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

IRELAND

Irish Oscar nominees Lenny Abrahamson, Michael Fassbender, and Saoirse Ronan. Brian Lawles Jordan Strauss, Amy Sussman / PA Wire Brian Lawles Jordan Strauss, Amy Sussman / PA Wire / PA Wire

• Temperatures of minus six are predicted for the weekend.
• Saoirse Ronan and Lenny Abrahamson lead an Irish sweep at the Oscar nominations.
• A man was arrested over the murder of Seamus Doherty in 2012.
• It looks like the banking inquiry is on track to publish its final report. [RTÉ News]
• An underage person could not consent to a sexual act, a judge told the jury in the case of a 15 year old accused of raping a 14 year old at a youth disco.
• The Tánaiste came under fire for giving David Begg a state board role without any public process.
• Concern was expressed over Gsoc‘s access to journalists’ phone records.
• A review of employment laws was announced in the wake of last year’s Clerys job losses.
• Fine Gael was accused of ‘backtracking’ on one of its key election promises to abolish the USC.
• Senior gardaí accused senior management of bullying members.
• A Fine Gael TD resigned from the Dáil.
• Hundreds of new jobs were announced in Dublin.

WORLD

: Indonesian soldiers stand guard near the site of an explosion in Jakarta Dita Alangkara / PA Wire Dita Alangkara / PA Wire / PA Wire

#INDONESIA: Islamic State suicide bombers and gunmen struck the capital, leaving two dead and twenty others injured.

#RIP: Actor Alan Rickman died aged 69.

#FRANCE: Some of Charlie Hebdo’s latest cartoons sparked discussion on free speech.

#ITALY: DNA analysis of a condom and cigarette butt led Italian prosecutors to arrest a Senegalese man in the death of American woman Ashley Olsen.

#MOTORING: Three sites belonging to car maker Renault were searched in an emissions probe. [Reuters]

#UNITED STATES: The Powerball jackpot was finally won, with three people splitting the €1.5bn prize.

INNOVATION

• Google Maps has a new auto-predict feature that could change how we get directions. [Quartz]
• Isis is building its own encrypted messaging app. [The Next Web]
• This new kind of robot skin could massively improve how their artificial hands work. [New Scientist]
• The most massive supernova ever recorded has been seen. [BBC News]

PARTING SHOT

Adele seems like she would be a bit of craic on a long car journey.

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