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

IRELAND

Labour Party councillor Mary McCamley signing a book of condolences for Garda Kevin Flatley Sasko Lazarov Sasko Lazarov

• Gardaí began examining CCTV footage from a business at the scene of where Garda Kevin Flatley was killed which is understood to show the collision.
• A forensic archaeologist told a jury how she reported it was possible that Tina Satchwell had been killed at her house and her body concealed there.
• The Journal reported that nine teenage psychiatric inpatients in a Dublin hospital were evacuated due to an electrical fire and have not yet been able to make a full return, with some having their care downgraded to over-the-phone support from home. 
• The Taoiseach led tributes to the two teenage boys who tragically died off the coast of Buncrana at the weekend.
• An environmental group lodged a judicial review against plans for a gas power plant in Co Kerry.
• A man and woman were served with the Book of Evidence in connection with the murder of Stephen Ring, whose body was found in a Wexford quarry in October last year.
• Father Ted co-creator Graham Linehan pleaded not guilty to harassing a woman and damaging her phone.
• Viktor Orbán asked Micheál Martin not to “ruin the love story” between Ireland and Hungary after the Taoiseach was critical of the Prime Minister “unreasonably exploiting” his EU veto and backsliding on fundamental European rights.
• Rachel Blackmore called time on her glittering career as a jockey. 
• Reconstruction began on the Doagh Famine Village in Donegal, which was partly damaged by fire just over a week ago, after a GoFundMe campaign raised more than €90,000.

INTERNATIONAL

People watch a live broadcast of Israeli-American soldier Edan Alexander as he is released from Hamas captivity in Gaza Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#PALESTINE: Israel’s blockade on humanitarian aid entering Gaza has put the entire population at “critical risk of famine”, with roughly half a million Gazans facing starvation, a global hunger monitor warned.

#UK: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer unveiled sweeping changes to the immigration system in the UK and promised to “take back control” of the country’s borders, echoing the rhetoric of pro-Brexit campaigners and anti-immigration parties. 

#ARGENTINA: A trove of World War II-era Nazi propaganda and membership documents was unearthed in the basement of Argentina’s Supreme Court, where it had lain, stashed in champagne crates, since 1941.

#ISRAEL: An Israeli-American soldier was freed by Hamas in a goodwill gesture towards the Trump administration.

#NEW YORK 

PARTING SHOT

THE UNTIMELY DEATH of Garda Kevin Flatley reminds us that every single road crash fatality is a deep tragedy for the victims and their families. This is an unspeakable tragedy for Kevin’s wife Una and their children. One’s thoughts and prayers go out to them in the most heartfelt and thoughtful way.

Garda Kevin Flatley was doing his duty on Sunday in the most obvious of ways. He was on the roadside and in uniform. It was a splendidly beautiful day, the sort of a day that one cherishes after a long winter. This was not a day to die but fate dictated otherwise.

You can read John O’Brien’s full Voices article here.