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

IRELAND

Rocco Finnegan (7) pictured with Mrs Claus and Nicky Byrne as Children's Health Foundation and Children’s Health Ireland 'Save a Smile' by lighting up CHI Crumlin for Christmas Andres Poveda Andres Poveda

• Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy will make his first official visit to Ireland tomorrow, accompanied by First Lady Olena Zelenska.
• Architect Hugh Wallace, best known for his role as a judge on RTÉ’s Home of the Year, died at the age of 68.
• The chief executive of Dublin City Council said that he was not placed under pressure to drop the renaming of Herzog Park by “national political figures or any other advisers” as the row grew into an international storm over the weekend.
• The family of Terence Wheelock expressed “deep disappointment” that a proposal to rename a park after the 20-year-old was withdrawn alongside a motion to rename Herzog Park.
• The High Court heard that the applicants who lodged judicial review proceedings against the MetroLink are “agreeable” to mediation outside of court.
• The Land Development Agency ruled out the delivery of affordable housing at the vacant Baggot Street Hospital after carrying out a site inspection.
• An SUV driver in his 60s died yesterday after his car struck a parked car in Dublin, while a motorcyclist in his 30s died following a single-vehicle collision in Co Wexford this morning.
• A group of Afghan asylum seekers have told of how they were followed by men on motorcycles before being subjected to an alleged attack in rural Co Dublin.
• A detective who loaned an unclaimed bicycle out of Garda storage to give it to a vulnerable elderly neighbour during Covid successfully applied to the High Court to argue that an investigation into the incident caused his mental and physical deterioration, amounting to an ‘injury while on duty’.
• The Government needs to “step up” and establish mechanisms to deal with the legacy of the Troubles “at pace”, a new report from British MPs said.
• The rate at which women are receiving a first-time HIV diagnosis in Ireland rose sharply in 2024, new data revealed.
• A bird flu outbreak was confirmed on a turkey flock in Cavan, bringing the number of outbreaks in the past month to five.
• Electric Picnic announced its first wave of acts this morning for next year’s festival.

INTERNATIONAL

Macron and Zelenskyy during a press conference at the Elysee Palace in Paris Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#FLOODING: Sri Lank and Indonesia have deployed military personnel today to help victims of devastating flooding that has killed nearly 1,000 people across four countries in Asia in recent days.
#UKRAINE: Zelenskyy spoke optimistically about revising the Trump administration’s peace plan ahead of his trip to Dublin, saying “it looks better” and the work will continue during talks on how to end Russia’s nearly four-year war.
#FORMER PRINCE: Britain’s King Charles officially stripped his brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor of his last remaining titles, the Order of the Garter and Royal Victorian Order honours.

PARTING SHOT

Shelf of Oxford English Dictionaries Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Oxford University Press, the maker of the Oxford English Dictionary, has announced its Word of the Year for 2025.

The publisher said it received more than 30,000 submissions of what the word should be and ultimately ‘rage bait’ was chosen.

The word, which is actually two words, is defined as online content deliberately designed to elicit anger or outrage by being frustrating, provocative, or offensive, typically posted in order to increase traffic to or engagement with a particular web page or social media account.

The Oxford Word of the Year can be a singular word or expression, which the publisher’s lexicographers think of as a single unit of meaning.

Rage bait is a compound of the words rage, meaning a violent outburst of anger, and bait, an attractive morsel of food.