NEED TO CATCH up? TheJournal.ie brings you a round-up of today’s news.

IRISH

President Michael D. Higgins in Dublin to greet Austrian President Dr Heinz Fischer, along with Sabina Higgins (far L) and Margit Fischer (far R) Mark Stedman / Photocall Ireland Mark Stedman / Photocall Ireland / Photocall Ireland

• No fewer than 1,200 new jobs were announced – 1,000 by Spar and 200 in software and meat processing.
• And the transatlantic investment fund SmartInvest said their €56 million cash injection could create 450 tech jobs.
• Taoiseach Enda Kenny revealed he did NOT vote for John McNulty in the unbelievably messy Seanad by-election.
• Could the HSE really have doctored waiting list figures? Independent Senator Professor John Crown said he wouldn’t be at all surprised if they had.
• Thousands of homes across the country were regaining power and recovering after a night of rain and winds of up to 100 kmph.
• A man was arrested over the 2011 stabbing of a woman in Dublin
• We learned that popular Dublin pub Quinn’s in Drumcondra was shut down by the Food Safety Authority for two days after the first All-Ireland hurling final.
• It got easier for tourists from China and India to visit Ireland, after the signing of a visa deal with the UK.
• The trial began of one Irishman accused of murdering another Irishman in Australia.
• Private investigators were fined for illegally obtaining the private details of more than 20 credit union members

WORLD

The flag of the Islamic State group flies over the town of Kobani, Syria, on the border with Turkey AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

#EBOLA: It was confirmed that a Spanish nurse is the first person ever to be infected with Ebola outside Africa.

#PLANTING THEIR FLAG: The Islamic State group has been battling Kurdish fighters at the strategically important town of Kobani, on the border of Syria and Turkey. (Guardian)

#TROLLING: A woman suspected of abusing Kate and Gerry McCann online, and confronted on camera by Sky News, was found dead in a hotel in the city of Leicester.

#BETTER TOGETHER: A Norwegian husband and wife were among a team of three neuroscientists awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine.

#ON TRIAL: British millionaire Shrien Dewani pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife Anni on their honeymoon in South Africa in 2010.

INNOVATION

• You might soon be able to send your lucky friends money on Facebook Messenger.
• This video shows how Microsoft’s RoomAlive can turn your whole living-room/bedsit into an interactive gaming environment. (Mashable)
• Livestream’s new iOS app will get skateboarders and sky-divers all excited by now allowing live streaming from a GoPro camera. (TechCrunch)

PARTING SHOT

Bill Murray, in combat shorts, smoking and singing along to Bob Dylan. While trying to water a plant. Strange and beautiful.