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

IRELAND

Storm Lorenzo has been inching closer to Ireland. Met Éireann Met Éireann

• A status orange wind warning was issued for six counties along the west coast of Ireland as the country prepares for the impact of Storm Lorenzo in the coming days.
• British prime minister Boris Johnson published his Brexit alternative to the Withdrawal Agreement suggesting a need for checks on the island of Ireland or face a no-deal on 31 October.
• A Dublin hotel has cancelled an upcoming conference focused on ending greyhound cruelty in Ireland after it was “inundated with crank and abusive calls”. 
• Health Minister Simon Harris has rounded on politicians who have invited vaping company representatives into Leinster House, during an Oireachtas committee meeting. 
• Families of people killed in the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings are asking the Irish government to back a public inquiry into the incident.
• Almost 70% of doctors who de-registered to practice medicine in Ireland said they intend on practicing medicine abroad, a new report has shown.

WORLD

Dominic Lipinski Dominic Lipinski

#ROYAL PAINS The Mail on Sunday newspaper has said it will vigorously defend the legal action taken against it by Meghan Markle over the alleged unlawful publication of a private letter to her father. 

#HORN An Irishman has been jailed for 14 months in the US after he pleaded guilty to trafficking rhinoceros horns.

#KIM JONG UN North Korea fired what appeared to be a submarine-launched ballistic missile, Seoul said today, just days before Washington and Pyongyang are set to resume long-stalled nuclear talks.

PARTING SHOT

The full brunt of Storm Lorenzo hasn’t even been felt and unusual creatures are already landing in and around Irish shores. 

Earlier today, a minke whale, usually found in the North Atlantic, was spotted splashing around in Dublin Port near the opening to Dublin Bay.

A whale of a time you might say (pun intended).