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

IRELAND

Protesters from the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) staged a demonstration inside the Central Bank over Israeli bonds Sasko Lazarov Sasko Lazarov

• As he kicked off his visit to Austin, Texas, Taoiseach Micheál Martin is remaining coy about his meeting with US President Donald Trump later this week, telling reporters he is taking the trip “day-by-day”.
• Wicklow County Fire Service and other emergency services are currently at the scene of a large fire in Bray and it is understood several people were rescued. 
• Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould wrote to Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy seeking to address the Dáil after he was arrested and questioned as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged business fraud last week.
• The Taoiseach said that the Irish government “won’t be able to make up that shortfall” in funding which has caused hundreds of people working for Concern Worldwide to lose their jobs.
• A woman who was raped by “three complete strangers” she encountered in a Dublin nightclub said the men preyed and took advantage of her, treating her as an object.
• A seventh man arrested during the investigation into the death of Quham Babatunde in Dublin was charged with violent disorder and two counts of assault.
• The fatal injuries to mother-of-two Lisa Thompson, who was strangled with a blind cord and stabbed to death in her own home by her former lover, have been described by the victim’s young daughter as like those “which could only be seen in horror movies”.
• The Criminal Assets Bureau will sell Martin ‘The Viper’ Foley’s home in 18 months’ time unless he comes up with almost €1m to pay off outstanding tax debts.

INTERNATIONAL

Black smoke billowing into the air after a crash between an oil tanker and a cargo ship off the coast of East Yorkshire. PA PA

#NORTH SEA: One person was in hospital after 36 mariners were rescued following a crash between an oil tanker and a cargo ship in the North Sea, a British MP said.

#NEGOTIATIONS: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Saudi Arabia ahead of ceasefire talks, as Ukraine’s proposal for a partial truce raised hopes of a breakthrough after three years of war.

#POPE FRANCIS: Pope Francis’ prognosis was no longer uncertain, the Vatican said.

#CANADA: Mark Carney was elected as the leader of Canada’s Liberal Party and will take over from Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister. 

#PALESTINE: Israel cut off electricity to the Gaza Strip as it sent negotiators for new talks in Qatar. 

PARTING SHOT

Clashes between the US and Canada have moved well beyond the ice hockey rink. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

RELATIONS BETWEEN CANADA and the United States have reached a low point not seen since the colonial era. 

The relationship between the two North American nations has been largely positive since Canada gained autonomy from Britain.

Following the American Revolutionary War in the early 1800s, the newly independent United States and the British controlled Canadian territory went to war over Britain’s refusal to withdraw forces from south of the Great Lakes.

Since then, the only major territorial dispute came in 1903 when a row erupted over who controlled Alaska, which eventually went the way of the US after Britain relented. But Canadian anger at the time was aimed less at the Americans and more at the British for that perceived betrayal. 

Now, Canadians are living through “dark days”, according to the country’s new Prime Minister.  

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