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

IRELAND

Taoiseach Micheál Martin at a press conference this evening Source: Julien Behal Photography/RollingNews.ie

• Ireland’s Covid-19 death toll reached 3,000 people.
• The Government announced a tightening of restrictions on incoming travel, including mandatory 14-day quarantine in hotels or at home.
• However, the Taoiseach said that a zero-Covid strategy was not possible or sustainable for Ireland.
• A man who held up a judge, a barrister and his estranged wife with a fake pistol and a hoax pipe bomb in a Dublin court siege was jailed for six years.
• The HSE confirmed that 22 vials of the coronavirus vaccine could not be used after they were incorrectly stored when delivered to a nursing home.
• An employer was ordered to pay a former worker €3,712 after it was found that she had no option but to resign after her request to work from home during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic was rejected.
• Stormont’s First Minister Arlene Foster said that unmarried mothers and their children suffered a “lifetime of trauma” following an independent investigation into eight mother and baby homes in Northern Ireland.
• The PSNI launched an investigation into a possible breach of Covid-19 regulations at the funeral of a well-known republican in Derry yesterday.
• A new report found that partners and parents of drug users in Dublin’s inner-city were almost as likely to experience drug-related intimidation as users themselves.

INTERNATIONAL

Palestinians throw sand during sunset on the Gaza Strip Source: Mahmoud Khattab/PA

#ASTRAZENECA: Germany’s health ministry joined AstraZeneca in rubbishing reports which claimed the company’s Covid-19 vaccine showed little efficacy for people above 65.

#UK: Boris Johnson said he is “deeply sorry” for every life lost due to Covid-19 in the UK as the country’s death toll passed 100,000 people.

#US: The impeachment case against former US President Donald Trump moved a step closer after it was delivered to the Senate ahead of the historic trial.

#SEALED: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the country’s borders would likely remain closed for much of the year as health officials assess global vaccine rollouts.

PARTING SHOT

Earlier this week, someone in the US knitted a crochet doll of the viral ‘Bernie’s Mittens’ meme that did the rounds following last week’s presidential inauguration.

The item was put up for auction for Meals on Wheels, and attracted bids in the thousands. It ended today with a winning bid of over $20,000.

On a day of grim news, it was a nice reminder that there is still some good in the world.