Ceasefire in Israel
A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, a militant group in Gaza, has come into effect.
The ceasefire took effect early this morning, which brought an end to eleven days of violence in the region. The conflict claimed over 250 lives, most of whom were located in Gaza.
Both the Israeli Government and Hamas claimed victory, according to the BBC.
According to AFP news, a spokesperson for the Israeli police; Micky Rosenfled told the news agency Palestinians threw stones at police officers, and so-called riot supressing measures were in force.
The most recent conflict between Israel and Hamas began on May 10th following weeks of increasing tension between Israel and Palestine most notably at Al-Asqua, a holy site sacred to both Muslims and Jews. According to BBC news, Hamas fired rockets, after warning Israel to withdraw from the site, which was followed by retaliatory attacks from Israel.
HSE Attacked by Hackers
Last Friday the Health Service Executive (HSE) shut down all of its' IT services after a ransomware attack disrupted COVID-19 testing and other patient services.
According to The Journal, Ransomware is a type of malicious software that encrypts files on a computer system. Attackers then demand a ransom from the victim to restore their access to the data after payment is issued. HSE Chief Operations Officer Anne O’Connor stated that the systems were hit by a Conti attack, a specific type of ransomware attack that steals and encrypts data.
According to RTE news, some progress has been made in restoring some systems. Despite this, healthcare workers and patient data still remains at risk, and serious disruption is expected.
Planning Board Rule Against Dublin’s Proposed Tallest Building
An Bord Pleanála has turned down a planning request for two high rise towers in Dublin’s Docklands.
Developer Johnny Ronan’s proposed waterfront development in Dublin’s docklands would have consisted of a 45 storey and 41 storey high towers, respectively. The building would have contained over 1000 apartments according to RTE news.
An Taisce and Environmentalist Frank McDonald among others, opposed the planning application.
The planning board agreed that the development complied with national planning guidelines, but, according to RTE, the development had to be turned down due to the hight limits specified under Dublin’s Strategic Development Zone plan.
Sitcom ‘Friends’ Reunion to Air Next Week
Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer have come together once again for a one-off reunion episode of the popular sitcom ‘Friends’
The cast will be reunited after 15 years.
The episode will be unscripted and will air on HBO’s Max service and will be available to watch in the UK and Ireland on Sky from next week.
Friends originally aired from 1994 until its end in 2004, where over 50 million people in the US watched the final episode.
Viewers in Ireland and the UK will be able to watch the reunion on demand on both Sky and the streaming service Now from 08:00 BST on May 27th and on Sky One at 20:00
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