The 9 at 9: Tuesday

Updated Dec 22nd 2020, 8:42 AM

EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you all the news you need to know as you start the day.

1. #COVID-19: Cabinet is to meet today to discuss further restrictions after NPHET announced a ‘third wave’ of Covid-19. The Cabinet Covid committee is understood to have decided to recommend that the hospitality sector – such as gastro pubs and restaurants – should shut by mid-afternoon on Christmas Eve.

2. #THIRD WAVE: People have been urged to revise their plans and stay at home this Christmas due to the “rapid change” in the country’s Covid-19 situation.

3. #NORTHERN IRELAND: Stormont ministers are to issue guidance advising against non-essential travel between Northern Ireland and both the Republic and Great Britain and after a bid for an outright ban on GB travel was voted down.

4. #LEBANON: A man has been convicted of the murder of two Irish soldiers in Lebanon in 1980, Defence Minister Simon Coveney has confirmed.

5. #CRIME: The pandemic has caused burglaries in Ireland to drop by more than 20% in the first three-quarters of the year.

6. #FREIGHT: Talks between the UK and France on reopening full trade and transport across the Channel are ongoing as the UK government’s chief scientific adviser said more restrictions may be needed at home because cases of a mutant strain of Covid are now appearing “everywhere”.

7. #US: The US Congress has passed a $900 billion (€736 billion) relief package to deliver long-sought cash to businesses and individuals and resources to vaccinate a nation confronting a frightening surge in Covid-19 cases and deaths.

8. #NEW ZEALAND: The man who murdered British backpacker Grace Millane in 2018 after meeting her on a dating app has also been convicted of two other violent offences against women.

9. #STAY & SPEND: More than receipts, totalling €2.7 million, have been uploaded to Revenue’s Tracker App as part of the government’s Stay & Spend scheme.