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

IRELAND

Laura Fitzgerald from Dromahane looks on as Cork Lights up for Christmas. Darragh Kane Darragh Kane

•  Gardaí have launched a criminal investigation into allegations a serving garda sergeant stole money from a female Deliveroo rider in Dublin city centre and an officer has now been suspended. 
• International witnesses the case of former Defence Forces member Lisa Smith, accused of ISIS membership, will not be forced to travel to Ireland due to the Covid pandemic, the Special Criminal Court has ruled.
• A US-bound passenger jet has made an emergency landing at Dublin Airport after the crew reported engine problems over the Atlantic southwest of Ireland.
• A West Cork parish priest unfairly dismissed a long serving Sacristan after the Covid-19 pandemic put a hole in local Church finances.
• Fine Gael TD Bernard Durkan has called on the National Lottery to remove two balls from the Lotto draw drum to increase the likelihood of someone winning the jackpot, declaring: “This never happened in Ronan Collins’ day”. 
• Gardaí have launched an investigation into a shooting incident at a house in Clonmel in the early hours of this morning.
• Former DUP Leader Arlene Foster has called on Bertie Ahern to apologise for referring to parts of Belfast as “ghettos” in comments he made about loyalists and the Northern Ireland Protocol.
• A man whose wife and newborn son died within 33 hours of each other at Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH) has claimed that he has no faith in the system and very little confidence that seismic changes will occur to prevent other families from experiencing such traumatic loss.
• Gardaí have launched a criminal investigation into allegations a serving garda sergeant stole money from a female Deliveroo rider in Dublin city centre and an officer has now been suspended. 

INTERNATIONAL

Palestinian children play on a street flooded with water due to heavy rains in a poor neighborhood east of Gaza City. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#USA Vice President Kamala Harris held presidential powers for a total of one hour and 25 minutes while President Joe Biden was under anesthetic, the White House said this evening. 

#AUSTRIA The country will impose a lockdown for all and make vaccinations mandatory, Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg has announced, making the country the first in the EU to take such stringent measures as coronavirus cases spiral.

#BRITAIN Music photographer Mick Rock, whose iconic images earned him the nickname “the man who shot the 70s”, has died aged 72, his family said today. 

#NEW YORK More than half a century after the assassination of Malcolm X, two of his convicted killers have been exonerated after decades of doubt about who was responsible for the civil rights leader’s death.

#WISCONSIN Kyle Rittenhouse, the American teenager who shot and killed two men and wounded another during protests against police brutality and riots in Wisconsin last year, was acquitted of all charges today.

PARTING SHOT

It’s that time of the year as we all shift focus to Christmas – this little street in Cork city, Needham Place, is well ahead on the festive displays. 

Nice and festive in the South Parish 🎅🧑‍🎄🎄 pic.twitter.com/mcOpmKn69p

— Dónal Hassett (@donalhassett1) November 17, 2021