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

IRELAND

Some members of the cast of the International Tour of the worldwide smash-hit musical MAMMA MIA! in costume pictured at Forty Foot in Dublin today. Mark Stedman Mark Stedman

• The board overseeing the development of the National Children’s Hospital is set to accuse BAM, the construction company behind the project, of having a “complete disregard for sick children”, The Journal understands.
• Several families who lost loved ones in the Creeslough explosion have called on the Irish Government to set up a public inquiry into the tragedy.
• Irish Rail will be called before the Oireachtas Transport Committee after its new timetable has resulted in increased travel times and significant delays around Dublin and inter-county services.
• Bookshops were gearing up for what promised to be a busy day with Irish author Sally Rooney’s new novel Intermezzo going on sale this morning. 
• A father of two was accused of stealing a journalist’s phone during a “scuffle” at an immigration protest outside the former Crown Paints site in Dublin.

INTERNATIONAL

Joe Biden addresses the UN General Assembly in New York Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#NEW YORK: Israel was condemned by world leaders at the UN General Assembly today as Joe Biden urged Israel and Hezbollah to end their conflict through diplomacy.

#LEBANON: Israel continued to bombard Lebanon today as the death toll rose to over 550 people.

#UKRAINE: One man was killed and six people wounded, including two children, by “massive” Russian air strikes on the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, according to Ukraine’s state emergency service.

PARTING SHOT

ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defence Minister Yoav Gallant are escalating and widening their attacks on Hezbollah and Lebanon. On Tuesday, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) and Israeli Air Force (IAF) launched three separate bombing waves against targets in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley.

In total, Israeli forces struck approximately 2,000 targets in Lebanon over the last 36 hours. This included at least one attack in the Dahieh district of Beirut where it is reported that Hezbollah commander Muhammad al-Quabasi was assassinated. He is also reported to have had overall command of Hezbollah’s missile and rocket forces.

These attacks represent a serious escalation in Israeli actions and bring the death toll among Lebanese citizens to over 500 – including almost 100 women and at least 50 children. Approximately 2000 Lebanese civilians have been injured thus far. In the appalling calculus of war, the daily ‘attrition’ rate or ‘casualty’ rate among mostly innocent Lebanese civilians closely matches that of the IDF’s murderous operations in Gaza.

Read Tom Clonan’s full Voices article here.