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

IRELAND

Mourners at the funeral of Kenneth O'Brien in Ballyfermot, Dublin, today Eamonn Farrell / Rollingnews.ie Eamonn Farrell / Rollingnews.ie / Rollingnews.ie

• It’s on – after a seemingly interminable waiting period, the Taoiseach has finally called the general election. It will take place on Friday 26 February.
• The funeral of Kenneth O’Brien, whose dismembered remains were found in the Grand Canal last month, has taken place in Ballyfermot, Dublin. A letter from Kenneth’s father was read out in church, describing him as “intelligent, handsome and loving”.
• A misogynist ‘pro-rape’ group known as Return of Kings is planning a rally in Co Kildare.
• The latest JNLR radio listenership figures are out, and RTÉ Radio One is still hammering its opposition.
• Parts of the country had their wettest January in decades.
• Classes are off for most students at the country’s 14 institutes of technology due to a lecturers’ strike.
• The severed heads of many deer were found in a bin in Killarney, Co Kerry.
• Joan Burton has described her deputy Alan Kelly as “an incredibly obedient employee”.
• A man who killed a grandfather as he babysat his grandchildren in Skerries, Co Dublin, has been found ‘not guilty by reason of insanity’.
• Irish men have been urged to wear a condom during sex when they return from Zika-affected countries.
• A Sinn Féin politician has been ordered to pay almost £50,000 over a defamatory tweet.
  
• The European Consumer Centre has warned tourists over credit card scams after one woman lost €5,000 in a scam in the Canary Islands.

WORLD

Shannon and Shane Newman West Yorkshire Police West Yorkshire Police

#LONDON: Lord Lucan has finally been declared officially dead, 42 years after he disappeared.

#SOMALIA: A man was ‘sucked out of a plane’ following an onboard explosion.

#USA: Donald Trump has dismissed his loss in Monday’s Iowa caucus as being a case of Ted Cruz ‘stealing’ the vote. Meanwhile, Rand Paul has dropped out of the race for the Republican nomination.

#UK: Has David Cameron’s ‘Great Delusion’ just condemned the UK to going it alone?

#LEEDS: The identities of a mother and her two children who were found dead in their house yesterday have been confirmed as Geraldine Newman, her son Shane and daughter Shannon.

INNOVATION

• Is Sky Q really the future of TV? It just might be you know.
• Here’s how to hide your presence on WhatsApp so no one will know when you’re online. Sneaky.

PARTING SHOT

Ever wondered what Don Draper is smokin’ and Tony Montana is snortin’ in the movies and on tv? Wonder no more… [Upvoted]

Al Pacino as Cuban drug lord Tony Montana in Scarface (1983) Youtube Youtube