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

IRELAND

People swiming at the beach at Balbriggan today RollingNews.ie RollingNews.ie

• The victims killed in a shooting incident in Co Fermanagh were named locally as Vanessa Whyte, and James and Sara, her two children. 
• A former soldier was jailed for 15 years for the brutal murder of his Irish girlfriend Kirsty Ward at their Spanish holiday hotel.
• Ballymaguire Foods was served with two prohibition orders in the weeks leading up to a mass recall of ready meals and side dishes that it produces.
• A Garda was convicted of assaulting a teenager in Temple Bar four years ago following a trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
• A review of the treatment of prisoners in Ireland by Europe’s human rights watchdog highlighted two cases in Cloverhill Prison in Dublin where inmates were improperly subdued with excessive force.
• The High Court awarded a 27-year-old who was raped by her foster father hundreds of times between the ages of 11 and 18 €328,000 in damages.
• Kneecap labelled a decision by the government in Hungary to ban them from entering the country over their stance on Israel’s war in Gaza as “political distraction”.
• Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon launched legal proceedings against the Central Bank of Ireland over claims that investors in Israeli bonds could be legally complicit in genocide in Gaza.
• The Government was urged to “bite the bullet” and follow through with its election promises to cut the VAT rate for the hospitality sector.
• The north Clare community of Ennistymon was in mourning today following the shock death of a ‘dedicated family man’ in a work-related incident this morning.
• A hosepipe ban is coming into effect for Waterford, Tipperary, Wexford and most of Cork.
• An Coimisiún Pleanála gave the green light for plans to demolish a ‘D4 gem’, Smyth’s pub on Haddington Road and replace it with a pub and apartments despite locals’ ‘super-pub’ fears.

INTERNATIONAL

Hulk Hogan died today aged 71.

#HULK HOGAN: Former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan died at the age of 71.
#DISPUTED BORDER: At least 12 people were killed after Thailand and Cambodia exchanged fire on their border in their worst clash in more than a decade.
#TRUMP: South Park kicked off its 27^th season with an episode that takes aim at both US President Donald Trump and the show’s network partner Paramount.
#GAZA: A number of international news agencies, including Britain’s BBC, are ‘deeply alarmed’ over reports that journalists on the ground in Gaza are facing the threat of starvation.
#RUSSIA: Searches are underway after the fuselage of a passenger plane, which disappeared in Russia overnight, was found.
#ECB: The European Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged today while the possibility of harsher US tariffs hangs in the balance.
#YOUR PARTY: Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn confirmed that he has launched a new political party he has co-founded with Zarah Sultana. However, there was confusion over what the new party is actually called.

PARTING SHOT

Are your boots made for walkin'?

If getting 10,000 steps in every day is a struggle, don’t panic – new research suggests that even doing 7,000 steps daily can have big pay-off for your health. 

A new study published by the Lancet Health Journal has reviewed dozens of recent research papers about the link between daily steps and health to pin down the level of activity needed to reduce the risk of various diseases and conditions.

The authors found that walking 7,000 steps per day has significant health benefits.

For some conditions, such as heart disease, health benefits continued to increase at higher levels of walking beyond 7,000 steps.

However, for most conditions, the benefits of walking tended to level off after the 7,000-step mark. 

The authors highlighted that 7,000 may be a more realistic target than the ‘unofficial’ existing target of 10,000, especially for people who are currently not very active.