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

IRELAND

A busy Grafton Street on Christmas Eve Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

• A man arrested in connection with a hit-and-run incident in Rathkeale, Co Limerick, in which a young mother was killed, was charged.
• Police in Northern Ireland named the woman who died in a road traffic collision in Derrylin, Co Fermanagh last night.
• An Irish soldier killed as his UN peacekeeping post was shelled in south Lebanon is to be awarded posthumously the Distinguished Service Medal.
• Two police officers in Northern Ireland were left injured after a police vehicle was deliberately rammed in Crossmaglen, Co Armagh, early this morning.
• Healthcare workers from immigrant backgrounds won’t be able to see their children this Christmas due to a restriction that limits who can live with them while they work in Ireland.
• Two women who were arrested in connection with the seizure of €1.28m worth of Cannabis at Shannon Airport yesterday have been charged.

INTERNATIONAL

Indonesian christians light candles during Christmas eve mass at Maulana Yusuf Indonesian Christian Church in Bandung, West Java. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#NYC: A man was facing murder charges in New York City for allegedly setting a woman on fire inside a subway train and then watching her die after she was engulfed in flames, police said.

#TURKEY: A powerful blast ripped through an explosives plant in northwestern Turkey, killing 11 people and injuring four others.

#WASHINGTON: Former US president Bill Clinton was released from hospital after being admitted and treated for flu.

#KOREA: South Korea’s main liberal opposition party said it will seek to impeach acting leader Han Duck-soo, as Seoul grapples with the turmoil set off when impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol made a short-lived declaration of martial law.

PARTING SHOT

This week’s episode of The 42 FM is all about sports books, as Sinéad quizzes Gavin about the process of co-writing The Racket with Conor Niland, which won the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award for 2024.

They delve into how the book came about and how the structure of the book was decided upon, along with discussing the process of writing it.

Gavin and Sinéad also pick their favourite sports books and offer some left-field recommendations.