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

IRELAND

Dominica Williams performing in the Gaiety Theatre today, as the Irish National Opera launched its 2018 programme Leon Farrell / RollingNews.ie Leon Farrell / RollingNews.ie / RollingNews.ie

• As the hospital overcrowding crisis continues, one mother waited for 36 hours in an emergency department before her five-week-old baby was admitted to a ward.
• A post-mortem is due to be carried out on a woman’s body found in Donegal.
• Gardaí appealed for information in relation to a serious collision that happened on the N7 Naas Road on 28 December.
• Gardaí released the second of the two men arrested in relation to the murder of IRA double agent Denis Donaldson. A file will be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
• Sinn Féin’s deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald said the punishment given to MP Barry McElduff over the ‘Kingsmill’ bread video was “appropriate“.
• TV3 will rebrand as Virgin Media TV in the second quarter of this year.
• Garda superintendents are engaging in a work-to-rule as they claim the government reneged on a pay agreement, resulting in some of these senior officers receiving lower salaries than the inspectors working under them.
• Former Tánaiste Mary Harney was named as the new chancellor at the University of Limerick.
• American clothing chain Forever 21 is to close its Dublin store and pull out of Ireland.
• The Late Late Toy Show was the most-watched programme on Irish television in 2017, with an average audience of 1.3 million viewers.

WORLD

Members of Theresa May's new Cabinet outside No 10 Downing Street in London Stefan Rousseau / PA Wire/PA Images Stefan Rousseau / PA Wire/PA Images / PA Wire/PA Images

#UK: Theresa May’s long-awaited government reshuffle was criticised after she promoted few fresh faces to her top team.

#WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said he would beat Oprah Winfrey in a presidential contest, but doesn’t think the media mogul will run.

#AUSTRALIA: Same-sex couples married in midnight ceremonies across Australia after the country’s last legal impediment to marriage equality expired.

#ISRAEL: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had to defend himself after his son was recorded seemingly drunk outside a strip club talking about a natural gas deal by his government.

#NORTH KOREA: North Korea will take part in the Winter Olympics in South Korea, following talks between the two countries.

PARTING SHOT

Dublin City Council is set to spend €230,000 lowering Clontarf sea wall to improve the view for motorists, after a vote was passed by councillors.

The wall was built last year as part of the €5 million Clontarf cycle path. At the time, residents had argued that the wall would obscure the sea views for which the coastal road is known.

Cartoonist Annie West has come up with an alternative solution to the problem, but we’re not sure how much it’ll cost:

Annie West / Twitter Annie West / Twitter / Twitter

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