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

IRELAND

Dancers from from Dublin Youth Dance Company - Sophie Walsh, Willow Brodie Hayes, Florentine Ryan and Poppy Pendred - at the announcement that the Irish Youth Dance Festival returns to the Pavilion Theatre in Dún Laoghaire on 1 and 2 July. Leon Farrell / Photocall Ireland Leon Farrell / Photocall Ireland / Photocall Ireland

• The State will pay €1.5 million to the EU rather than take in a group of 350 people seeking international protection as part of a European solidarity agreement.
• The Department of Integration is examining plans to house over 170 asylum seekers in tented accommodation on the site of the former Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum.
• Tesco lowered prices on more than 700 products, which Finance Minister Michael McGrath said is “quite a significant turning point” for grocery price inflation.
• A report from the Children’s Rights Alliance found that over 236,000 children are living in poverty in Ireland.
• Cabinet has agreed that up to 5,000 empty student accommodation beds will be used to house refugees over the summer period.
• Former Fine Gael senator Paul Coghlan died at the age of 79.
• The Food Safety Authority of Ireland said that seven food businesses were hit with closure orders last month.
• Ministers expressed unease over the underspend on the delivery of national road projects.
• Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that Dubliners may be given the chance to vote on whether they want to elect a mayor during the local elections next year.
• Ireland is experiencing its longest drought since 2018 with no rain observed in some parts of the country for 23 days now.

INTERNATIONAL

A person cycles past the skyline in Philadelphia shrouded in haze caused by wildfires in Canada. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#ANNECY A local prosecutor said a man who stabbed four preschool children and injured two adults in a French Alpine town this morning did not appear to have a “terrorist motive”.

#KHERSON Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised the rescue efforts following the collapse of the Kakhovka dam while visiting nearby Kherson today.

#WILDFIRES Smoke from Canadian wildfires continued to shroud US cities in a noxious haze today, forcing flight delays and cancellations to outdoor activities as environmental groups called for urgent action to tackle climate change.

#GERMANY A law firm representing the frontman of German rock band Rammstein, who has been hit by a wave of sexual assault claims, have denied the allegations.

#TRUMP US prosecutors told Donald Trump’s lawyers that he is the target of a probe into his handling of classified documents after leaving the presidency, in a sign he might be indicted.

PARTING SHOT

A close up of one of the Cuckoos at Burren National Park in Co Clare. Valerie O'Sullivan Valerie O'Sullivan

The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) announced today that a cross-channel tracking project to help solve the mystery of where Irish cuckoos spend their winter months has gotten underway.

The Cuckoo Tracking Project is being undertaken by the NPWS in collaboration with the British Trust for Ornithology.

The project will satellite track the migration routes of four Irish cuckoos  – Torc, Cores, Carran and KP – in an attempt to understand habitat pressures

These birds will help us better understand the pressures faced by cuckoos and how we can help them successfully complete an arduous migration in the rapidly changing world we share. I'm proud to see our national nature agency collaborating with the BTO on such important research. pic.twitter.com/7EefOt8Dyy

— Malcolm Noonan T.D. (@noonan_malcolm) June 8, 2023

Three of the Irish cuckoos tagged are from Killarney National Park in Co Kerry, while the fourth is from Burren National Park in Co Clare.

The four tagged cuckoos can be tracked on the BTO website, where they each have their own page.

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