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

Country superstar Garth Brooks is pictured at the launch of ‘The Garth Brooks Comeback Special Event’, which is set to take place at Croke Park on Friday 25 and Saturday 26 of July 2014. Tickets go on sale Thursday. (Mark Stedman/Photocall Ireland)

IRELAND

• A family is appealing after two watches left to a deceased man’s sons were stolen
• The former board of the CRC will appear before the Public Accounts Committee ‘as soon as possible’
• The families of the victims of the Stardust blaze say they will reveal the cause of the blaze on 14 February
• A ballot will be taken on 7 February which could see thousands of electricians go on strike
• The HSE will sanction hospitals which break the rules surrounding working hours of junior doctors
• Six people were revealed to have shared Saturday’s Lotto jackpot, one who had been using the numbers for 26 years
• A woman in her 50s was killed when she was hit by a truck in Thurles
• 3,000 people were granted Irish citizenship at a ceremony in Dublin today
• Residents of the area near the proposed new Cork prison raised concerns about the project
• The Tánaiste said that no Irish troops would be sent to the Central African Republic

INTERNATIONAL

Police gather around the prison van departing Edinburgh Sheriff Court where Rosdeep Kular, mother of three-year-old Mikaeel Kular, appeared charged with his murder.(PA Wire/Press Association Images)

#MIKAEEL KULAR: The mother of three-year-old Scottish boy Mikaeel Kular appeared in an Edinburgh court today, charged with his murder. Rosdeep Kular was remanded in custody, due to appear in court on 28 January.

#UKRAINE: Opposition protesters and police clashed in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev today. The clashes centre around controversial new laws that allow protesters to be jailed.

#ASSAD: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has told AFP that it is ‘not easy’ to explain his country’s bloody civil war to his children. Assad added that he has no intentions of stepping down.

#DOLPHINS: Japan has defended the practice of hunting dolphins after the US Ambassador Caroline Kennedy said that she was ‘deeply concerned’ about the annual hunt. A Japanese official said it was a form of ‘traditional fishing’.

INNOVATION

• If an astronaut is caught in an accident on the launchpad, what’s the plan? Using cast-off trucks from the US military, apparently. [Gizmodo]
• Amazon may be able to deliver things to you quicker. In fact, it may be able to deliver before you order. Here’s how. [TheJournal.ie]

PARTING SHOT

Mount Sinabung spews lava and gas during its eruption as seen from Jeraya, North Sumatra, Indonesia, early today. The volcano has been erupting since September, forcing more than 20,000 people who live around it slopes to flee their homes to several temporary shelters. (AP/Press Association Images)

Can’t see the photo? Click here.

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