Taoiseach Leo Varadkar held several bi-lateral meetings today as EU leaders are in Brussels for a summit of all 28 member states.

British Prime Minister Theresa May says no EU national currently living lawfully in the UK will be made to leave on the day of Brexit.

She's told other European Union leaders she wants "certainty" for around three million EU expats in the UK.

The Taoiseach said Ireland's objectives for Brexit include the retention of trading links and citizens' rights.

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The number of high-rise blocks of flats in the UK found to have combustible cladding has risen to 11, across eight local authority areas in England.

Councils across the country have been tasked with testing their social housing in the wake of last week's inferno in London in which at least 70 people died.

Similar measures are being taken here amid fears of a repeat of the tragedy.

British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn says those affected need to be protected.

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A well-known blogger and fitness model in France was killed in a freak accident involving a whipped cream dispenser.

Rebecca Burger’s death was announced on her Facebook profile by family members, who attributed her demise to a “domestic accident.”

A popular lifestyle blogger and influencer, Burger was well known in her native France, with 55,000 fans on Facebook and 154,000 on Instagram.

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With Paris St Germain star Angel Di Maria pleading guilty to tax fraud in Spain this week, it has come to light that he used the same two Irish companies that have figured in similar investigations into Cristiano Ronaldo and Jose Mourinho.

According to The Irish Times, Di Maria had transferred his image rights to the Panama-based Sunpex Corporation, before Sunpex ceded his rights to the Dublin companies Multisports & Image Management (MIM) and Polaris Sports.

These Irish firms then dealt directly with companies making payments to the Argentinian footballer for use of his image, before transferring cash back to Panama.

Di Maria was being investigated by Spanish authorities for evading taxes of €1.3 million on image rights during his time at Real Madrid. He has agreed to pay fines and back taxes of €2m, while his one-year prison sentence is likely to be suspended.

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Irish bowler Kevin O'Brien has praised Thursday's decision by the International Cricket Council to award test status to Ireland.

O'Brien joined Thursday's Off the Ball and speaking to Nathan Murphy, he said: "It's a massive day. Just thinking about it now, it has finally sunk in. I've heard through the various media reports an hour and a half ago and it's only really sinking in now what has been decided over in London.

"So it's an absolutely massive day for everyone involved in the current team, in the current organisation. But also for the hundreds of players that came before us.

"All the tireless hours that volunteers gave over the last 20, 30 years - even longer. So it's a massive day for us as players and for everyone involved in Irish cricket. It's a very proud moment for us all."