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

IRELAND

Families of loved ones who died in the Stardust Fire arrive at Rotunda Hospital round room with Charlie Bird this afternoon. Sam Boal Sam Boal

• Dr Gabriel Scally said “substantial progress” has been achieved in the CervicalCheck programme, as he published a report into the implementation of recommendations from the 2018 report into the CervicalCheck scandal. 
• Fresh inquests into the Stardust nightclub fire will not begin before April 2023, a pre-inquest hearing heard this afternoon.
• Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman is set to meet with East Wall residents’ groups following protests against the housing of refugees at an old ESB building in the area.
• A third man charged with violent disorder and “viciously” assaulting two gardai in Ballyfermot in Dublin has been refused bail.
• The Regency Hotel murder trial has heard a recording of ex-Sinn Fein Councillor Jonathan Dowdall, which the prosecution alleges is a reference to the three AK-47 assault rifles used by the gunmen who murdered David Byrne.
• Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney hit out at Fifa for its “absolutely extraordinary” decision not to allow players to wear armbands in support of LGBTQ+ people during the World Cup.
• The interim CEO of the Industrial Development Agency (IDA) told an Oireachtas committee that Irish tech workers who have lost their jobs are “being looked after”. 
• Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said a solution to deal with the rising toll charges will have to be found before the kick in in the new year.
• The former partner of Ian Bailey, the self identified chief suspect in the west Cork murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier, is to sue Netflix and the director of a documentary.

INTERNATIONAL

Virginia police respond to the scene of a fatal shooting at a Walmart on Tuesday night. AP / PA Images AP / PA Images / PA Images

#MASS SHOOTING A gunman killed at least six people at a Walmart store late last night, just ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday in the second mass shooting in the United States in four days.

#EU VOTE The EU Parliament website was hit by a cyber attack in the aftermath of a vote recognising Russia as a “state sponsor of terrorism”.

#UKRAINE WAR Volodymyr Zelensky is set to address an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council, as Russian strikes left the country’s energy system in tatters.

#INDY REF Britain’s highest court has ruled the Scottish Parliament does not have the powers to legislate for a referendum on independence.

#WORLD CUP FIFA has opened a disciplinary case against the Ecuador FA over alleged homophobic chanting by their supporters during Sunday’s World Cup Group A victory over Qatar. 

PARTING SHOT

ESA's new parastronaut John McFall. AP / PA Images AP / PA Images / PA Images

A British doctor and former Paralympian who lost a leg in a motorbike accident has become the first astronaut recruit with a disability.

John McFall has been selected by the European Space Agency for a special “parastronaut” programme and is set begin training early next year.

The ESA calls McFall a “Parastronaut Feasibility Study Member”. He will do the same training as other candidates while also being monitored to see how he will manage in space.

“We’ve got to undergo astronaut training and work out what it is about having a physical disability that makes it tricky and overcome those hurdles,” he said.

“Space travel, hopefully, can be for everyone.”

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