The leaders of the world's 20 biggest economies should use a meeting this weekend in Rome to agree how to transfer surplus Covid-19 vaccines to low-income countries, a group of former presidents and prime ministers has said.

A teachers' union has called for contact tracing to resume in primary school, saying principals should not be left to make serious public health decisions about Covid-19 infections.

The United Nations World Food Programme has warned that millions of people face starvation in Afghanistan unless there is a massive scale up in the humanitarian response by the international community.

E-cigarettes could be prescribed on the NHS for the first time after the UK's medicines regulator updated its guidance for people who want to quit smoking.

Beijing's airports cancelled hundreds of flights as travel rules were tightened across China to tackle virus clusters as the capital gears up to host the Winter Olympics.

There is going to be a lot of talk about 'climate goals' over the next fortnight as world leaders gather in Glasgow for the crucial COP26 summit.

Nightclubs and venues that breach new ticketing laws will be fined up to €2,500 under regulations which come into force today.

Political leaders must give "concrete hope" to future generations that they are taking the radical steps needed to tackle climate change when they meet at COP26, Pope Francis said in a message released ahead of the summit.

The Delta coronavirus variant can transmit easily from vaccinated people to their household contacts, a British study found, although contacts were less likely to get infected if they were vaccinated themselves.

The captain of the British boat seized earlier this week by French authorities, amid a row between London and Paris over post-Brexit fishing licences, will face a court hearing next year, French authorities have said.

A convicted murderer was the first inmate to be put to death in the US state of Oklahoma since a series of botched executions led to a temporary moratorium on capital punishment in the state.

Libya has hosted its first group of foreign tourists in a decade, with an excursion to an oasis town deep in the desert previously off-limits to visitors due to years of war.

A US woman convicted with her boyfriend of killing her mother and stuffing the body in a suitcase at a luxury Bali hotel has been freed from prison.

CEO of Sport Ireland John Treacy has announced he will step down from his position at the end of the year.

Twelve days of crunch talks on the climate crisis get under way at COP26 in Glasgow on Sunday.

Ulster Bank is encouraging customers to get ready for changes coming next year as part of the bank's withdrawal from the Irish market, which was first announced in February.

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg has announced the parent company's name is being changed to "Meta" to represent a future beyond just its troubled social network.

An explainer on how to use rapid antigen tests, which will be made available to close contacts of people with Covid-19 from tomorrow

A Technological University for the west and northwest is to be established early next year, Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris has announced.

The Government believes another lockdown can be avoided, although it cannot be ruled out entirely, according to the Tánaiste.