian counterpart Bogdan Aurescu, informs a Romanian Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) press release remitted to AGERPRES on Tuesday.

Photo credit: (c) Fadi AROURI / XINHUA

Anghel Iordanescu begins his new term as coach of Romania's national soccer team on Friday, on the game with Northern Ireland in the preliminaries of the 2016 European Championship.

He sees this match as 'the most important this year' for the tricolours, who stand a chance to become leaders of their qualification group if they win.

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The Greek soccer federation denied on Monday media reports that it has lost confidence in national coach Claudio Ranieri.

"There is no problem of collaboration with Mr Claudio Ranieri. Anything written or spoken in the media or rumored bears no relation to reality,» a statement by the federation said.

Foreign jihadists from more than 80 countries have flocked to fight in Iraq and Syria on an "unprecedented scale", according to extracts of a UN report published by Britain's Guardian newspaper on Oct. 31.
      

Greece coach Claudio Ranieri has dropped striker Georgios Samaras from the national team after a dismal start to European Championship qualifying.

Samaras, who plays for West Bromwich Albion, is one of Greeces best-known players following his six-year spell at Celtic and after helping the national team reach the second round at the World Cup in Brazil.