Swiss local authorities have admitted they failed to conduct periodic fire and safety inspections over the past five years at a bar where an inferno killed 40 people and injured 116 others.

Deposed Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and other charges at a defiant appearance in a New York court, days after being snatched by US forces in a stunning raid on his home in Caracas.

As the audacious capture by US special forces of the leader of Venezuela gripped the world, the mood at the headquarters of world diplomacy was dark.

A man in his 30s is continuing to be questioned by gardaí in connection with the fatal assault of a local businessman in his 60s in Donegal.

The twelfth and final day of Christmas, 6 January, is known as Nollaig na mBan or Little Christmas - a day for women to be celebrated.