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

IRELAND

Race horses and riders head out for early morning exercise on the frost covered Curragh Plains in County Kildare RollingNews.ie RollingNews.ie

• Status Orange warnings have been issued for counties in the south of the country across this weekend, while the rest of the country is under various Status Yellow warnings. 
• Artificial intelligence will be a “big disruptor” in the world of weather forecasting, allowing more models to be run to reduce uncertainty in predictions, according to Met Éireann’s head of forecasting.
• One of the country’s biggest maternity hospitals has paused a service that allows women to talk through their birth experiences.
• A postmortem examination was carried out today at Cork University Hospital on 31 year old Paula Canty who was found dead in suspicious circumstances in a flat in Mallow, Co Cork yesterday.
• Frontman of legendary Irish rock band U2, Bono, has been awarded the US Presidential Medal of Freedom by US President Joe Biden. 
• Gardaí are appealing for witnesses to a fatal road traffic collision yesterday, in which a woman aged in her 70s was killed. 
• A commemorative statue of Irish composer and musician Rory Gallagher has been unveiled in Belfast, honouring his life, music and connection to the city.
• Tributes have been paid to Tiarnán Trainor, a thirteen-year-old boy who died yesterday following a collision involving a quad bike in Co Armagh. 
• Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are set to resume government formation talks on Monday ahead of the Dáil returning later this month.

INTERNATIONAL

The farm bell is rung 39 times as the motorcade with the hearse of former President Jimmy Carter stops in front of the Boyhood Farm, where he grew up Alamy Alamy

#ALLIES The administration of US President Joe Biden has notified Congress of a planned $8 billion arms sale to Israel, a source familiar with the plan has said.

#GAZA Rescuers in Gaza have said that at least 19 people, including eight children, were killed in Israeli strikes across the Palestinian territory. 

#JIMMY CARTER Six days of funeral observances for Jimmy Carter began in Georgia, where the former US president died on December 29 at the age of 100.

#PRISONERS RELEASED Myanmar’s military government has released more than 6,000 prisoners and reduced other inmates’ sentences as part of a mass amnesty marking the 77th anniversary of independence from Britain.

PARTING SHOT

Bono and Joe Biden Alamy Alamy

President Joe Biden, presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Nation’s highest civilian honor, to Bono today.

The ceremony took place in the East Room of the White House in Washington D.C.