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

IRELAND

Sarah Goddard, Kate McCarthy, Emily Kelly, Anna Purcell, Alexandra Brown, Jessica Sood, Ella Sparling and Izzie Moriarty pictured at the Three Charge & Chill area at Electric Picnic 2025. Brian McEvoy Brian McEvoy

• Former GAA manager Jim Gavin has sought the Fianna Fáil nomination for the presidential race – and he has Taoiseach and party leader Micheál Martin in his corner. 
• Presidential candidate Catherine Connolly has said that she “takes for granted” that any candidate for the presidency would be able to speak Irish.
• The Irish ambassador in Berlin and senior officials in the Department of Foreign Affairs have “conveyed [their] concern” to the German authorities about an incident in which an Irish activist was punched in the face by police officers during a pro-Palestine protest in the city.
• Ahead of a meeting of Foreign Ministers in Copenhagen today Tánaiste Simon Harris called on the EU “as a whole” to protest the decision made by the US to deny and revoke visas for Palestinian officials ahead of a UN general assembly meeting next month. 
• The Labour Court must intervene in the school secretaries and caretakers strike, Opposition TDs have said.

INTERNATIONAL

People in Milan, Italy protest against Israel's actions in Gaza. LaPresse / Alamy Live News LaPresse / Alamy Live News / Alamy Live News

#PULSE CHECK: The internet is abuzz with chat on one topic and one topic only this morning: whether the 47th President of the United States, Donald J Trump, has died. He hasn’t.

#GAZA: Israel will soon slow or halt humanitarian aid into parts of northern Gaza as it expands its attack on Gaza, with the stated aim of attempting to cripple Hamas, an official said on Saturday.

#FRANCE: A man intentionally ploughed his car into a crowd outside a wine bar in northern France after an altercation early Saturday, killing one person and injuring five others, two of them critically, prosecutors told news agency AFP.

PARTING SHOT

A few of the contenders. RollingNews.ie / The Journal RollingNews.ie / The Journal / The Journal

THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN is finally heating up as Fianna Fáil begins to close in on its candidate. 

Soon, we’ll have to face the names on the ballot and decide who is to succeed Micheal D Higgins as President of Ireland. Vote in our poll of the current names here.