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

Katie Kirrane at the Stripe Young Scientist Exhibition in the RDS with her project EyeFocus+: An Evidence-Based Digital Approach to Myopia Management, Surgical Interventions and Long-Term Eye Health Enhancement. Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie / RollingNews.ie

IRELAND

• A father and son found dead at two separate houses in west Dublin were named.
• The Media Minister was criticised for saying that responsibility for making child sexual abuse images through X lies with users and not the social media platform itself.
• The Taoiseach and Tánaiste confirmed that the Government will vote against the controversial Mercosur trade deal.
• A woman appeared in court to face organised crime charges in relation to the murder of Jamie Tighe Ennis.
• The disciplinary appeals panel that is considering Enoch Burke’s dismissal agreed not to meet this weekend following a High Court application by the teacher.
• A man aged in his late teens was arrested in connection with the death of a man in West Dublin last year.
• Tesco said its operating profit may reach up to £3.1 billion (€3.5 billion) for Ireland and the UK after strong Christmas sales according to its latest forecast.
• First-time buyer mortgage approvals reached their highest levels on record last year, with over 30,000 approvals between January and November.

INTERNATIONAL

A makeshift memorial honouring Renee Nicole Good, the victim of a fatal shooting involving federal law enforcement agents, is taped to a post near the site of the incident. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#MINNESOTA: Protesters have clashed with law enforcement officers in Minneapolis after the fatal shooting of a woman by an ICE agent taking part in the US government’s latest immigration crackdown.

#WEIGHT-LOSS DRUGS: A University of Oxford study found that people on weight-loss drugs like Wegovy and Mounjaro put the weight they have lost back on within two years after they stop using them.

#VENEZUELA: Donald Trump’s administration said it will dictate decisions to Venezuela’s interim leaders and control the country’s oil sales “indefinitely” after toppling Nicolas Maduro.

PARTING SHOT

View of Brusselstown Ring hillfort from a distance with test trenches marked. Queen's University Belfast Queen's University Belfast

A hillfort in Co Wicklow has been declared the largest and most nucleated settlement in prehistoric Ireland and Britain by researchers at Queen’s University Belfast.