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

IRELAND

The sky turns a dramatic red as the sun sets over church spires in Dublin City. Sam Boal Sam Boal

• The fine for travelling abroad for non-essential reasons is to increase from €500 to €2,000.
• The Teacher’s Union of Ireland has said its members will facilitate the reopening of special classes in post-primary schools from Monday 22 February.
•  The public has been told to expect disruptions to travel systems as well as more weather warnings as temperatures drop and accumulations of snow are expected. 
• Health officials confirmed 1,006 more cases of Covid-19 in Ireland and 54 deaths. 
• NPHET has written to the Government and recommended a reduction in the number of days close contacts must restrict their movements if they test negative and are asymptomatic. 
• CETA, the controversial EU-Canada trade deal, is to be referred to an Oireachtas committee, delaying a Dáil vote that would likely split Green Party TDs.
• Sinn Féin has criticised government plans to introduce a new welfare payment for 65-year-olds who are no longer employed.

THE WORLD 

Bonnie Lawrence (4), Emmie Mills (10) and Alex Lawrence (8) enjoy the snow in the Wicklow mountains. PA PA

#EU: Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said she “deeply regrets” a decision to propose invoking Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol in a row over Covid-19 vaccines.

#UNITED STATES: Prosecutors in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial said they would prove the former president was not an “innocent bystander”, but the “inciter in chief” of the Capitol riot last month.

#BORN TO RUN: Singer Bruce Springsteen is facing a drink-driving charge after being arrested on November 14 in a part of the Gateway National Recreation Area on the New Jersey coas.

PARTING SHOT

A lawyer in Texas has gone viral after accidentally activating a kitten filter during a virtual courtroom session. 

Footage of the incident on Tuesday shows lawyer Rod Ponton struggling to remove the filter, while judge Roy Ferguson attempted to help him. 

“I don’t know how to remove it … but I’m prepared to go forward with it,” Ponton is heard saying in the video. 

“I’m here live. I’m not a cat.”

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