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

IRELAND

The members of the newly announced Cabinet Government Information Services Government Information Services

• Leo Varadkar was confirmed as Taoiseach following the resignation of Micheál Martin, fulfilling an unprecedented agreement to rotate the head of government in the middle of its term
• Varadkar announced his new Cabinet, which was much the same as the previous one, with the main changes in the Departments of Foreign Affairs, Defence, Finance and Public Expenditure
• Two soldiers who received minor injuries in the attack that killed Private Seán Rooney were discharged from hospital
• Met Éireann announced that a Status Yellow ice warning is set to come into effect for most of the country this evening, with temperatures set to fall below freezing in some places
• Five performances of RTÉ’s controversial Toy Show: The Musical were cancelled due to illness in the cast and crew
• Gardaí issued a renewed appeal for information on the murder of Owen Maughan, nine years after he was shot dead at a service station in Mayo
• Dame Street in Dublin was closed to traffic due to a fire in a building
• Waterford’s Housing Director suggested he would “be loath” to introduce a policy whereby emergency beds could be provided to anyone from outside the county who is homeless

WORLD

A man cooks on a fire in the yard of an apartment during a blackout in Ukraine Andriy Andriyenko Andriy Andriyenko

#TWITTER: The accounts of several high-profile journalists were reinstated after Twitter owner Elon Musk accused them of endangering his family, but some said the billionaire owner offered full use of the platform only if they deleted posts about his location

#UKRAINE: Ukrainian authorities are scrambling to restore electricity and water supplies after Russia’s latest wave of attacks pitched multiple cities into darkness

#LONDON: A 33-year-old woman has died after a crush outside a music venue in Brixton earlier this week

#BERLIN: The US company that helped build a huge aquarium in Berlin that collapsed this week has said it is sending a team to investigate the rupture of the tank

PARTING SHOT

Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

A dog is for life, not just for Christmas, as the phrase goes – but many people who get a puppy this Christmas still don’t know what they’re signing up for.

Every year, animal welfare charities urge people not to get a dog for Christmas, because they have faced years of unfortunate increases in the numbers of dogs needing to be rehomed after the festive period.

Expert dog trainer Suzi Walsh explains why now is the worst time of year to bring a dog into your home in our Voices column.

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