The Cabinet will meet this morning to consider a proposal to develop a system that would permit only those who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 to eat and drink inside bars and restaurants.

Follow events as they happen with our live blog as the Government announces its latest proposals on the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions.

Brisbane has become the fourth major Australian city ordered into lockdown, as officials told residents to stay at home for three days over concerns about the rapid spread of Covid-19.

Partly hidden between long reeds of grass, bodies shrouded in saffron cloth float silently down the holy Ganges river, a reminder of how India's ferocious coronavirus wave overwhelmed hospitals and crematoriums.

Questions have mounted in the US about how a residential building in the Miami area could have collapsed so quickly and violently last week, as the death toll rose to 11 with 150 still unaccounted for.

The Government has announced €3m in funding to progress work on the cross-border Narrow Water Bridge which will link the Mourne mountains area with the Cooley peninsula.

The cities of Portland and Salem in Oregon, and Seattle in Washington set new temperature records as the US Pacific Northwest baked under a heatwave that has shut down much of daily life for residents.

Ireland, the US, and the UK called for an emergency UN Security Council public meeting concerning the war-torn Tigray region of Ethiopia.

New Zealand researchers have created a weight-loss device that uses magnets to clamp a patient's jaw together - hailing it as a new tool against obesity despite critics likening it to an instrument of medieval torture.

Physically punishing children is not effective in improving their behaviour and instead increases behavioural difficulties, researchers suggest.

An adoption rights campaign group has said a new Birth Information and Tracing Bill does not provide unconditional access to birth certificates for adopted people and is "deeply insulting" to them.

Police in England are investigating after a video was shared online appearing to show chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty being harassed by two men in a park.

Greek police have recovered a work of art by Pablo Picasso and another one by Dutch painter Piet Mondrian, both stolen from Greece's National Gallery in 2012.

Mexico's supreme court has decriminalised recreational marijuana use for adults, drawing a cautious welcome from activists who said users face a "legal vacuum" until politicians pass a stalled legalisation bill.

New figures show the number of mortgages approved in May rose by 7.4% compared to the previous month, and were up almost 150% compared to the same time last year.

The National Immunisation Advisory Committee will recommend to Government that the AstraZeneca and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) vaccines can be administered to 18- to 40-year-olds, RTÉ News understands.

The Leinster Council has announced that 8,000 spectators will be permitted to attend their provincial senior hurling semi-finals at Croke Park this Saturday.

The Irish Pharmacy Union has said pharmacies could begin to administer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to people under 40 "tomorrow".

A 33-year-old convicted killer has been sentenced to 12 years in jail for stabbing his father to death almost three years ago.

A 34-year-old man has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to the murder of Bobby Messett and the attempted murder of two other men, including well-known boxing coach Pete Taylor.