LAST UPDATE | 26 Apr 2021

EVERY MORNING, The Journal brings you all the news you need to know as you start the day.

1. #OPENING UP: Zoos, wildlife parks, outdoor tennis courts and golf courses are among the places permitted to reopen today as a number of Covid-19 restrictions begin to ease.

2. #OSCARS: Nomadland was the big winner at last night’s Academy Awards, but there was no good news for Kilkenny-based Cartoon Saloon, whose animated feature Wolfwalkers was among those to miss out.

3. #THE TROUBLES: Two former paratroopers will appear before a court in Belfast later today, charged with the murder of a man almost 50 years ago.

4. #INDIA: Irish and world leaders have pledged to help India after the country confirmed another world record of daily Covid-19 case numbers last night.

5. #KILLARNEY: Wildfires in Killarney National Park in Co Kerry were brought under control yesterday evening following a weekend in which thousands of acres in the area were engulfed in flames.

6. #HOW ARE EU: European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has said that US tourists vaccinated against Covid-19 will be able to visit the European Union in the coming months.

7. #CONOR KING: Tributes have been paid to a 22-year-old student who fell down a 50-foot cliff blow-hole near the Old Head of Kinsale in west Cork yesterday afternoon.

8. #HOSPITALISATIONS: The number of patients being treated for Covid-19 in Irish hospitals fell to 173 last night.

9. #WEATHER: It will be be mainly dry today with hazy sunshine, before cloud develops over Ulster with light rain or drizzle in the north this evening. Highest temperatures will be between 14 and 17 degrees Celsius.