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

IRELAND

Dun Laoghaire pier

• Public health officials confirmed six deaths and 612 new cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.
• Thirteen people were charged and remanded in custody after yesterday’s anti-lockdown protest in Dublin city centre. 
• The government needs to address the spread of misinformation on social media, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said.
• Post-mortems were completed on three brothers who were found dead in Cork Thursday night.
• Northern Ireland recorded its lowest daily figure of Covid-19 cases in all of February today.
• A garda representative said that frontline gardaí have received no guidance on ensuring people are quarantining after arriving in Ireland.
• The Defence Forces are facing “serious problems” with recruitment and retention.
• Some Irish hauliers are being treated as though they are coming from the UK by French custom officials, slowing down journeys.
• Requests for HSE pest control services increased by around one-fifth last year.

THE WORLD

Shutterstock / Joe Seer Shutterstock / Joe Seer / Joe Seer

#UK At least six cases of the Covid-19 variant first detected in Brazil, which arrived in Ireland earlier this month, have been found in Britain.

#USA The Food and Drug Administration approved the Johnson and Johnson vaccine for use in the United States.

#HOLLYWOOD Awards season kicks off tonight at a virtual Golden Globes ceremony, with a few Irish names on the nominations list.

#RIP Actor Jonny Briggs, Coronation Street star, has died aged 85.

PARTING SHOT

Two astronauts ventured outside the International Space Station today to prepare the station for new solar wings.

Nasa shared live updates of the spacewalk on Twitter, with video footage showing the station pass over South America as the astronauts carried out their work.

They had to drill on attachments to align with black lines, which proved a challenge, with one of the astronauts saying that “whoever painted this black line painted outside the lines a little bit”.

“We’ll work on our kindergarten skills over here,” Mission Control replied.