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

IRELAND

Taoiseach Micheal Martin speaking to media outside Government Buildings today Leah Farrell Leah Farrell

• Chief Medical Officer  Dr Tony Holohan has flagged concerns about the so-called Indian variant, calling it a “dark cloud on the horizon”.
• Health officials have confirmed that a further 524 cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in Ireland.
• Gardaí have urged people who think they may have been impacted by the recent cyber attack on the HSE to contact their local Garda station.
• Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said the case of Deirdre Morley, who was found not guilty by reason of insanity of the murders of her three children, has “hit the nation hard”. 
• The trial of four men accused of abducting and assaulting Kevin Lunney will now proceed at the end of this month after almost five months of delays.
• The CEO of VHI is to resume his role after he stepped aside pending an investigation into his receipt of a Covid-19 vaccine at the Beacon Hospital. 
• 3,000 vacant local authority homes are to be refurbished and re-let around the country under plans by Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien.

INTERNATIONAL

Palestinians run from sound bombs thrown by Israeli police in front of the Dome of the Rock shrine at al-Aqsa mosque complex in Jerusalem AP / PA Images AP / PA Images / PA Images

#ISRAEL: Fresh clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police have broken out at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound.

#TIGER KING: The US Justice Department said that it had seized 68 lions, tigers and lion-tiger hybrids as well as a jaguar from the former animal park of Joe Exotic.

#PAXMAN: Jeremy Paxman has revealed he has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

PARTING SHOT

Last week, the HSE announced that in the middle of the night it had suffered a major ransomware cyberattack.

The attack meant that all of the HSE’s IT systems had to be shut down to deal with the attack, which led to disruptions in hospitals, cancellations of appointments, and lack of access to electronic records.

What is the impact of a cyberattack like this? And how worried should you be about your own data?

This week’s episode of The Explainer podcast takes a look: 

The Explainer / SoundCloud