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

IRELAND

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• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Taoiseach Micheál Martin in Shannon airport ahead of a flight to Washington
• The Government has been accused of treating Irish voters like “idiots” and putting an end to cross-party cooperation in the Dáil following the controversial vote to changes Dáil rules last night 
• A search at a property in Drogheda as part of the investigation into missing schoolboy Kyran Durnin resumed today
• A fifth man arrested during the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death Quham Babatunde in Dublin has been charged with attacking another man in the city centre that night
• SIPTU members employed in Section 39 organisations (charities and organisations contracted by the State to provide health services) have voted overwhelmingly for strike action in relation to a long-running pay dispute
• A man has been found guilty of murdering mother-of-two Lisa Thompson in 2022
• Irish authorities been called upon to “improve the situation” for Traveller and Roma communities by a Council of Europe report 
• Cian Healy, Conor Murray and Peter O’Mahony will all retire from Test rugby following this year’s Six Nations

INTERNATIONAL

Britain's Keir Starmer greeted by Donald Trump as he arrives at the White House today Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#RIP: Two time Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead yesterday at their New Mexico home in the US

#WHITE HOUSE: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has met Donald Trump to plead for a US “backstop” to any Ukraine ceasefire, insisting it would be the only way to deter Russia’s Vladimir Putin from invading again

#GAZA: An investigation has determined that Hamas was able to carry out their 7 October attack because the Israeli army misjudged the militant group’s intentions and underestimated its capabilities

#FLORIDA: Andrew Tate, who had been facing rape and human trafficking charges in Romania, has landed in the US after a travel ban imposed on the pair during a human trafficking investigation was lifted

#VATICAN: Pope Francis’ “clinical conditions” have been “confirmed to be improving”, the Vatican said in an update this evening

PARTING SHOT

Gene Hackman, who was found dead in his home in New Mexico at the age of 95 yesterday, was once voted as likely to flop in showbiz.

Instead he went on to enjoy a storied, Oscar-winning career as an everyman actor who mined personal pain to give intense, edgy performances.

Known best for thrillers and action-packed films including The French Connection, The Conversation and Unforgiven, Hackman also starred at the titular character in Wes Anderson’s 2001 film The Royal Tenenbaums.