Funeral takes place for murdered journalist Lyra McKee
The funeral has taken place of murdered journalist Lyra McKee in Belfast.
The 29-year-old was shot and killed by the so-called 'New IRA' while covering rioting in Co Derry last Thursday.
She was taken to hospital by the PSNI but subsequently died.
President Michael D Higgins, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and British Prime Minister Theresa May all attended the service.
McKee funeral hears calls for fresh talks on ending Stormont impasse
Sinn Féin has said it is ready to play its “full part in a serious and meaningful talks process” to restore power-sharing in Northern Ireland.
Party leader Mary Lou McDonald this evening called for an urgent meeting of the British and Irish governments to “provide solutions to the outstanding rights issues – which are at the heart of sustainable power sharing.”
DUP leader Arlene Foster called for the institutions to be restored “in parallel with a talks process to resolve outstanding issues.”
“For our part I want to ensure we can get down to business,” she said.
Bodies left on trolleys at University Hospital Waterford due to lack of facilities
Four consultant pathologists have revealed that dead bodies have been left lying on trolleys at University Hospital Waterford, due to the lack of storage facilities at the mortuary.
The doctors issued a damning letter after bodies were stored on corridors with bodily fluids leaking on to the floors.
Reports say the mortuary lacks sufficient refrigeration, and the situation is so serious that some bodies simply decompose.
"Bodies decompose in the corridors, leading to closed-coffin funerals with relatives unable to view the remains as a result of gaseous decomposition. The trauma imposed on the bereaved is almost unspeakable", the letter claimed.
Two due in court charged over €715,000 drugs seizure
Two men were due in court this evening over the seizure of drugs worth around €715,000 in west Dublin.
Gardaí uncovered the drugs at around 6:30pm yesterday on foot of an intelligence-led operation targeting organised crime.
It came after officers from the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau intercepted.
A number of follow up searches were carried out in the Ballyfermot and Lucan areas after gardaí stopped two vehicles in the Ballyfermot area.
Cocaine and cannabis herb with an estimated street value of €715,000 were seized.
Nicola Sturgeon outlines plan for second Scottish independence referendum
The Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said she wants to hold a second independence referendum by May 2021.
Voters in Scotland chose to remain a part of the United Kingdom in a 2014 referendum - but Ms Sturgeon has said that the 2016 vote for Brexit, which saw Scotland vote in favour of remain, had changed things.
She told Scottish MPs them that the case for independence was now "stronger than ever".
In a speech to the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh on Wednesday, Ms Sturgeon said: "The UK might still leave the EU before October, it might leave in October, it might seek another extension or it might not leave at all.
