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

IRELAND

People enjoying drinks at a pub in Dublin this evening. Sam Boal Sam Boal

• Pubs and restaurants will have to close at 8pm from Monday under new Covid restrictions.
• Indoor events will also have to end at 8pm and capacities at concerts, the cinema and sporting events will be reduced.
• Weddings will also be limited to 100 people as part of the measures.
• The hospitality sector expressed anger and dismay at the announcement.
• The State admitted the rights of mother and baby home survivors were breached when they were not given a report into the homes prior to its publication.
• 3,628 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in Ireland, with the Omicron strain now accounting for 35% of cases.
• Interested in Omicron? Here’s an explainer on what we know about the strain and how effective booster shots might be.

INTERNATIONAL

Israeli soldiers push Palestinians during a demonstration by Jewish settlers after the killing of an Israeli settler in the West Bank. Nasser Ishtayeh / ZUMA Wire/Alamy Live News Nasser Ishtayeh / ZUMA Wire/Alamy Live News / ZUMA Wire/Alamy Live News

#UK: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson downplayed suggestions he is at odds with Professor Chris Whitty over advice for the public as he warned the country is facing a “considerable wave” of the Omicron variant.

#WEST BANK: Israeli soldiers carried out a manhunt in the occupied West Bank, a day after the army blamed Palestinians for shooting dead an Israeli settler and wounding two others.

#BALDWIN: Authorities in the US issued a search warrant for Alec Baldwin’s mobile phone in the ongoing investigation into the death of Halyna Hutchins.

PARTING SHOT

Turns out one of the great by-election door knocks, witnessed by @Tony_Diver, was pretty telling in the end. pic.twitter.com/h3ietmOIxf

— Ben Riley-Smith (@benrileysmith) December 17, 2021

The UK government continues to stumble from one crisis to the next, its latest being the loss of a byelection in the North Shropshire constituency.

The vote in the West Midlands area saw the Liberal Democrats overturned a majority of nearly 23,000 to claim the seat.

It may sound like a shock result but, after canvassing encounters like this one, Conservative Party candidate Neil Shastri-Hurst must have known he was in trouble.