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

IRELAND

People walk through Dublin City during heavy rain as the country braces itself for Storm Ellen Sam Boal Sam Boal

• A Status Red wind warning has been issued for Cork for three hours tonight as Storm Ellen enters the country.
• Cork County Council has warned people camping or staying in caravans to seek alternative accommodation indoors tonight ahead of the arrival of Storm Ellen. 
• Health officials have confirmed that two further people have died with Covid-19 in Ireland. 
• A review of the employment terms and conditions of healthcare workers in nursing homes should be carried out, according to a new report on the sector.
• Dr Ronan Glynn has acknowledged that there has been some confusion over the public health measures announced yesterday.
• RTÉ has announced that Claire Byrne will be the new presenter of the Today programme in the prime 10am slot on RTÉ Radio 1.
• Gardaí are appealing for witnesses after a woman was hospitalised with serious injuries following a single-vehicle collision on the M1. 
• At least six whales that were stranded on a beach in Donegal today have died, with all of the whales expected to be dead by morning.
• A Leaving Cert student home-schooled by his mother has won his High Court challenge against the Minister for Education’s decision to exclude him from the calculated grades process. 

INTERNATIONAL

Rail staff stand in Waterloo station in London during a minute's silence to mark one week since the Stonehaven train derailment which killed three people Kirsty O'Connor Kirsty O'Connor

#TERROR: A man deliberately drove his car into motorcycles along a stretch of Berlin motorway, leaving at least one person in a life-threatening condition in what German officials said was a terror attack.

#RAPE: Actor Cuba Gooding Jr, already charged with groping three women, has also been accused of raping a woman in 2013, according to a civil lawsuit filed yesterday. 

#BRITNEY: Britney Spears has asked a court to keep her father from reasserting the broad control over her life and career that he has had for most of the past 12 years.

#MALI: Mali’s president has resigned to avoid “bloodshed” after he was detained in a military coup.

PARTING SHOT

Yesterday evening saw the government tighten restrictions at what it said was a “critical moment” for the country. 

Earlier today, Professor Philip Nolan of NPHET talked to TheJournal.ie’s Explainer podcast about the reasoning behind the latest restrictions and what the government means when it says we are at a “critical” time in Ireland:

https://soundcloud.com/the-explainer-podcast/what-led-to-the-new-covid-19-restrictions