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

IRISH

Annit Biniu, Jackson Wang and Anthony Cronin at the National Concert Hall today for the launch of the 'Primary Strings' project. Mark Stedman / Photocall Ireland Mark Stedman / Photocall Ireland / Photocall Ireland

• Sinn Féin and Fine Gael are level at the top of the political tree for the first time, says a new poll.
• Tánaiste Joan Burton caused a ruckus by criticising water charges protesters for their awfully expensive-looking phones and cameras.
• A London couple were sentenced to life in prison for the “vicious” murder of Irishman Michael Hunt.
• Water charges protesters in Clare Hall in north Dublin were accused of intimidating residents.
• Taoiseach Enda Kenny got into a war of words with Sinn Féin over their economic plans.
• The fine for smoking around children in a car could be as much as €1,000 under the planned legislation, we heard.
• We learned that more than 11,000 people went to hospital last year after self-harming.
• New figures showed there’s been a drop of 2,000 in the number of mortgages in arrears.
• ESB crews restored power to thousands of homes in the south of the country after overnight storms. 

WORLD

AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

#EBOLA: British airports introduced new screening for the disease, amid an increasing number of Ebola scares across the world.

#MH17: A passenger on the flight that was shot down over Ukraine in July was wearing an oxygen mask, raising suspicions they knew their fate in advance.

#DO SOMETHING: At least 21 people died as Kurds protested alleged Turkish inaction against the Islamic State group.

#BOOKS: French writer Patrick Modiano won the Nobel Prize for literature.

#CARNAGE: Two suicide bombs killed nearly 70 people in Yemen.

#MISSOURI: There was anger in the US city of St Louis after claims a police officer shot dead a teenager.

INNOVATION

• Amazon is finally ready to open its first – actual, physical – store, in Manhattan. (CNBC)
• Google is using camels to produce “street view” images of the desert. Really.
• HTC launched the Desire Eye, whose 13 megapixel, front-facing camera is designed to make it the ultimate “selfie phone.” (Guardian)

PARTING SHOT

What do children all over the world eat for breakfast? Be jealous, be very jealous. (New York Times magazine)