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

IRELAND

The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign protests outside Leinster House calling for the release of Mamhoud Nawajaa in Israel. Sam Boal / Rollingnews.ie Sam Boal / Rollingnews.ie / Rollingnews.ie

• Health officials have confirmed that there have been 69 further cases of Covid-19 in this country and five further deaths.
• People in Laois, Kildare and Offaly are being told to take particular care due to a spike in cases in those areas. 
• There’s been a sharp increase in the number of suspected Covid-19 cases in ICU in over the past 24 hours. 
• A long-awaited report into the prosecution of sexual offences has recommended that accused persons in all trials be entitled to anonymity unless convicted.
• Tributes have been paid to the 15-year-old boy who died in an accident at Powerscourt Waterfall yesterday.
• Eligibility for the Pandemic Unemployment Payment has now been extended to people living in Direct Provision. 
• Publicans have called for the advice used to keep pubs closed to be put into the public domain. 
• Social media giant TikTok is set to create “hundreds of new jobs” in Ireland after announcing plans to establish a European data centre over the next two years. 
• The government has nearly trebled the investment in the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance scheme.
• There has been 31 recorded deaths within homeless services in Dublin in 2020, new figures have revealed.
• A woman was injured after she was struck by a car that also collided with several other vehicles at a supermarket car park in Co Clare. 
• Bank of Ireland is set to conduct a review after several customers reported being the victims of a smishing (SMS phishing) scam.
• A bomb threat was made against a training session for a new cross-community GAA club in East Belfast. 

WORLD

The Weißeritztalbahn passes bridge of the Malter dam in the Osterzgebirge. Germany. PA Images PA Images

#CAROLINE FLACK: Caroline Flack’s mental state and her impending prosecution contributed to her suicide, a UK coroner has found. 

#RYANAIR: Italy’s civil aviation regulator is threatening to ban Ryanair from the country’s airports over alleged non-compliance with rules introduced to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

#BEIRUT: Lebanese officials targeted in the investigation into the massive blast that tore through Beirut have sought to shift blame for the presence of explosives at the city’s port.

PARTING SHOT

One person who is having a very good year is Irish actor Paul Mescal. Fresh from playing the leading man in Normal People and being nominated for an Emmy, here he is starring in The Rolling Stones’ new video for their song Scarlet.