Contract tracing is now only required for the lead person at a table and for solo customers under updated guidelines agreed last night.

While businesses providing indoor hospitality are being asked to implement specified protective measures, customers will also be asked to play their part in ensuring a safe environment for both themselves and the employees serving them.

Mona McSharry has made history by making the final of the 100m breaststroke thanks to a brilliant swim on Monday morning.

Homes, roads and underground stations in London have been flooded while two hospitals in the city asked patients to stay away after thunderstorms battered the south of England.

The Games have begun and there's plenty of Irish involvement to look out for through the night. Join us for all the latest.

Hoteliers are calling on the Government to make a clear announcement on wedding guest numbers, after Tánaiste Leo Varadkar last week advised couples to operate on the basis that 50 guests would be the maximum allowed.

Thousands of US firefighters are battling a blaze in California that has grown so big it is generating its own weather system, with authorities warning conditions could worsen today.

Ryanair has increased its forecast for full-year traffic on strong summer bookings but said fares remained well below pre-pandemic levels as it reported an after-tax loss of €273m for the three months to the end of June.

China has reported 76 new coronavirus cases, the highest daily rise since January, including 40 domestic transmissions prompting authorities to test millions in eastern Jiangsu province.

Coronavirus lockdowns are likely to be lifted in two major Australian cities this week, authorities said today, as outbreaks of the Delta variant were brought under control.

Dieter Brummer, best-known for playing Shane Parrish on Australian soap Home and Away, has died aged 45.

A lagoon in Argentina's southern Patagonia region has turned bright pink in a striking, but frightful phenomenon experts and activists blame on pollution by a chemical used to preserve prawns for export.

Tunisian President Kais Saied has suspended parliament and dismissed Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi following a day of protests against the ruling party, which condemned the move as a "coup d'etat".

The southern Belgian town of Dinant was hit by the heaviest floods in decades on Saturday after a two-hour thunderstorm turned streets into torrential streams that washed away cars and pavements.

The Department of Health has confirmed 1,126 new cases of Covid-19. There are 123 people in hospital, up 18, and 22 people in ICU, up one.

The death toll from flooding and landslides triggered by heavy monsoon rains in India has climbed to 159, officials have said, with rescuers searching for dozens more missing.

Close to 20 neighbourhoods across Ireland are preparing to receive Syrian families, under a programme called Community Sponsorship, with many of the refugees expected to be selected in forthcoming relocation missions to Lebanon and Jordan this autumn...

An "unusually large meteor" briefly lit up southern Norway last night, creating a spectacular sound and light display as it rumbled across the sky, and a bit of it may have hit Earth, possibly not far from the capital Oslo, experts said.

British health minister Sajid Javid has apologised for and deleted a tweet urging people to take a Covid-19 vaccine and not to "cower" from the virus, saying he had made "a poor choice of word".

Ireland is basking in one last day of sunshine today before cooler and unsettled conditions move in.