The EU has taken a "very belligerent approach" to the difficulties caused by the Northern Ireland Protocol post-Brexit, according to DUP leader Arlene Foster.

France could block shipments abroad of Covid-19 vaccines, similar to moves on this front by Italy, according to the French Health Minister Olivier Veran.

Pregnant women with Covid-19 are being advised to attend for their appointments after their infection and raise any concerns they have, following preliminary reports of a small number of stillbirths here among women with Covid-19.

Pope Francis has left Rome to start a four-day trip to Iraq, his most risky foreign trip since his election in 2013 and the first visit by a pontiff to the country.

€6.6 million from the RTÉ Toy Show Appeal is to be distributed to children's charities, with Barnardos, Children's Health Foundation and Children's Books Ireland among the lead beneficiaries.

Dublin City Council has reversed its decision to refuse homeless people from outside the capital temporary emergency accommodation.

The concrete towers of the old IFI plant in Arklow, Co Wicklow, are a familiar sight to drivers on the M11 motorway.

The Archdiocese of Dublin has advised parishes and priests not to organise events to give communion to parishioners after mass, either inside or outside of churches.

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties has called for guidelines to be put in place to allow for peaceful protests during current Level 5 restrictions.

New Zealand will lift a Covid-19 lockdown on nearly two million people on Sunday, as authorities say they are confident that a virus cluster in the country's largest city has been contained.

The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board's referrals committee will convene this morning to hear evidence in the investigation into the conduct of leading trainer Gordon Elliott.

The US Senate finally took up the $1.9 trillion Covid relief package but a ploy by its opponents - reading the entire 628-page bill aloud on the chamber floor - promptly stalled the action.

China has moved to grant itself veto powers over selecting Hong Kong's politicians, part of a campaign to eliminate dissent and ensure a "patriotic" government in the city following huge democracy rallies in 2019.

AIB has reported a loss after tax of €741m for the year to the end of December on the back of an expected credit loss charge of €1.460 billion and exceptional items of €215m.

The HSE has confirmed that a single outbreak of Covid-19 among students in the west of the country, has led to more than 442 further cases in over 200 separate household outbreaks.

New Zealand has lifted tsunami evacuation orders covering large swathes of its coastline, declaring "the largest waves have now passed" after a swarm of powerful offshore earthquakes.

A husband whose wife died from cervical cancer has said he plans use money from a High Court settlement to honour their wish to have a child by availing of surrogacy.

Two photographers have managed to capture the "perfect shot" after several months of "murmuration chasing" around Lough Ennell, near Mullingar, in Co Westmeath.

While the figures are improving across all ages, particularly in older people, there was news of preliminary reports on stillbirths linked to Covid-19.

Liam Carroll, one of the country's best-known developers before and during the Celtic Tiger property boom, has died.