NEED TO CATCH up? TheJournal.ie brings you a round-up of what made the headlines today.

IRELAND

Dublin before sunrise through a cloud of drizzly rain. Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie / RollingNews.ie

• Public health officials confirmed one more death and new 679 cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.
• Northern Ireland recorded four deaths and 263 Covid-19 cases in its latest update this afternoon.
• Restrictions for March are to be set out “with clarity” this week.
• Deaths that occur in Direct Provision centres will be recorded and released for the first time.
• Facebook shut down an Instagram account that was advertising an illegal “lockdown rave” for St Patrick’s Day.
• Construction and retail are likely to be the industries “first on list” to reopen when case numbers ease.
• A suspicious device found in Newry was detonated by the army in a controlled explosion.
• The DUP are launching a legal challenge against the Northern Ireland Protocol.
• Cannabis plants worth over €250,000 were seized by Gardaí in Monaghan, with one man arrested.

THE WORLD

PA PA

#LIBYA The interior minister of Libya, Fathi Bashagha, survived an assassination attempt when his motorcade was attacked in Tipoli.

#ITALY Italians marked one year since the country’s first known Covid-19 death with wreath-laying ceremonies, tree plantings and church services.

#COLORADO Debris from a United Airlines plane fell onto areas around Denver during an emergency landing, with one large piece that appears to be part of the engine narrowly missing a home.

#GAZA Around 20,000 vaccine doses from the UAE arrived into Gaza today to be administered to medical teams.

PARTING SHOT

The investigative team at Noteworthy.ie have been diving into the impact of hedge cutting during bird nesting season in Ireland.

A two-part series looks at Ireland’s losses in hedgerow heritage, with at least 3,000km cut back back local authorities since 2018.

The first full story will be available on TheJournal.ie from midnight.