The Taliban has captured Afghanistan's city of Lashkar Gah, the capital of the southern province of Helmand, after two weeks of heavy fighting, a police official has said.

Helmand is a hostile place at the best of times. The largest of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, much of it is an arid wasteland.

Six people have died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident in Plymouth, England, Devon and Cornwall Police have said.

The Chief Executive of the Health Service Executive Paul Reid has said that as of this morning, almost 65,000 12- to 15-year-olds have registered online for a Covid-19 vaccine.

The Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland has raised concerns about pregnant teachers returning to classrooms with large numbers of unvaccinated or partially vaccinated students.

The United States has authorised an extra dose of Covid vaccine for people with weakened immune systems, as the country struggles to thwart the Delta variant.

Gerard Hutch, known as 'The Monk', has been arrested in Spain on foot of a European Arrest Warrant.

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee, convicted of bribery and embezzlement, was released on parole today, with hopes high at the tech giant that he will soon be back at work.

China has rejected the World Health Organization's calls for a renewed probe into the origins of Covid-19, saying it supported "scientific" over "political" efforts to find out how the virus started.

Britney Spears's father has agreed to step down from his role overseeing her finances.

Gardaí have arrested two people in connection with the death of a four-year-old boy in Limerick earlier this year.

There are multiple possible explanations for the Taliban's resurgence in Afghanistan at this time

The Board of Dublin-based charity Inner City Helping Homeless has suspended an employee and appointed a senior counsel to examine "serious matters" that have come to its attention.

The National Maternity Hospital at Holles Street in Dublin has changed its visiting guidelines to allow the partner of a pregnant woman or a support person to attend most appointments.

The HSE Health Service Executive has opened registration for vaccination for children aged 12 to 15 years, with 50,000 in this cohort having registered by this afternoon.

The 'Status of Ireland's Climate' report makes stark reading for the country's coastal communities.

A woman who spent more than two weeks in a coma after contracting Covid-19 while pregnant has described her daughter as a "miracle baby".

The United States has said it is sending troops to the international airport in Afghanistan's capital Kabul to pull out US embassy staff, as the Taliban makes rapid gains.

The Department of Health has been notified of a further 1,903 confirmed cases of Covid-19.

There have been a "number of fatalities" following what British police have described as a serious firearms incident in the southwestern city of Plymouth this evening.