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

IRELAND

New legislation comes into effect from Thursday, forcing tobacco companies to pay for part of the clean-up costs resulting from cigarette-related waste Sasko Lazarov / RollingNews.ie Sasko Lazarov / RollingNews.ie / RollingNews.ie

• Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has vowed to be “flexible and reasonable” when attempting to solve issues with the Northern Ireland Protocol.
• The INMO has called on the Government to “make difficult decisions” including the return of mandatory mask-wearing in crowded settings.
• An investigation into the death of a teenage girl from menigitis in University Hospital Limerick is to begin shortly. 
• A man has died after a crash in Westmeath yesterday evening.
• Up to 20 men were involved in an incident of violent disorder during “a serious public order incident” at a hotel in Killarney turned Direct Provision centre on Sunday evening, Killarney District Court was told today.
• Some sixth year students have written to the Education Minister about their Leaving Cert concerns as the State exam is eased from its Covid-era form.
• A man who is wanted in Nothern Ireland on multiple charges of making indecent images of children has appeared before the High Court in Dublin.
• The CSO has released an overview of what its work revealed about Irish society in 2022, covering everything from baby names to the cost-of-living crisis.

INTERNATIONAL

Mourners gather to lay flowers in memory of more than 60 Russian soldiers that Russia says were killed in a Ukrainian strike on Russian-controlled territory, in Samara AFP via Getty Images AFP via Getty Images

#COVID: The EU and and China are moving closer to a political standoff over the Covid-19 crisis.

#CRASH: Four people have died in a mid-air crash between two helicopters in Australia, including a British couple who were on holiday there.

#POPE: Queues of people have been snaking around St Peter’s Square in the Vatican for a second day as they wait to view the body of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

#IRAN: Iran has upheld two death sentences for the killing of a paramilitary during nationwide protests, the judiciary has said.

PARTING SHOT

The first meteor shower of the year will be visible in Ireland tonight.

The Quadrantid meteor shower is expected to peak at 3am, and with clear skies will be visible until early tomorrow morning.

David Moore, the founder of Astronomy Ireland, said hopeful stargazers can see the shower between midnight and dawn.

Speaking to The Journal, he said:

There is a bit of a moon up, which is a bit of a problem in that all the faint [meteors] will be a bit swamped out.

But it means people in cities get the same view as people who live in the countryside.