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

IRELAND

Isabelle Whittaker, USA, Henriette Jæger, Norway, and Rhasidat Adeleke, Ireland in the women's 400m during the Diamond League Bauhaus Athletics Gala at Stockholm Stadium, Sweden. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

• Irish jails are so overcrowded that prison authorities are left with no other option but to release long sentence prisoners despite convictions for serious offences, The Journal has learned.
• Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore said that she expects her party’s motion to disallow the Irish Central Bank’s facilitating of the sale of Israeli bonds to return to the Dáil floor “very very soon”.
• Police in Northern Ireland are working “night and day” to catch those involved in rioting in Northern Ireland, a senior officer has said.
• New legislation from the European Union will criminalise AI-generated child sexual abuse material and remove a statute of limitation on child abuse crimes across Europe, MEP Maria Walsh has said. 
• Ireland has signed a multi-million euro deal with French company Thales DMS for sonar for the Irish Naval Service which will be able to detect submerged submarines and help to protect subsea cables. 
• Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien has confirmed his department is reviewing what additional checks the state can carry out to ensure that no weapons destined for Israel are flown through Ireland. 

INTERNATIONAL

Palestinian supporters hold cardboard cutouts of U.S President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a march against Israel's war in Gaza, in Sao Paulo. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#IRAN-ISRAEL: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly suggested that Israel has killed Iran’s intelligence chief Mohammad Kazemi in an aerial attack, as the arch-foes ramp up their conflict.

#NO KINGS: Donald Trump hosted the largest US military parade in decades on his 79th birthday, as protesters rallied across the country to accuse him of acting like a dictator.

#MANHUNT: A manhunt remains underway in Minnesota after a gunman shot and killed a Democratic politician and her husband, and wounded two other people in what the US state’s governor called politically motivated attacks. 

#GAZA MARCH: Pro-Palestinian activists on a march aiming to break Israel’s Gaza blockade have retreated to the Misrata region of western Libya after being blocked by the authorities in the country’s east, organisers said today.

#UKRAINE: Ukraine said it has received another transfer of 1,200 bodies from Russia as part of an exchange agreement struck in Istanbul talks earlier this month.

PARTING SHOT

Mark Douglas, Archie Curzon, Mel Deane, Jamie Bamber, Kenny Logan and Gabby Logan ahead of Doddie’5 Lions Challenge (My Name’5 Doddie Foundation / Logan Sports Marketing/PA) (My Name’5 Doddie Foundation / Logan Sports Marketing/PA) / Logan Sports Marketing/PA)

A TEAM OF celebrities and rugby players are preparing for a 555-mile cycle challenge around the island of Ireland to raise funds for research into motor neurone disease (MND) in memory of the late Doddie Weir.

Weir died of MND aged 52 in November 2022, after years of campaigning to raise awareness of the condition and funds into research.

Scottish rugby legend Kenny Logan and his television presenter wife Gabby are among those preparing to take part in Doddie’5 Lions Challenge, cycling around 100 miles a day for six days, departing from Belfast today.