LAST UPDATE | 4 Jan

GOOD MORNING.

Here’s all the news that you need to know as you start your day.

Ukrainian troops

1. An Irish army mine clearance and search expert has told The Journal of the “humbling” experience of training Ukrainian soldiers in clearance of mines and booby trapped towns.

The Irish Defence Forces captain, who has requested not to be identified for security reasons, has returned in recent days from Cyprus where he was teaching members of Ukraine’s military in how to deal with mines, booby traps and unexploded ordnance at the frontline of the country’s war with Russia. 

Epstein list

2. A New York judge has begun to unseal the identities of people linked in court documents to Jeffrey Epstein, the US financier who killed himself in 2019 as he awaited trial for sex crimes.

Notably included in the unsealed documents, which include almost 1,000 pages of depositions and statements, were former US presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, who have not been accused of any wrongdoing in the case.

Blinken heads to Middle East

3. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will head to the Middle East today as fears mount that Israel’s assault on Gaza will cause conflict to spread across the region, following deadly blasts in Iran and the killing of a Hamas leader in Lebanon.

The trip comes after at least 95 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in Iran by twin explosions near the grave of a slain Revolutionary Guards general, with Hamas backer Tehran quickly blaming the United States and Israel for the attack.

Washington rejected suggestions of either nation’s involvement.

Trump Colorado ballot

4. Former US president Donald Trump has asked the US Supreme Court to review a ruling barring him from the Colorado ballot, setting up a high-stakes showdown over whether a constitutional provision prohibiting those who “engaged in insurrection” will end his political career.

Trump appealed against a 4-3 ruling in December by the Colorado Supreme Court that marked the first time in history that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment was used to bar a presidential contender from the ballot.

The court found that Trump’s role in the 6 January 2021, attack on the US Capitol disqualified him under the clause.

Biden’s immigration chief

5. US republicans have announced impeachment proceedings against Joe Biden’s homeland security chief over the worsening border crisis, as they seek to cement immigration as a major issue in November’s presidential election.

Up to 10,000 migrants have been detained daily after crossing illegally from Mexico in what Republicans describe as a humanitarian disaster, while the White House and lawmakers have failed to agree on reforms to stem the influx.

Republicans in Congress, who concluded a probe into Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in December, accuse the Democrat of creating a national security emergency by ignoring immigration policy.

Japan Airlines fire

6. Pilots on a Japan Airlines plane that burst into flames just after all 379 passengers and crew escaped had no “visual contact” with the other aircraft in the collision, the airline has said.

The three pilots were also unable to see the fire from the cockpit when it first broke out and were informed of it by cabin crew, a JAL spokesman told AFP.

The airliner hit a coast guard plane after landing at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on Tuesday evening. All but one of the six people on the smaller aircraft were killed.

Antrim murder appeal

7. Police in Northern Ireland have renewed an appeal for information about the murder of Glenn Quinn, four years on from the “brutal” attack.

He was killed in Carrickfergus on 4 January 2020, and the PSNI is now offering a £40,000 reward to anyone with information that leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

The charity Crimestoppers is offering £20,000 of the reward, while a doner who wishes to remain anonymous has offered the rest.

Overdoses

8. There was no heroin contained in the batches of drugs behind a series of overdoses in Dublin and Cork late last year, and instead they was almost entirely synthesised in a lab. 

According to chemical testing of the drugs carried out by the HSE, they contained nitazenes which were blended in a lab, along with caffeine and paracetamol.

Eamon Keenan, national clinical lead for addiction services in the HSE, told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland the drugs associated with two overdose clusters late last year were nitazenes, a potent and highly risky synthetic opioid, and testing has indicated the batches did not contain any heroin.

Darts final

9. Luke Humphries last night mounted a magnificent comeback as he reeled off five straight sets to beat 16-year-old darts sensation Luke Littler 7-4 in the PDC World Championship final.

Littler has set Alexandra Palace alight over the last fortnight and was one win away from producing one of the great sporting stories by becoming the youngest world champion.

But he fell at the final hurdle and was left in tears as Humphries showed why he is the new world number one with a scintillating 7-4 victory, which saw him lift the Sid Waddell trophy for the first time.