Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has said a "staged, incremental" reopening of society which is consistent with public health will be announced today offering hope for a more positive summer.

Four people have been killed and one person seriously wounded in an attack at a care clinic in Germany, police have said.

US President Joe Biden has triumphantly declared that the United States is "on the move again" in a rousing speech to Congress, calling for trillions of dollars to rebuild the post-Covid US middle class and give new life to "forgotten" workers.

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has given birth to a baby boy, a spokesperson for the Minister has confirmed.

Moderna has said it is boosting manufacturing capacity for its Covid-19 vaccine and expects to make up to 3 billion doses in 2022, more than twice its previous forecast.

For 19-year-old ballerina Emer Lenihan, dance is part of her soul - the Claregalway native has trained in ballet since she was four-years-old.

There was a reduced number of attendees at Joe Biden's address to Congress and by the end of the night he had chatted to almost of all of them.

Certainty on financial supports and the reopening strategy for businesses over the coming months are required from today's Cabinet meeting on Covid-19 restrictions, Chambers Ireland has said.

Global sales of electric vehicles have grown strongly during the pandemic, while sales of all cars fell by 16% last year.

India's total Covid-19 cases have passed 18 million after another world record daily infection and death tally and as the government rejected reports of problems with its vaccine campaign.

A second 24-hour strike by ESB Networks technicians belonging to the Independent Workers Union is under way.

Bank of Ireland has announced plans to recruit 130 specialist technology professionals as part of an investment in its in-house digital engineering operations.

The number of people seeking international protection in Ireland fell by 67% last year compared to 2019, according to the Irish Refugee Council.

Arlene Foster has announced she will step down as leader of the DUP and First Minister of Northern Ireland.

Nearly all of the world's glaciers are losing mass at an ever increasing pace, contributing to more than a fifth of global sea level rise this century, according to unprecedented research released today.

American astronaut Michael Collins, who flew the Apollo 11 command module while his crewmates became the first people to land on the Moon on 20 July 1969, has died after battling cancer, his family said.

The Taoiseach has said Ireland will "examine in some detail" a proposal to waive the intellectual property rights of pharmaceutical companies to allow developing countries to produce more Covid-19 vaccines.

The Department of Health has been notified of 13 further coronavirus-related deaths and 371 new cases.

People in India are struggling to register online for a mass vaccination drive set to begin at the weekend as the country's death toll from the coronavirus surged past 200,000.

The Cabinet will tomorrow consider a plan to reopen society and the economy across May and June.