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

Lord Mayor of Dublin Ray McAdam at the Mansion House forecourt as he joins American football players from the University of North Carolina, cheerleaders, a brass band, a mascot and the trophy to promote the US college football game taking place in Dublin in August. Sasko Lazarov / © RollingNews.ie Sasko Lazarov / © RollingNews.ie / © RollingNews.ie

IRELAND

• A man who sexually abused his two young cousins he was babysitting was jailed for nine years.
• Two Irish people who were on board the cruise ship struck by hantavirus began quarantining after landing in Ireland.
• Asbestos-containing materials were identified in the fire-damaged structure and debris of a fire that broke out in an industrial estate in Waterford City on Saturday.
• A crowd gathered outside Dublin City Hall to protest rent increases for council tenants, a change which was passed in a narrow vote by Dublin City Council in November.
• Ireland’s energy regulator said energy providers are not making ‘excessive profit’, and high energy prices are instead driven by wholesale costs, pass-through charges and network investments.
• Ireland is pushing for European Union sanctions against violent Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.

INTERNATIONAL

Palestinian boys play with a ball in a alley of the West Bank town of al Ram. AP Photo / Leo Correa AP Photo / Leo Correa / Leo Correa

#LABOUR IN TROUBLE: Several junior members of the UK government have resigned from their positions, calling for prime minister Keir Starmer to step aside as leader of the Labour Party.

#WASHINGTON: A man charged with attempting to assassinate US President Donald Trump at a White House press gala last month pleaded not guilty.

#MIDDLE EAST: Donald Trump claimed that the US-Iran ceasefire was on “massive life support” as the two sides failed to agree terms to start talks on ending their war.

PARTING SHOT

Arya Satheesh, aged 18, won the European prize at The Earth Prize 2026. The Earth Foundation The Earth Foundation

AN IRISH STUDENT has been named as the European winner of the world’s largest environmental competition for teenagers.

Eighteen-year-old Arya Satheesh’s development of a biodegradable plastic, Eco Purge, nabbed her the European win at The Earth Prize 2026 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Her product Eco Purge breaks down safely, and releases catalysts that help remove existing microplastics from the environment.