France and Ireland are following England in announcing the lifting of a host of COVID-19 restrictions. The Irish Independent reported Friday that the majority of COVID restrictions in Ireland will be removed by 6 a.m. Saturday, including vaccine passports. The paper said the government also will eliminate "limits on household visits, early closing time for hospitality and events, capacity restrictions for indoor and outdoor events including weddings, social distancing, the rule-of-six at a table ... and the requirement to maintain contact details for close contact tracing." In France, Le Monde reported Prime Minister Jean Castex announced a timetable on Thursday...