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

IRELAND

Yomiko Chen and a Chinese Lion Dancer launch the Dublin Chinese New Year Festival. Leon Farrell / Photocall Ireland Leon Farrell / Photocall Ireland / Photocall Ireland

• Martin McGuinness has resigned as Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland.
• Irish politicians have been speaking about Irish-Egyptian relations as TDs travel to Cairo to see jailed Ibrahim Halawa.
• Home Sweet Home has reached a deal with the government but the future of Apollo House remains uncertain.
• The head of Enterprise Ireland is warning companies to brace for a hard Brexit.
• A Dublin beautician is facing trial accused of illegally providing a botox-like treatment at her salon.
• Arctic conditions are set to bring hail, sleet and snow from the middle of this week.
• KBC staff are ‘concerned for their jobs’ as the bank decides on its future in Ireland.
• A plane operating on behalf of the US military was permitted to fly from Shannon Airport to Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey.
• U2 announced a gig in Croke Park this summer as part of their Joshua Tree 30th anniversary tour.

WORLD

President-elect Donald Trump speaks with reporters after meeting French billionaire businessman Bernard Arnault at Trump Tower. Evan Vucci / PA Images Evan Vucci / PA Images / PA Images

#A-LISTERS: Donald Trump has lashed out at screen legend Meryl Streep, accusing her of being an overrated “flunky” of Hillary Clinton after the actress berated him at the Golden Globes ceremony.

#RELIGION: Pope Francis has condemned jihadist attacks around the world as “homicidal madness” .

#TUBE STRIKE: A strike on the London Underground caused major disruption as almost all stations in the city centre shut and services were cancelled.

#FRIGHTFUL: The deaths of eight people in Italy and ten in Poland have been blamed on bitterly cold weather that has swept over Europe.

PARTING SHOT

When Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Michael Cunningham got a call from someone claiming to be David Bowie, he thought it was a friend pulling a prank. He didn’t know he was about to be launched into a yearlong collaboration on a musical involving space aliens, mariachi bands, and an imaginary trove of unreleased songs by Bob Dylan.

In this month’s GQ, he gives the story of their unfinished show.

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