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

IRELAND

Gardaí at the scene of the fatal stabbing of a man in Dublin Sam Boal Sam Boal

• Health officials have confirmed a further 43 people who contracted Covid-19 have died in Ireland.
• Concerns about a “national catastrophe” happening in Ireland’s nursing homes have been raised by TDs in the Dáil today.
• A new report from the HSE shows the geographic spread of Covid-19 cases in the Republic of Ireland. 
• Childcare providers have until Tuesday to sign up to a wage subsidy scheme, Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone has said.
• Pearse Doherty has criticised the policy framework document compiled by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, saying Sinn Féin would be “laughed out of it” if the party produced a similar document.
• The High Court has appointed joint provisional liquidators to the Irish arm of Debenhams.
• Police in Northern Ireland have issued an appeal for information as it seeks to track down a prisoner who failed to return after being granted temporary release.
• A man in his 20s has died following an assault in north inner city Dublin yesterday evening. 

INTERNATIONAL 

A colourful sky at dawn in Blyth on the Northumberland coast in the UK Owen Humphreys Owen Humphreys

#VACCINE: A Covid-19 vaccine may be the only thing that can bring back “normalcy,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said.

#TRUMP: US President Donald Trump has promised to unveil plans to reopen the US economy, claiming the US had “passed the peak” of the coronavirus crisis. 

#MICHIGAN: Hundreds of protesters have driven past the Michigan Capitol to show their displeasure with orders to keep people at home and businesses locked during the coronavirus outbreak.

PARTING SHOT

Howard Finkel, a legendary ring announcer who worked in professional wrestling since the 1970s, has passed away at the age of 69.

A recurring presence in World Wrestling Entertainment over a number of decades, Finkel was inducted into the company’s Hall of Fame in 2009 and had been their longest-serving employee.