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

IRELAND

Crowds marched in Dublin today despite the storm in support of Palestine. Eamonn Coyle Eamonn Coyle

• Approximately 175,000 homes, businesses and farms are still without power following fierce winds and heavy rain caused by the arrival of Storm Darragh.
• Independent TDs Michael Healy-Rae, Danny Healy-Rae, and Paul Gogarty have joined forces with Independent Ireland TDs to form an Independent Technical Group in the next Dáil.
• The Taoiseach has lead tributes to former Fine Gael TD Andrew Boylan, who died aged 85. 
• Gardaí have arrested three males, including a teenager, as part of an operation targeting an organised crime gang suspected of committing burglaries across Ireland. 
• A man in his 20s that was earlier arrested in connection with the assault of a woman in Co Kildare has been released without charge. 
• Dublin City Council has refused planning permission to contentious plans for a new 100 bedroom Raglan Townhouse hotel for Baggot Street Upper in Dublin.

INTERNATIONAL

Spectators gather outside France's iconic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris for it's formal reopening for the first time since a devastating fire nearly destroyed the 861-year-old landmark in 2019. AP Photo / Alessandra Tarantino / Alamy Stock Photo AP Photo / Alessandra Tarantino / Alamy Stock Photo / Alessandra Tarantino / Alamy Stock Photo

#THE HAGUE: At least four people have died and several other people were injured after an explosion and fire destroyed an apartment block in the Dutch city of The Hague, authorities said.

#YOON SUK YEOL: A South Korean legislative motion to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived imposition of martial law fell through today after most members of his conservative governing party boycotted the vote.

#GUESS WHO’S BACK: President-elect Donald Trump marks his return to the world stage with his attendance at the Notre Dame cathedral reopening in Paris. 

#DAMASCUS: Syrian rebels have reached the suburbs of Damascus as part of a rapidly moving offensive that has seen them take over some of Syria’s largest cities, opposition activists and a rebel commander said.

#NEW YORK: The FBI has announced that it is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction of the shooter who killed the CEO of the largest U.S. health insurer on Wednesday.

PARTING SHOT

Opening of doors ceremony at official reopening ceremony of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

HOWLING WINDS COULD not stop Notre Dame Cathedral’s heart from beating again.

With three resounding knocks on its doors by Paris Archbishop Laurent Ulrich, wielding a specially designed crosier carved from fire-scorched beams, the monument roared back to life this evening.

For the first time since a devastating blaze nearly destroyed it in 2019, the towering Gothic masterpiece reopened for worship, its rebirth marked by song, prayer, and awe beneath its soaring arches.