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

IRELAND

Saoirse Devins, age nine, celebrating at the New Year's Festival event in Dublin Castle Leah Farrell / © RollingNews.ie Leah Farrell / © RollingNews.ie / © RollingNews.ie

• More than 1,000 people are hospitalised with the flu. The HSE CEO says that the health system is “under pressure”.
• New laws dealing with cases of crimes motivated by hatred came into force, increasing prison sentences for certain hate crimes.
• Gardaí opened a murder investigation into the death of Mirjana Pap, a 58-year-old woman whose body was discovered on farmland in Co Roscommon.
• Officials in embassies and in the Department of Foreign Affairs’ Dublin head office dealt with 1,858 consular assistance cases in 2024, a 9% increase on last year.
• Ireland’s Catholic Archbishop has described Israel’s war on Gaza as “merciless” and roundly condemned increasing global expenditure on militaries.
• A jury has suspended its deliberations for the New Year’s holiday and is due to return on Friday to consider their verdict in the trial of law professor Diarmuid Phelan, who denies murdering a trespasser on his farm in Tallaght.
• Houseboat residents have expressed concern over what they claim is a lack of communication between them and Waterways Ireland about proposed changes to bye-laws along the Grand and Royal canals in Leinster.
• There has been a surge in Irish seizures of butane honey oil, a highly concentrated form of cannabis.

THE WORLD

Fireworks above Sydney's Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#GAZA Palestinian health authorities said 45 patients and injured people have been evacuated for treatment outside of Gaza.

#SOUTH KOREA South Korean authorities are examining regulations around the concrete wall at Muan airport after plane crashed into it and burst into flames, killing 179 people.

#FRANCE The father of French film producer Sophie Toscan Du Plantier, Georges Bouniol, has died at the age of 98.

PARTING SHOT

New Year’s celebrations are kicking off in Dublin – and in more eastern parts of the world, 2025 is already here.