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

IRELAND

Betty Graham watchs as An Taoiseach Micheal Martin TD takes a tour of the Oliver Bond Street Flats complex. Sam Boal Sam Boal

• Health officials confirmed 324 new cases of Covid-19 here and three additional deaths.
• Gardaí seized €3.5 million worth of cocaine in Swords, north Dublin.
• The Cabinet decided to place Donegal under Level 3 of restrictions, amid a spike of cases in the county.
• The HSE urged people to reduce their social contacts with numbers of contacts of positive cases averaging at six.
• CAB seized over €2 million worth of luxury cars as part an operation targeting organised criminals based here and in the UK.
• The HSE launched its Winter Plan, which has an “unprecedented” €600 million boost to help tackle the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Dublin bar, Berlin D2, is facing a court challenge to the renewal of its licence after footage emerged last month of non-compliance with Covid-19 social distancing rules.
• The new bus network for Dublin will increase bus services by 23%, the National Transport Authority (NTA) said.
• The Central Bank fined KBC Bank Ireland €18.3 million for regulatory breaches relating to the tracker mortgage scandal.
• The four statues which had been removed from outside the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin city centre are to be reinstated, Dublin City Council confirmed.
•  

WORLD 

Demonstrators march in downtown Salem for a vigil remembering Breonna Taylor. SIPA USA / PA Images SIPA USA / PA Images / PA Images

#BELARUS: More than 360 people have been detained in Belarus during protests against the country’s authoritarian president.

#USA: Carole Baskin, who became a pop culture sensation due to Netflix’s docuseries Tiger King, is being sued for defamation by a former assistant.

#HONG KONG: Pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong has been arrested for “unlawful assembly” relating to a 2019 protest against a government ban on face masks.

PARTING SHOT 

This pandemic has been tough on everyone. Sometimes you just need to sit down and watch a video of cute dogs playing. 

So, here you go. (If the video doesn’t show up, click here)