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

IRELAND

Today the National Concert Hall announces twelve participants of its award-winning Female Conductor Programme for 2019/2020, Mark Stedman Mark Stedman

• Fianna Fáil leader Michéal Martin has asked Timmy Dooley and Niall Collins to step down temporarily from their positions on the party’s frontbench. 
• Taoiseach Leo Varadkar as said he believes it is “more likely than unlikely” that a Brexit deal will pass through the House of Commons but warned there would be no further concessions from the EU to get it over the line.
• Gardaí are investigating the “sudden death” of a man who was found unconscious by pedestrians in Dublin city centre this morning.
• More than 150 truck drivers have staged a protest at the Irish border in a bid to highlight the importance of free-flowing movement.
• A transatlantic jet was forced to divert to Shannon Airport this afternoon following a security alert on board.
• Officials in two government departments disagreed over who should be responsible for laws to stop children from accessing pornography online, according to new documents. 
• Police in Northern Ireland have charged a 31-year-old man with the attempted murder of a teenage boy. 
• Gardaí have arrested three men following an attempted burglary in Cork yesterday. 

WORLD 

Barcelona and the rest of the restive Spanish region of Catalonia are reeling from several days of violent protests for the sentencing of 12 separatist leaders to lengthy prison sentences.

#BREXIT: A senior cabinet minister has insisted that the UK will leave the EU on 31 October, despite parliament forcing Boris Johnson to seek an extension yesterday. 

#MILTON KEYNES: Two 17-year-old boys have died after a stabbing at a house party, police said.

#G7: US President Donald Trump has said the next G7 summit will not be at one of his own Florida golf clubs, reversing a decision that had sparked corruption accusations.

PARTING SHOT 

The longest non-stop passenger flight touched down in Australia this morning after more than 19 hours in the air, a milestone journey from New York that Qantas hopes to parlay into commercial success.

Qantas partnered with two Australian universities to monitor how jetlag affected the health of passengers and crew members as they crossed multiple time zones.

A journalist for Bloomberg endured the flight and details the experience here. 

Bloomberg Bloomberg