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

IRELAND

Snowfall in Mayo today. Parts of the west were blanketed while a Status Yellow warning was in place for 14 counties. Photo courtesy of Martina Hegarty and used with permission.

• One man died and another was arrested following an alleged assault at an apartment complex in Kilcock, Co Kildare.
• Nine new suspected cases of measles have been reported in Ireland as of 3 February.
• Three people were arrested in connection with an arson attack at a former pub earmarked for homeless accommodation in Ringsend in Dublin.
• Gardaí probing an arson attack on a house in Leixlip said they are liaising with other garda stations who are investigating similar incidents around the country.
• The attacks on accommodation amount to a “campaign of far-right terrorism in this State”, People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy told the Dáil.
• There’s a difference of opinion among the business community towards plans to divert through traffic out of Dublin city centre from August.
• A Jesuit order has published a report showing that it received 93 complaints of abuse by the a priest and teacher, and also took the opportunity to name two other suspected abusers.
• The Irish women’s basketball team game’s against Israel went ahead, but players did not shake hands or engage in the “traditional pre-match arrangements” following accusations of antisemitism. 
• The new Republic of Ireland manager’s first competitive campaign will include a blockbuster double-header against England when the Uefa Nations League begins later this year. 

INTERNATIONAL

A Palestinian child looks at the damage to his family’s house after an Israeli strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip (Fatima Shbair/AP)

#UKRAINE: The country’s most senior general was today removed from his post, in the biggest shake-up of Kyiv’s military leadership since Russia’s invasion almost two years ago. 

#GAZA: Israel’s troops prepared to enter Rafah as prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that ‘total victory’ was still possible.

#SUNAK: Rishi Sunak refused to apologise to Brianna Ghey’s father and said it is “sad and wrong” to link his transgender joke at Prime Minister’s Questions to the murdered teenager’s case.

#EU: Four Irish MEPs were criticised for not supporting a European Parliament resolution which condemned “continuous efforts” by Russia to interfere in European democracy, and expressed alarm at alleged relations between it and Spain’s Catalan secessionists.

PARTING SHOT

A row erupted earlier today between Belfast rap group Kneecap and the British government.

The group’s funding was pulled from a UK-wide funding scheme for music artists over its stance on the UK and Northern Ireland.

Kneecap’s three members have gained acclaim for their blend of Irish and English rap about the realities of growing up in post-Troubles Belfast.

However, a spokesperson for the UK’s Trade minister Kemi Badenoch said that it didn’t “want to hand out UK taxpayers’ money to people that oppose the United Kingdom itself”.

Responding to the news, Kneecap criticised the UK government for “removing artists from funding” due to their political beliefs, slamming it as “classic coloniser stuff” from the Tory government.

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