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

IRELAND

Donegal students are given tour of Irish Coast Guard helicopter base as part of The Pitch – The Publicjobs.ie Schools Advertising Challenge prize. Mark Stedman Mark Stedman

• The return of Northern Ireland Assembly was blocked by DUP.
• A man in his 20s shot in supermarket car park in Finglas, north Dublin.
• A teenage witness told the Josh Dunne trial that two Brazilian delivery riders were “outnumbered” in a fight.
• A man who raped his foster daughter ”over 1,000 times” was jailed for 11 years.
• Revenue seized a consignment of 9 million illegal cigarettes at Dublin Port today.
• A recall was issued on several Marks & Spencer chicken products over the possible presence of salmonella.
• A fresh appeal for information was issued on the 45th anniversary of a British army captain’s disappearance.

INTERNATIONAL

A mannequin dressed as a soldier placed near a road in north Kharkiv, Ukraine, today. Bernat Armangue Bernat Armangue

#RUSSIA: Russia will suspend electricity supplies to Finland this weekend, a supplier said today as tensions rise over Helsinki’s Nato bid following the conflict in Ukraine.

#INDIA: At least 27 people died and dozens more were injured in a massive fire in a building in the Indian capital New Delhi today, emergency services said.

#WAGATHA CHRISTIE: Coleen rooney sent the viral post accusing “Rebekah Vardy’s account” of leaking her private information to The Sun as a “last resort”, the footballer’s wife has told the UK High Court at the start of her evidence.

PARTING SHOT

For the first time ever, scientists have grown plants in lunar soil.

This @UF and @NASASpaceSci experiment using Apollo Moon samples could shape the future of sustainable astronaut missions to deep space. Dig into the story: https://t.co/ZtUvowKi8e pic.twitter.com/PWGzev7lmN

— NASA (@NASA) May 12, 2022

Scientists have for the first time grown plants in lunar soil brought back by astronauts in the Apollo programme.

The ground-breaking experiment, detailed in the journal Communications Biology on Thursday, has given researchers hope that it may be possible to one day grow plants directly on the moon.

That would save future space missions much hassle and expense, facilitating longer and farther trips.

However, according to the study’s University of Florida authors, much remains to be studied on the topic, and they intend to leave no stone unturned.