GOOD MORNING.

Here’s all the news that you need to know as you start your day.

Winter surge and masks

1. In our lead story this morning, a prominent immunologist told reporter Jane Moore that they believe the Government “missed a trick” by not strongly advising the public of the importance of wearing masks before the current winter surge that is seeing record hospital overcrowding due to a rise in respiratory illnesses.

US House Speaker

2. Kevin McCarthey was named speaker of the US House of Representatives as he quelled a fierce rebellion among his party’s ranks which forced a historic 15 rounds of voting, a deadlock not seen in well over a century.  

Tuam excavation

3. Works at the former mother and baby home in Tuam is another step closer as the recruitment process for the Director who will lead the intervention at the site is due to conclude next month.

Cork

4. A man has died after the car he was driving collided with a number of stationary vehicles in Cork City yesterday. 

Alzheimer’s treatment 

5. The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a highly anticipated new drug designed to slow cognitive decline in patients in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. 

NFL claims

6. False claims that NFL player  Damar Hamlin collapsed due to a Covid-19 vaccine circulated in the days following the incident, according to the latest FactCheck from The Journal.

Ron Jeremy 

The pornography actor has “severe dementia” and will be declared unfit to stand trial for rape, a US newspaper has reported.

Jeremy, who has appeared in more than 1,700 X-rated films since the 1970s, had been due to go before a jury on multiple sex charges against 21 women and girls.

Comet

8.  A newly discovered comet could be visible to the naked eye as it shoots past Earth and the Sun in the coming weeks for the first time in 50,000 years, astronomers have said.

Evan Ferguson

9. After making his competitive start for Premier League outfit Brighton in style, nabbing goals in consecutive games, some of Evan Ferguson’s coaches from his earlier days playing have been delighting in the 18-year-old Dubliner’s progress over at The42.