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

IRELAND

People gather to watch the sunrise on the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. OPW OPW

• It was revealed that a total people have died from influenza so far this winter season, and 62 have been admitted to ICU, with a Cork-based doctor warning that the flu has likely not reached its peak.
• Two brothers from Limerick were jailed for 14 years in total after they admitted carrying out a gun attack on a house, last June.
• A 93-year-old man died after being struck by a car in Co Down last night.
• It was revealed that a hostel in Dublin’s south inner city was refused planning permission by Dublin City Council.
• People from the US and Germany were among the lucky 14 who were able to witness this year’s Winter Solstice from within the ancient chamber at Newgrange.
• It was revealed that a man who died after his car went off the road and into a river in Co Cork as he made his way home from work in heavy rain on Friday had become a father for a second time just four months ago.
• Online parcels that never arrive and phone-calls that play on urgency are just some of the scams gardaí are warning people to be aware of this Christmas.

WORLD

A billbord signalling a night of commemoration a week after the Bondi terror attack. PA PA

#US: The US “apprehended” an oil tanker off Venezuela yesterday, a move Caracas deemed a “theft and kidnapping”, in the latest salvo of a pressure campaign by Washington, the US government said.

#RUSSIA: the Kremlin denied that three-way talks between Ukraine, Russia and the United States were on the cards, as diplomats gathered in Miami for talks on ending the conflict.

#ISRAEL: Israel approved the establishment of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, a move the country’s far-right finance minister said was aimed at preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state.

PARTING SHOT

Today was the Winter Solstice and some lucky people got to be inside the passage tomb at Newgrange to catch a glimpse of the sun lighting up the chamber.