Updated 12 hours ago

HELLO, GOOD Friday. Here’s all the news you need to know to start your day.

Seal slaughter

1. In our main story today, Remarkable reveals that the National Parks and Wildlife Service granted 11 permits to salmon farms between 2015 and 2020 to kill normally bullet-protected seals.

At least two gray seals and three harbor seals were killed, with no data available on the number of seals killed in most cases, according to records obtained by Remarkable following a request for details on seal slaughter by salmon farms or hatcheries.

In 1914, gray seals became the first officially protected species in the world after being nearly hunted until the population collapsed. Both species are now protected by the European Habitats Directive.

Relaxation of restrictions

2. Last night, the Taoiseach said the government did not want to reverse any reopening measures and that the principle “will inform all decisions” when advice is received from NPHET next week.

NPHET will issue advice to the government next week on reopening measures slated for July 5, which include indoor dining.

In an interview that aired tonight with Claire Brock on Virgin Media Television, Micheál Martin said the chief medical officer this week raised concerns about the Delta variant.

999 calls canceled

3. Justice Minister Heather Humphreys said incidents in which victims of domestic violence had their 999 calls mistakenly canceled “should not have happened”.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris yesterday apologized to the hundreds of victims whose 999 appeals were canceled.

The exact extent of the problem is still unknown, as an internal Garda investigation is ‘a work in progress’, but initial findings estimate that 312 victims had their appeals canceled before there was a proper police response. .

Sydney Lockdown

4. In Australia, Sydney residents have been ordered to stay at home for a week, as authorities have locked down several central areas to contain an outbreak of the highly contagious Delta variant of Covid-19.

65 cases of Covid-19 have been reported so far in the outbreak linked to an infected limo driver about two weeks ago while transporting an international flight crew from Sydney Airport to a quarantine hotel .

But authorities have since identified dozens of potential infection sites visited by thousands in central Sydney, including the city’s main business district.

Hungarian anti-LGBT law

5. In Europe, the Dutch Prime Minister has declared in his place: “Hungary no longer has a place in the EU”, as EU leaders attack his country’s new legislation which will ban disseminate content on LGBTQ issues to children.

A majority of leaders insisted that discrimination should not be tolerated in the 27-nation bloc and told Viktor Orban that Hungary’s new law goes against core EU values.

The law prohibits sharing content about homosexuality or gender reassignment with anyone under the age of 18 in school sex education programs, movies, or advertisements.

George floyd

6. In the United States, ex-policeman Derek Chauvin is to be sentenced today for the murder of George Floyd.

Minnesota law provides a minimum sentence of 12.5 years for the 45-year-old white killer, who has been jailed since his conviction on three counts of murder and manslaughter two months ago.

But Judge Peter Cahill, who will hand down the sentence at 1:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. Irish time) in a Minneapolis court, has identified aggravating circumstances that could signal a much heavier sentence.

Apartment collapse

7. In Florida, rescue teams combed through the rubble of a waterfront building near Miami Beach that partially collapsed, killing at least one and leaving 99 others missing amid fears of a much higher death toll.

So far, 102 more people have been identified, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said.

Waterford Airport

8. Back in Ireland, The newspaper reports that the Department of Transport is withdrawing annual emergency payments from Waterford Airport, casting doubt on the company’s future.

Emergency payments, totaling € 1.5 million over three years, were made between 2018 and 2020, but no money was paid for the current year.

HSE cyberattack

9. And finally, Britain’s top cybersecurity official will today praise the Irish government’s refusal to pay the ransom to the criminals behind the HSE hack.

Lindy Cameron, CEO of the UK’s National Cyber ​​Security Center, will give a speech at the Institute for International and European Affairs (IIEA) in which she will say that ransomware attacks are more likely to be undertaken if ransoms are paid.

“It is important that we do everything we can to make sure this is not a criminal model that pays off. The government’s firm action to refuse to pay is likely to deter ransomware operators from further attacks on healthcare organizations, in Ireland or elsewhere, ”Cameron said in his speech.