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

IRELAND

The proposed white-water rafting facility in Dublin

• Public health officials confirmed a further 13 deaths and 2,944 new cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.
• Northern Ireland recorded 25 deaths and 822 new Covid-19 cases today.
• Senator Michael McDowell called the proposed white-water rafting facility a “grotesque vanity project”.
• The Health Minister is trying to secure an early delivery of the AstraZeneca vaccine to begin vaccinations as soon as the jab receives European approval.
• Student nurses are “frustrated” at the last-minute decision to cancel unpaid placements and redeploy teaching nurses to health with the Covid-19 surge.
• Gardaí arrested a woman who allegedly assaulted a staff member yesterday evening in a premises where the woman had not worn a face covering. 
• Gardaí are asking for the public’s assistance in tracing a man who has been missing since the end of last year.
• Archbishop Eamon Martin said that religious orders should not be “scapegoated” for Mother and Baby Homes while the Children’s Minister said the government will prioritise enacting legislation for adoptee’s rights to their personal records.
• RTÉ has no plans to cease broadcasting the Angelus twice a day.

THE WORLD

Joe Biden announces key members of White House science team. CNP / ABACA CNP / ABACA / ABACA

#US Joe Biden’s top aide said the incoming president would sign about a dozen executive orders on his first day in office.

#AFGHANISTAN Gunmen shot dead two Afghan women judges working for the Supreme Court in an ambush in the country’s capital.

#OBIT Former music producer and convicted murderer Phil Spector has died age 81. 

#ONLINE The ‘Q’ behind the QAnon conspiracy movement, which was instrumental in the storming of the US Capitol, is actually two people, according to Swiss experts.   

PARTING SHOT

It’s been over two weeks since the Brexit transition period officially ended.

New checks on trade are required between Ireland and Great Britain because of the UK’s departure from the EU’s Custom Unionn and Single Market.

Our reporter Gráinne Ní Aodha took an in-depth look at how trade between Ireland and Great Britain has been impacted so far, including empty shelves in Northern Ireland, queues of trucks waiting to travel, and some British companies stopping services to Ireland.