Ulster Bank has announced a phased withdrawal from the Republic of Ireland over the coming years that will be managed in an "orderly and considered manner".

The confirmation from NatWest that it is to pull Ulster Bank out of the Republic of Ireland brings to an end 160 years of banking tradition - but what does that mean for consumers?

The Minister for Finance said today is a difficult day from an Irish banking perspective and also for the Ulster Bank staff who are receiving news of the bank's exit from the Irish market over the coming years.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn has said that while progress has been made in suppressing Covid-19, case numbers, test positivity and hospital admissions appear to be plateauing at levels that remain far too high.

A senior garda, Assistant Commissioner John O'Driscoll, has said the seizure of more than €12 million worth of cocaine in Co Cork yesterday is indicative of "the nature of the drug market".

A severe winter weather system that brought record-breaking cold to the southern and central United States, knocking out power for millions in oil-rich Texas, blanketed the east coast in snow.

US President Joe Biden will make his presidential debut on the world stage as America's G7 partners re-focus their collective heft on pandemic recovery and climate change after the end of the Trump era.

Indonesia's Mount Merapi, one of the world's most active volcanoes, has erupted, belching out fiery red lava.

Australia and Facebook have held talks after the social media giant sparked global outrage by blacking out news for its Australian users.

NatWest has reported a full-year loss for 2020 after Covid-19 lockdowns crunched household spending and said it will wind down its under-performing Irish arm Ulster Bank.

Cavan's remarkable victory in the Ulster championship and their run to the All-Ireland semi-finals has been duly recognised, while it is Dublin, once again, who dominate the 2020 PWC All-Stars with a record equaling nine players.

A 20-year-old woman who was shot in the head last week during an anti-coup protest in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw has died, according to the hospital treating her.

Tight restrictions could remain until early May, a Cabinet committee has heard, but some primary school pupils and Leaving Certificate students are on course to return to school in early March.

From higher proportions of Covid-19 in urban areas being in line with expectations, to comments on Vitamin D, here are six things we learned at this evening's Covid-19 briefing.

The Department of Health has confirmed 47 further deaths related to Covid-19 and an additional 901 new cases of the disease.

After seven months in space, NASA's Perseverance rover survived a nail-biting landing phase to touch down gently on the surface of Mars today, ready to embark on its mission to search for the signs of ancient microbial life.

This is story of an airplane, a Chinese-Irish business deal gone badly wrong and a Dublin family torn apart by the workings of China's opaque legal system.

More than €12m worth of cocaine has been seized following a joint search operation between gardaí and revenue officers in Co Cork earlier today.

Retired teacher John McClean, who indecently and sexually abused 23 children at Terenure College in Dublin over a 17-year period, has been jailed for eight years.