IRELAND - Storm Brendan is set to bring some strong and possibly disruptive winds across Ireland on Monday. The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for Northern Ireland from 10:00 GMT to midnight. It warns that travel disruption is likely and coastal areas may be affected by large waves. Gusts between 80-100km/h (50-60mph) can be expected around the coast, and these could reach up to 130km/h (80mph) in more exposed areas. The storm was named on Saturday by Irish weather service, Met Éireann, who have issued two status orange weather warnings. A wind warning for counties Wexford, Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Waterford comes into effect from 07:00 GMT and will remain in place until 15:00 GMT. A separate wind warning for counties Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo will also come into effect from 07:00 GMT but will stay in place until midnight.

Tributes pour in as Oman mourns Sultan Qaboos

OMAN - World leaders and the people of Oman have paid tributes to Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said, the Arab world’s longest-serving ruler who died on Friday at 79. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the Prince of Wales have arrived in Muscat for a condolence ceremony as the country marks three days of mourning. Widely seen as popular, Qaboos set Oman on a path to development after coming to power in a bloodless coup in 1970. Qaboos had no heir or publicly designated successor, and the family council had three days to choose one. But in an apparent swift and smooth transition, they opted to open the sealed envelope in which the late sultan had secretly left his own choice. Crowds gathered at the capital’s Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque on Saturday before Qaboos was buried in a family cemetery.
No cause of death has been confirmed but media reports suggest he was suffering from colon cancer.
The emirs of Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates as well as the king of Bahrain and the Tunisian president were among the foreign leaders who travelled to Muscat for the ceremony at al-Alam Palace. Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, who is touring the region, was also expected to pay his respects.
Mr Johnson, who said Qaboos had left a “profound legacy, not only in Oman but across the region”, would also meet the new sultan in Muscat, according to Downing Street.