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

Ireland

The Luas on Abbey Street Sam Boal Sam Boal

• Tributes have been paid to a 12-year-old boy from Limerick, named locally as Wiktor Chojecki, who was killed after the car he was driving collided with a truck.
• The Government has rejected criticism of their measures on the cost of living that were announced last night, saying that making more targeted supports would have risked excluding people.
• The National Bus and Rail Union has supported the Government’s move to cut public transport fares by 20%, but says that gaps in funding “will not be plugged” by staff.
• Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that hitting Ireland’s target of generating 80% of electricity from renewables will require developing “offshore wind technologies”
• An FBI agent has told the Special Criminal Court that it was “beyond suspicion” that Lisa Smith had joined Isis when she was in Syria.
• The Department of Health has reported 11,063 new cases of Covid-19 in Ireland today, with 615 patients receiving treatment in hospital with a case of the virus.
• Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch and ex-Sinn Fein councillor Jonathan Dowdall have lost their High Court actions that had aimed to keep them from being tried before the Special Criminal Court over murder charges arising from the Regency Hotel attack.
• Dublin Fire Brigade and Siptu have reached an agreement to deal with long-time staff shortages within the fire service.
• Combined Status Yellow wind and rain warnings are in place in five counties on the west coast of Ireland this evening.

International

Brandon Lewis, the UK's Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#UKRAINE: US President Joe Biden has urged Americans to immediately leave Ukraine, as Russia’s live-fire drills and build-up of troops around the ex-Soviet state deepened fears of an invasion. 

#BRANDON LEWIS The UK’s Northern Ireland secretary, Brandon Lewis, has said that powersharing institutions in Stormont should be restored after the 5 May election. Lewis also called for the DUP to commit to taking the Deputy First Minister position if required after the election.

#XINJIANG Concerns have been raised by a United Nations labour agency over the work conditions of Uyghur and other Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang region of China, noting signs of “coercive measures” being used in the area.

#FREEDOM CONVOY Canadian authorities will head to court in a bid to break the ongoing bridge blockade by truck drivers protesting against the country’s Covid-19 restrictions.

Parting Shot

As of today, the hit online word game Wordle will be hosted on the New York Times website, following its acquisition in late January.

The game, which exploded in popularity in late 2021, was originally built by software engineer Josh Wardle and had been hosted on the website powerlanguage.co.uk.

However, users who visit the Wordle page will now be redirected to the NYT, with streaks seeming being reset by the move.

According to the NYT, the issue is being worked on, however.

In our poll this morning, we asked whether or not you would continue to play Wordle now that it has moved to the NYT.

Most respondents (48%) said that they would continue playing, while 31% said that they would not continue now that the game is under NYT ownership.

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