A four-year-old Australian girl who disappeared from a campsite 18 days ago was found "alive and well" in a locked house, telling police officers: "My name is Cleo."

More than 30 towns and villages released raw sewage into the environment every day in 2020 because they did not have treatment plants, according to a new report by the Environmental Protection Agency.

A British woman has won a lengthy legal fight against Australia's "backpacker tax", after the country's top court agreed the levy discriminated against foreigners on working holiday visas.

Former police officer Eric Adams, who fought racial discrimination within the police, has been elected New York's next mayor and will become just the second African American to lead the United States's largest city.

As Covid-19 case numbers surge ahead of Christmas, a couple of indicators will be worth watching over the coming week, explains Mark Coughlan.

Europe's hottest summer on record would not have happened without human-induced climate change, the Met Office has said.

The floodwall of vaccine protection is holding tight despite a surge in Covid-19 cases, according to the HSE's Chief Clinical Officer.

Advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have unanimously supported broad use of Pfizer's and BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine in children ages 5 to 11.

The Republican candidate pulled off a stunning upset to win the governor's mansion in the US state of Virginia, US television networks projected, in a race seen as an early verdict on President Joe Biden's first year in office.

Minneapolis voters have decided not to replace their police force with a new department that would have taken a holistic approach to crime, 18 months after the murder of George Floyd in the city sparked global protests for racial justice.

Day three of COP26 will be focused on finance, and in particular how developing countries or those most impacted by climate change will be supported financially.

Women diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age appear to have a higher risk of their breast cancer spreading to other parts of the body, according to a new study.

The Department of Health has been notified of 3,726 new cases of Covid-19, which is the highest number reported since mid-January of this year.

Two people died and one was injured in Sweden's Uppsala after an elderly man fell seven floors, hitting two people, at a concert hall.

The Taliban has announced a complete ban on the use of foreign currency in Afghanistan.

A Republican win in Virginia has sounded an alarm bell for Democrats ahead of the 2022 midterms.

The US launch of a new American Irish State Legislators Caucus will be held in Florida today.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has told the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow that "if we act decisively now, we will offer humanity the most valuable prize of all - a liveable planet".

More than 100 countries have joined an effort led by the United States and the European Union to slash emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane 30% by 2030 from 2020 levels.

More than 100 global leaders have pledged to halt and reverse deforestation and land degradation by the end of the decade, underpinned by €16.4bn in public and private funds to invest in protecting and restoring forests.