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

IRELAND

Daisy Scallon (2) with her sisters Sophie (7) and Abigail (5) pictured at the launch of the Incognito art sale in aid of the Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation Leon Farrell Leon Farrell

• Major reforms to the Leaving Certificate are set to be brought in beginning in September 2023.
• Ireland is to expel four “senior officials” from the Russian Embassy.
• GPs will no longer be asked to sign off on requests by survivors of mother and baby homes seeking access to their own health records.
• A national centre for Research and Remembrance is set to be located on the site of the former Magdalene Laundry on Sean McDermott Street in Dublin city centre.
• A man has been arrested following a barricade incident in Dublin 1 this afternoon.
• The health service is under “huge pressure” with 6,000 healthcare staff out sick, Dr Colm Henry has warned.
• Cabinet has approved the auto-enrolment pensions plan which will see those who earn more than €20,000 automatically signed up to make contributions for their retirement fund.
• Former soldier Lisa Smith, who denies membership of so-called Islamic State, “specifically assessed, analysed and ultimately answered the call to migrate” to Syria, a court has heard.
• Gardaí are investigating an alleged assault on St Patrick’s Day of a young teenage girl in Co Waterford as videos of the apparent attack have emerged online. 
• Family and friends of Pierre Zakrzewski paid tribute to the journalist, who was killed while covering the war in Ukraine, at his funeral service in Dublin today.

INTERNATIONAL

People at England's National Covid Memorial Wall as events take place across the UK to mark the second anniversary of its first Covid-19 lockdown Stefan Rousseau Stefan Rousseau

#UKRAINE: Russia’s military has announced it will “fundamentally” scale back operations near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and the city of Chernihiv.

#ANDREW: Prince Andrew made his first public appearance today after settling his sexual assault civil case.

#FINES: 20 fines are set to be issued over alleged lockdown-busting parties held in British government buildings, police have said.

#P&O: The boss of P&O Ferries has insisted he will not reverse the decision to sack nearly 800 workers.

PARTING SHOT

Unsure what to watch on TV in your spare time over the next week? 

The Remote is our weekly look at upcoming TV highlights.

From drama and comedy, to factual and reality TV, we’ll bring you some of the shows to watch out for from both traditional broadcasters and the main streaming services.

• You can check it out here. 

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