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

Rachel Croash poses as a fox(R) with 12-year-old Andrew Jones as a frog ahead of the opening night performance of Leos Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen at the Samuel Beckett Theatre on Tuesday. (Sasko Lazarov/Photocall Ireland)

IRELAND

• A man was arrested after a killing in Castleknock in Dublin that was believed to be caused by a row over a game of chess
• A number of foxhounds were confirmed as having been killed crossing a railtrack during a hunt
• Labour senator Denis Landy said that a letter James Reilly sent outlining his concerns over pylons should concern everyone
• Minister Fergus O’Dowd said there “must be transparency at Irish Water”, but was criticised because it falls outside Freedom of Information legislation
• Missing Waterford teenager Margueritta Goulden was found safe and well
• Sinn Féin called on the British and Irish governments to endorse the Haass proposals
• The body of a woman was removed from a “suspicious” house fire in Newry, Co.Down
• The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Oisín Quinn, said that the city would not pass a budget that cut homeless services
• SIPTU made a call for ambulance resource shortages to be reviewed
• The Health and Safety Authority launched a safety campaign aimed at making farms safer for kids
• Spot flooding was reported across the country – again

INTERNATIONAL

Members of the Knesset guard carry the coffin of late Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at the Knesset plaza, in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

#SHARON: The body of former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was brought to Jerusalem to lie in state. A state funeral will take place tomorrow.

#TORTURE: The British government “absolutely rejected” reports that troops in Iraq tortured prisoners. They say that they are dealing with the reports themselves and complaints to the International Criminal Court are “unnecessary”.

#IRAN: Iran will begin eliminating their stockpile of enriched uranium and nuclear materials on 20 January, the White House confirmed. US President Barack Obama said he was “under no illusions” that implementing the plan would be difficult.

#IRAQ: Two separate car bombs in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad left 13 civilians dead. One of the bombs went off outside a busy bus station, while the other targeted a taxi rank.

INNOVATION

• Think that your smartphone is a hindrance to an active lifestyle? Here’s why you’re wrong. [TheJournal.ie]
• While we haven’t had much snow so far this year, why take the risk of being snowed in? These tracks will turn you car into a tank and are easy to fit. [Gizmodo]
• If you’ve ever dreamed of being a writer, then researchers at Stony Brook University may be able to help. They have developed an algorithm that can tell if a book will be successful. [Geek.com]

PARTING SHOT

This is Coinye. He is the mascot for a crypto-currency that was called Coinye West until Friday.

Any resemblance to an American rapper is purely coincidental and in no way related to legal threats.

Confused? Let The Verge explain.

Can’t see Coinye? Click here.