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

IRELAND

Armed Garda presence outside the Criminal Courts of Justice today for the trial of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch RollingNews.ie RollingNews.ie

• The Central Bank is expected to set out new changes to mortgage lending rates tomorrow morning.
• Gerard ‘The Monk’ Hutch told Jonathan Dowdall that he was “one of the team” that murdered David Byrne at the Regency Hotel in 2016, the Special Criminal Court heard today.
• Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has announced that parents paying for their child’s accommodation while attending third-level education will be able to access the €500 rent tax credit.
• Cabinet has signed off on a temporary ban on evictions from next month until the end of March.
• Met Éireann issued a Status Orange rain warning for five southern counties from 10pm tonight until midnight tomorrow. 
• Cyber-flashing, when someone sends an unsolicited sexual image to another device without their consent, will become a criminal offence after Cabinet approval was given today.
• The government did not oppose a Sinn Féin motion this evening which called for a ban on energy disconnections and for protections to be introduced for those on pay-as-you-go meters.
• A man who was drunk when he sexually assaulted a young woman who was lying unconscious near a Luas stop has been jailed for four years. 

INTERNATIONAL

Rescue efforts in northern Venezuela PA PA

#RUSSIA Officials have said a technical malfunction had caused a military plane to crash a day earlier into a residential building near Ukraine, killing over a dozen people and spurring an outpouring among locals.

#LUCY LETBY A nurse accused of multiple baby murders in England said it was “the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do” when she took the body of a newborn baby to a mortuary as his father cried on the floor.

#IRAN Concern is mounting over the wellbeing of sports climber Elnaz Rekabi after she competed at an event in South Korea without a hijab in what some saw as a gesture of solidarity with the women-led protests at home.

#LANDSLIDE Intense rains in northern Venezuela has caused a landslide killing at least three people, following more than 50 deaths in similar circumstances last week.

 PARTING SHOT

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland issued a safety statement after a social media photo from Leo Varadkar showcasing his meal prep for the week  garnered mockery and confusion online.

The image was published on the Tánaiste’s official Instagram yesterday morning and shows 16 tubs in a fridge containing a variety of pre-cooked meals, with social media users questioning what food was in the boxes and why they didn’t have lids.

One user tagged the FSAI who stated: “Storing batched cooked or leftover food safely will reduce the risk of possible food poisoning,” and “Generally we recommend that lids are used”.

Hi Fionnan. Storing batched cooked or leftover food safely will reduce the risk of possible food poisoning. By safely we mean that the food should be stored in the fridge (at between 0-5°C) or freezer (at -18°C or less) within 2 hours of cooking and used within 2-3 days. (1/2)

— FoodSafetyAuthority (@FSAIinfo) October 17, 2022