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

IRELAND

Lord Mayor of Dublin Caroline Conroy with Dermot Collins, Executive Manager Roads at Dublin City Council, as they marked the beginning of work on the Liffey Street Public Realm Improvement Scheme. Leah Farrell Leah Farrell

• The Special Criminal Court will deliver a judgement in April in the trial of Gerard ‘The Monk’ Hutch, who is charged with the murder of Kinahan Cartel member David Byrne at the Regency Hotel.
• Enoch Burke refused to say if he will purge his contempt after the High Court ruled that he should be fined €700 for every day he refuses to comply with a court order to stay away from Wilson’s Hospital Secondary School.
• Over 20 international protection applicants have been left without accommodation since the Citywest Transit Hub closed to new arrivals this week.
• The Department of Housing estimated that there were approximately 7,500 social homes built in 2022, despite lower projections from the Department of Public Expenditure.
• Gardaí confirmed the the sudden death of a toddler in Co Cork.
• Ireland was referred to an EU court over its failure to adopt laws on protecting water quality.
• An elderly patient who died following an alleged assault at a Cork hospital meant the world to his family, his funeral service has heard.
• Opposition parties urged the Government to take urgent action to ensure children and young people attending CAMHS receive appropriate care.

INTERNATIONAL

Tánaiste and Minister of Defence Micheál Martin visiting the Defence Forces’ personnel of the 121st Infantry Battalion in Camp Shamrock in Lebanon. Óglaigh na hÉireann Óglaigh na hÉireann

#PRIVATE SEAN ROONEY At a meeting with Lebanese ministers in Beirut this evening, Tánaiste Micheál Martin reiterated the determination of the Irish Government that all of the facts and circumstances around the killing of Private Seán Rooney are “fully established”.

#DEFENCE FORCES The Commander of Irish soldiers in Lebanon said Private Seán Rooney exemplified the “best traditions and values of the Defence Forces”.

#PEACE PROCESS Former UK prime minister John Major said that no party or group should put peace in the North in peril.

#UKRAINE A wave of Russian strikes targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure killed 11 people today, a day after Germany and the United States pledged heavy tanks for Kyiv.

#WEST BANK Israeli forces in the West Bank killed 10 Palestinians today, officials in the occupied territory said, nine of them in a raid the Israeli military described as a “counterterrorism operation”.

PARTING SHOT

A newly discovered asteroid, named 2023 BU, is expected to make one of the closet approaches by a near-Earth object ever recorded. Thanks to diligent teams of #planetarydefense experts, we know It poses zero risk to Earth.

Learn why: https://t.co/MBLpHqb7h7 pic.twitter.com/j9McEGrOVm

— NASA Asteroid Watch (@AsteroidWatch) January 25, 2023

A lorry-sized asteroid will pass near Earth tonight in one of the closest approaches to our planet ever recorded.

Asteroid 2023 BU, recently discovered by an amateur astronomer, will zoom by the southern tip of South America at around 4.27 pm PST on Thursday (12.27am Irish time Friday), according to NASA.

It will pass just 3,600 kilometres from Earth’s surface, much closer than many geostationary satellites orbiting the planet.

But fear not – NASA has said that it poses no danger and that “there is no risk of the asteroid impacting Earth”.

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