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

IRELAND

Shoppers in Dublin this afternoon. Rollingnews.ie Rollingnews.ie

• There were five further deaths and 270 new cases of Covid-19 confirmed in Ireland. 
• Nine ultra-low temperature Covid-19 vaccine freezer trucks arrived into Ireland to aid with the roll out of a Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. 
• Met Éireann said Ireland’s weather so far this year indicates “further evidence of climate change” as analysis revealed 2020 among world’s hottest years. 
• Gardaí identified 28 people suspected of being involved in Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) fraud offences.
• Northern Ireland will have its first Covid-19 vaccinations next week. 
• The Taoiseach committed to publishing a report on transgender healthcare in Ireland. 
• Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley repeated his apology in relation to his tweet about two IRA attacks on the British army.
• The Taoiseach told the Dáil that he is not “anti-rural” or “anti-pub”, saying there’s “nothing I would like better right now than a pint in some rural pub in the west of Ireland”.   

WORLD

ulu Kingstone, Alfred Alejandro Dudely-Mira and Elena Kingstone walk through the a tunnel of lights in the Botanic Gardens in London, England. PA PA

#VACCINE APPROVAL: The UK formally approved a vaccine against Covid-19 developed by Germany’s BioNTech and US giant Pfizer, becoming the first country to do so.

#BREXIT: Boris Johnson remains “optimistic” that Britain can get a post-Brexit trade deal.

#CASE: A high-profile case of sexual harassment in China’s #MeToo movement involving a well-known state TV host has finally reached trial.

PARTING SHOT 

Earlier today, music streaming service Spotify launched its annual Spotify Wrapped feature which allows users to see their most listened to songs and artists over the past year. 

Here’s an article from Vox outlining the service’s plan to get music listeners tuning into more podcasts.