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

Ideisa Gladala at the Liffey Valley Shopping Centre Disco of the Dead Marc O'Sullivan Marc O'Sullivan

IRELAND

• Two men were found guilty of the murder of Croatian national Josip Strok on a Dublin street last year. 
• Ireland’s wealthiest households create significantly more carbon emissions than lower-earners, according to a new report from Oxfam Ireland.
• A man died in the early hours of this morning after being hit by a truck in Dublin City Centre.  
• Taoiseach Micheál Martin denied that he is a “top-down” leader and rejected a backbencher’s comparison of his long-running tenure at the head of the party to the reign of France’s Louis XIV.
• Tánaiste Simon Harris’ comments on immigration were condemned as “reckless dog-whistling” by opposition politicians. 
• Discretionary medical cards are to be provided to individuals who are still waiting for acknowledgement and confirmation that their injuries were caused by the Thalidomide drug. 
• A Dublin firefighter was sentenced to between seven and nine years in prison after being found guilty of raping a woman during a trip to Boston for St Patrick’s Day last year. 

INTERNATIONAL

US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea today Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#SOUTH KOREA US President Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea today.

#NETHERLANDS Geert Wilders’s far-right Party For Freedom and the centrist D66 were tied with nearly all votes counted today in the Dutch general election in an unprecedented neck-and-neck race to become the biggest party. 

#USA Donald Trump said the US would limit the number of asylum seekers it takes in every year, while prioritising white South Africans. 

PARTING SHOT

John Collison, billionaire Stripe co-founder, lobbed a political bombshell in the direction of Kildare Street with a 2,500-word Irish Times think piece (manifesto, perhaps). Is it a bold vision or simply Silicon Valley naivety?

Sinead O’Carroll, Christina Finn, and Rónán Duffy break down the response to Collison’s ‘Make Politicians Powerful Again’ call, from ministers nodding along to critics pointing out all the things he left out. They also ask: why can Irish governments deliver for the Ryder Cup, but not for housing? What does that say about leadership, blame, and priorities?

Also: will we have a new taoiseach this time next week?