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

IRELAND

Niall Naughton, a Clare man living in Sydney who was caught up amid the terrifying scenes in the shopping complex today. RTÉ Saturday with Colm Ó Mongáin RTÉ Saturday with Colm Ó Mongáin

• An Irish man in Sydney has described the “absolutely horrific” scenes he witnessed amid a shocking stabbing attack in a shopping centre in the city earlier today.
• Gardaí are searching for the driver of a car that collided with a number of parked cars outside a pub and live music venue in Limerick city last night.
• Around €500,000 in cash, along with a vacuum packing machine and documentation, have been recovered by gardaí in Dublin as part of a money laundering investigation.
• An Irish language organisation has been threatened with legal action by Uisce Éireann over a hefty water bill – but says it won’t pay because it hasn’t received the correspondence it needs through Irish.
• Irish voters remain sceptical about whether the EU should develop its own army but overall there is no majority opposition to the idea.
• Tánaiste Micheál Martin has issued a warning to social media firms to do more to protect children, and has appealed for calm from Iran in his speech at the Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis. 
• Bertie Ahern has said if the decision was up to him, the general election would be in June. 

INTERNATIONAL

Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#SYDNEY MALL ATTACK: Six people are dead following stabbings at a shopping centre near Australia’s Bondi beach. Several others have been injured, including a nine month-old baby.

#ISRAEL: Israel is closing schools nationwide over security concerns, military spokesman Daniel Hagari said today, after Iran threatened to retaliate for a deadly air strike on its Damascus consulate.

#UKRAINE: The Ukrainian army’s top general said the situation on the eastern front had worsened in the face of a heightened Russian offensive.

PARTING SHOT

Dr Chris Luke: To improve care in emergency departments, we should do two simple things today. 

“THERE CAN BE few people nowadays who are unaware of the miseries faced by patients and staff in our health service ‘frontline’ due to understaffing, lack of space, lengthy public waiting lists and dwindling access to general practitioners.

“Indeed, it’s not unusual to hear someone describing their experience in a hospital emergency department (EDs) as absolutely ‘hellish’.

“At the risk of seeming pedantic, I suggest a better word to describe this experience is ‘purgatorial’. Purgatory — to remind some readers — is a largely Roman Catholic concept of a place of temporary suffering, where souls are prepared for entry to Heaven.

“So am I resorting to a religious rationale to explain the problem? Read more here.