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

IRELAND

Eliza (7) from Ukraine trying to find a toy from donations given by members of the public in the Palyanytsya centre on 44 Clarendon Street, Dublin 2. Sam Boal Sam Boal

• The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that two Irish diplomats have been asked to leave Russia by the Russian Foreign Ministry.
• A jury convicted four men of a range of sexual assaults of a teenage girl in a car six years ago.
• UFC star Conor McGregor appeared in a Dublin court charged with six driving offences.
• There are significant delays in processing new passports, particularly for children, due to a surge in demand for passports following on from the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Lisa Smith‘s lawyers made a fresh bid to have the charges against her of funding terrorism and membership of Isis dismissed.
• Public health officials confirmed an additional 7,005 cases of Covid-19, with 1,251 people in hospital, including 56 in ICU.
• Tánasite Leo Varadkar said it would have been preferable had the full details around the secondment of Dr Tony Holohan been made clear from the outset.
• Flogas Energy announced that both gas and electricity prices are set to rise by almost 30% in May.
• The tented village in Gormanstown and accommodation in the Citywest Hotel and Millstreet Arena in Cork are expected to be in full use by refugees by Easter.
• Irish consumer prices were on average 6.7% higher in March than they were a year previous with sharply increasing fuel and energy prices mostly to blame.

INTERNATIONAL

An elderly woman with her dogs walk past a residential building damaged by a Russian air strike in Borodyanka, Bucha Raion of Kyiv Oblast. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#UKRAINE Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia was now massing forces in a bid to realise its “ill ambitions” in the eastern Donbas region while Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Russian troops had suffered “significant losses”. 

#HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL The UN General Assembly voted to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council as punishment for the invasion of Ukraine.

#SUPREME COURT The US Senate confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, securing her place as the first black female justice and giving President Joe Biden a bipartisan endorsement for his effort to diversify the court.

#OLD BAILEY A terror suspect accused of murdering veteran MP David Amess in a church said he wanted to kill a politician to stop him “harming Muslims” in Syria.

PARTING SHOT

An bhfuil athbheochan shuntasach ar siúl sa Ghaeilge?

In this episode of The Explainer, The Journal looks at whether there is a revival of the Irish language underway.

The episode examines, among other things, how Irish forms part of some people’s identities, and what supports are still needed from the State to help the language to continue to flourish.

You can have a listen below.
https://soundcloud.com/the-explainer-podcast/is-there-a-revival-of-the-irish-language-underway?utm_source=clipboard&utm_campaign=wtshare&utm_medium=widget&utm_content=https%253A%252F%252Fsoundcloud.com%252Fthe-explainer-podcast%252Fis-there-a-revival-of-the-irish-language-underway