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

IRELAND

People stand in front of a herd of deer in the Phoenix Park in Dublin earlier today. Sasko Lazarov / RollingNews.ie Sasko Lazarov / RollingNews.ie / RollingNews.ie

• Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy was advised that Independent TDs who support the government yet want to be part of an opposition grouping can do so. 
• A schoolboy accused of supplying cocaine along the Royal Canal Greenway in Dublin was barred from using bicycles, e-scooters or “anything on wheels”, which “he uses when he is allegedly drug dealing”.
• Two more men were arrested onboard a cargo vessel at anchor on the Shannon Estuary in relation to an alleged international drug trafficking scheme off the coast of Kerry.
• TheJournal published analyses into the the delayed National Security Strategy and what the new transport security force will be and how it will function.
• A member of the Irish College of Aesthetic Medicine (ICAM) welcomed a pledge within the draft programme for government to ensure dermal fillers can only be administered by trained healthcare professionals.
• TheJournal readers shared their stories on how they managed to get a mortgage and buy a home. 

WORLD

An emergency helicopter flies over the ski lifts at the Astum ski resort in Huesca, Spain. Veronica Lacasa / Europa Press via AP) Veronica Lacasa / Europa Press via AP) / Europa Press via AP)

#SPAIN: A chairlift broke at a Spanish ski resort near the French border earlier today, injuring around 35 people, some of them seriously, regional officials and the media said.

#RUSSIA: A Russian strike on the Ukrainian capital killed three people today. Ukrainian leaders branding it a “heinous” attack, while Moscow called it “retaliation” for bombardments on its territory.

#CROATIA: Croatian Deputy Prime Minister Josip Dabro, a leading member of a nationalist hard-right party, resigned after a video surfaced of him shooting at random from a moving car.

#ISRAEL: Israel said said 737 prisoners and detainees will be freed as part of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal that has been approved, with the ceasefire due to kick in tomorrow.

#UNITED STATES: TikTok said it will have to “go dark” in the US this weekend unless the outgoing Biden administration assures the company it will not enforce a shutdown of the popular app, following a Supreme Court decision.

PARTING SHOT 

What do cherry tomatoes on a bridge, junior ministers, and future government wranglings all have in common? Read Carl Kinsella’s latest Surrealing in the Years to find out!