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

IRELAND

Protesters gathered outside the Dáil today for the Stop Funding Genocide protest © RollingNews.ie © RollingNews.ie

• The government has been accused of making “sacrificial lambs” of renters as new rent regulations will extend Rent Pressure Zones but landlords won’t be subject to the 2% cap on rent increases for new tenancies.
• The first major excavation of children’s graves is to begin in Tuam, Co Galway next Monday.
• A 19-year-old has sadly died after being hit by a van while he was cycling in Lucan, Co Dublin this morning.
• Our reporter Diarmuid Pepper was in Ballymena to talk to locals after the rioting of the last two nights.
• The National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) has temporarily cut funding to another public hospital after finding “potential financial irregularities” in relation to NTPF-funded insourcing work.
• A new variant of Covid-19, which is being closely monitored by the World Health Organisation following a rise in infections in several parts of the world, has become increasingly common in Ireland.
• Five driving test centres will have no dedicated testers until at least September, according to the Road Safety Authority.

THE WORLD

In Los Angeles, ongoing protests against recent ICE raids have escalated into intense clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#GAZA Israeli forces opened fire on people waiting to enter a food distribution centre run by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, killing 31 people and injuring around 200 more.

#CLIMATE CRISIS Last month was the second-warmest May on record on land and in the oceans, according to the European Union’s climate monitoring service.

#US California Governor Gavin Newsom has said US President Donald Trump’s militarisation of Los Angeles is the behavior of “a tyrant, not a president”. 

#UKRAINE Russian strikes on Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kharkiv killed two people and wounded 60, including children, early this morning.

PARTING SHOT

Dublin’s ‘Love Lane’ in Temple Bar has officially been restored over a decade after its initial installation in 2014.

The lane is comprised of tiles bearing deconstructed hearts and short messages. There are over 100 public contributions that are displayed on tiles on the lane, which include quotes, poems, lyrics and dedications.  

The lane, which is located in Crampton Court, was restored by the original artist Anna Doran.