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

IRELAND

Republic of Ireland captain Katie McCabe with Sinead Wheatley (13) as she visits Children's Health Ireland at Crumlin Mark Stedman Mark Stedman

• Irish Government officials have sought to play down claims in a report by a British newspaper that there are diplomatic tensions between Ireland and the British governments over a leak at Sellafield nuclear site. 
• The Tánaiste has filed a High Court case against Google Ireland and Google LLC relating to the use of his image and name online by actors attempting to “extract money from people”, a spokesperson confirmed.
• Social media companies have explained their reaction to the Dublin riots that resulted in millions of euro worth of damage to public infrastructure.
• Education Minister Norma has said it is a matter for the Sinn Féin leader as to whether she will withdraw comments she made in the Dáil yesterday.  
• Four new special schools are to be established next September in Limerick, Wexford, Meath and Kildare.
• Details of Shane MacGowan‘s funeral cortege through Dublin have been announced. 
• It’s a wet and windy evening with multiple weather warnings in place across the country. 
• Police in Northern Ireland have named the man murdered in Lurgan, Co Armagh on Sunday as 23-year-old Odhran Kelly. 
• A man has been arrested as part of the investigation into a fatal assault in a cemetery in Tralee last year.

INTERNATIONAL

Palestinians displaced by the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip set up a tent camp in Rafah Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#GAZA: Israeli forces have battled Hamas militants in Gaza’s main southern city, leading to “deepening horror” for civilians, the UN has said, after nearly two months of war sparked by deadly attacks on Israel.

#RESIGNED: Rishi Sunak has been rocked by the resignation of his immigration minister after rejecting demands to opt out of European human rights laws to revive his Rwanda policy.

#COVID INQUIRY: Boris Johnson has admitted his government “underestimated” the threat posed by the coronavirus in the early days of the pandemic, as he apologised to the victims at the UK Covid-19 Inquiry. 

PARTING SHOT

Time magazine has named US pop superstar Taylor Swift as its person of the year, calling the musical force of nature the “hero of her own story”.

Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) is TIME's 2023 Person of the Year https://t.co/oyjR55azCZ pic.twitter.com/m2qbIbd5TX

— TIME (@TIME) December 6, 2023

(Click here if you can’t see the tweet)