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

IRELAND

Alan Power, of Alan Power & The Aftershocks, pictured in the Comeragh Mountains ahead of this year’s Comeragh's Wild Festival, which runs from 6-9 July. Patrick Browne Patrick Browne

• Toll charges on the M50 and eight other motorways are set to increase on 1 July as the Government’s six-month delay of the planned rise comes to an end. 
• Gardaí dispersed a large crowd from Burrow Beach for the second time in two days after receiving reports of a public order incident yesterday evening.
• Aer Lingus rushed to assure current and former staff that their financial information had not been accessed after employee data was stolen through a third party service provider.
• 20 people accessing homelessness services died between January and April of 2023, new figures show.
• A fire in Maharees in Co Kerry has been put out by local community groups, residents and firefighters after it burned through three acres of sand dunes this morning.
• A man pleaded guilty to the murder of three members of the same family in a house fire in Co Fermanagh.
• A driving instructor told a 28-year-old woman who was getting lessons in his car that she was “drop-dead gorgeous” and asked if she was single, according to a formal complaint received by the RSA.
• Around 20 flights were cancelled to and from Dublin Airport today as a result of ongoing air traffic control strikes in France. 
• Gardaí are investigating after a man was assaulted by a large group on Aston Quay in Dublin yesterday.
• A man who streamed a video of an offensive song about murdered Co Tyrone woman Michaela McAreavey has lost his case at an employment tribunal that he had been unfairly dismissed from his job.

INTERNATIONAL

Nova Kakhovka, a city downstream from the dam. Telegram Telegram

#GOLF MERGER A split in professional golf appears to have come to an abrupt end today with the bombshell announcement of a merger between the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour, and the Saudi-backed LIV Tour.

#UKRAINE Kyiv accused Russian forces of blowing up the Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric power station on the Dnieper River, triggering floods, endangering Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and threatening drinking water supplies.

#PHONE HACKING TRIAL Prince Harry accused the press of having “blood” staining their “typing fingers”, with some responsible for causing pain, upset and death.

#AUSTRALIA The UN’s cultural agency UNESCO today welcomed commitments from Australia to protect the Great Barrier Reef.

#WORLD BANK The global economy is likely slowing sharply this year, hobbled by high interest rates, the repercussions of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the lingering effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

PARTING SHOT

Duncan Stewart, who is to be nominated for the Freedom of Dublin tomorrow. RollingNews.ie RollingNews.ie

Environmentalist Duncan Stewart is set to be nominated for the Freedom of Dublin.

The nomination of Stewart for the Honorary Freedom of the City of Dublin will be made tomorrow morning at a meeting of Dublin City Council’s Protocol Committee.

Speaking ahead of the nomination, Lord Mayor Caroline Conway said: “I can’t think of any other Irish person who has done more over such a long period of time to spread the word about environmental issues.”

He will join an illustrious list of Freemen and Freewomen that includes former US presidents John F Kennedy and Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela, and Mother Teresa.

Kellie Harrington, Ailbhe Smyth and Professor Mary Aiken were the last people to be awarded the Freedom of the City of Dublin in 2022.

Ancient duties of a Freeman or Freewoman included being ready to defend the city from attack and joining the city militia at short notice.

Other ancient privileges afforded was the right to pasture sheep on common ground within the city boundaries.