January 30: Today’s top stories in 60 seconds

DUP backs deal that will see return of Stormont Assembly after two years of collapse
Powersharing in Northern Ireland is to return after the DUP announced that it has agreed to UK government proposals on changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol. After more than five hours of intensive negotiations amongst the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) executive, leader Jeffrey Donaldson told reporters that a deal had been struck after 1am. He said that he was satisfied that real progress had been made on reducing the red tape created by post-Brexit trade barriers, which have caused divisions in political unionism, and have been characterised by the DUP and other parties as a threat to Northern Ireland’s place within the United Kingdom.
The Journal

Post-mortem to take place on body found in east Cork
A post-mortem examination is due to be carried out on the skeletal remains found in east Cork yesterday. Though the results are expected by this afternoon, the remains may need to be identified through dental records or DNA samples. The skeletal human remains were discovered by a garda and a sniffer dog who were searching for 47-year-old Kieran Quilligan who is believed to have been abducted from Cork city centre five months ago. The remains were found on open scrubland near woods and the main road running between Midleton and Whitegate.
RTÉ

RSA denied extra funding to counter rise in road deaths
A €6 million funding request from the Road Safety Authority to hire additional staff as part of an expansion of its road safety media campaigns in a bid to reverse a surge in road deaths in 2023 was declined by the Department of Transport. The RSA sought the funding in response to a call by the department last August for suggestions of “any emergency measures that might be put in place which could have an impact by year-end” on the “very difficult trends we are seeing in terms of road fatalities”. Last year, 184 people died on Irish roads, an almost 20 per cent increase on the previous year.
The Irish Times

Gardaí asked to open their lockers after €100k drugs haul goes missing in station
Gardaí in a station where €100,000 worth of drugs have gone missing are being asked to voluntarily open their lockers “to see if the missing property can be located within”. The €100,000 cannabis haul was seized last week and initially stored in Carlow Garda Station.
The Irish Examiner

Tesla and BMW badly damaged in Dublin crash as two sets of traffic lights destroyed
A crash involving a BMW and a Tesla left both vehicles and two sets of traffic lights badly damaged in Dublin. Firefighters and paramedics from Tallaght were at the scene of the incident involving the two luxury cars, which also caused major damage to both vehicles. The circumstances of the incident which happened over the weekend, and the condition of the occupants of the vehicles, is not known.
Independent.ie

Middle East latest: US response awaited after ‘drone mix-up’ led to deadly attack on base
Air defences failed to stop the deadly attack on a US base in Jordan after confusion over whether the incoming drone was hostile or not, two US officials have said. Meanwhile, Lord Cameron is visiting the Middle East for the fourth time as he travels to Oman.
Sky News

Imran Khan: Pakistan former PM jailed in state secrets case as election looms
Former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan has been sentenced to 10 years in jail in a case in which he was accused of leaking state secrets. Khan, who was ousted by his opponents as PM in 2022, is already serving a three-year jail term after being convicted of corruption. He has called all the charges against him politically motivated.
BBC News

Today’s forecast
Dry and mainly sunny today with light southwest breezes. Highest temperatures 6 to 9 degrees. Dry with clear spells tonight. Lowest temperatures zero to 6 degrees, coldest and clearest across the east with some frost there. Light to moderate southwest winds will freshen later.
Met Éireann