Boris Johnson has pledged a renewed effort to secure a deal with the EU before the Brexit deadline.
The UK's negotiators will now meet their EU counterparts twice a week next month.
Meanwhile, a decision is expected later today on a legal challenge aimed at stopping Mr Johnson from suspending the British parliament.
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Police in Hong Kong have confirmed the well-known activist Joshua Wong has been arrested.
Another member of the pro-democracy group Demosisto has also been detained, over their alleged roles in an unauthorised protest outside a police station in June.
This weekend is expected to see another round of demonstrations in the city, amid a political crisis that began earlier this year over a now suspended extradition bill.
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Beef Plan is urging the Agriculture Minister to immediately reconvene talks to resolve the ongoing dispute - but without meat factories.
Farmers continue to protest outside some meat factories despite court action being taken by some plants.
However, demonstrations have been temporarily suspended at two factories in the southeast to allow Chinese inspectors to visit them.
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Forecasters are warning of the possibility of flooding over the next 24 hours.
A status yellow rainfall warning is in place for Connacht, Donegal, Clare, Cork, Kerry and Limerick, until 6am tomorrow morning.
Rainfall totals of 30-50mm are expected tonight.
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Thousands of music fans are headed for Stradbally, Co Laois today for the Electric Picnic festival.
The festival is now in its 16th year, with 57,500 due to attend over the weekend.
Tickets sold out in just 15 minutes when they went on sale back in December.
A small number of tickets were made available last night after some card payments failed.
