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

IRELAND

Ellie Leonard, patient and Ollie the therapy dog at the Paediatric Unit, UHG. University Hospital Galway University Hospital Galway

• The government signed off on plans to buy Dublin’s Citywest Hotel at a cost of €148 million to use for international protection accommodation
• A jury has found Jozef Puska’s two brothers guilty of withholding key information from gardaí investigating Ashling Murphy’s murder, while their wives were convicted of destroying his bloodstained clothes to hinder the investigation
• Minister for Housing James Browne has confirmed that there “won’t be any special measures” put in place to protect students renting in the private sector from rising rents
• A few hours after the confirmation, hundreds gathered outside Leinster House for the ‘Raise the Roof rally, calling for urgent government action on the housing crisis
• Former HSE chief Paul Reid will receive a salary of €50,000 in his new role as chairperson of An Coimisiún Pleanála, a new planning authority that will replace An Bord Pleanála
• Police in Northern Ireland said that a 13-year-old boy was arrested following riots and violence in Derry last night
• People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy has returned to Ireland this afternoon after he was detained in Egypt twice over the planned Global March to Gaza
• A new law called the Human Tissue Act 2024 came into effect today, which has introduced an opt-out system of consent for organ donation in Ireland

INTERNATIONAL

New York mayoral candidate Brad Lander being detained by US officials. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#IRAN: Donald Trump has issued a barrage of posts criticising Iran, including one saying that the United States knows “exactly” where Iran’s Supreme Leader is “hiding”

#MIDDLE EAST: Irish embassies in Iran and Israel have been in touch with Irish passport holders residing in both countries as it considers evacuation plans following the escalation between the two countries

#GAZA: Israeli forces have killed at least 51 people and wounded more than 200 in the latest massacre of Palestinians waiting for desperately needed humanitarian aid in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry

#UKRAINE: The US has condemned a Russian drone and missile attack on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv that killed at least 14 people, including an American

#NEW YORK: Brad Lander, a candidate in New York City’s upcoming mayoral election, was arrested by US immigration agents today while leaving an immigration court in Manhattan

PARTING SHOT

Kim Woodburn – a former cleaner who found fame presenting the hit TV show How Clean Is Your House? – has died.

Woodburn, who was 83, later became a contestant on Celebrity Big Brother in 2017, finishing as runner-up.

Tributes have poured in for the ‘Queen of Clean’, who was remembered as a “force of nature”.

Irish icons Jedward, who joined Kim in the Big Brother house in 2017, said in a post on social media that she “will be truly missed for the TV gold she created for all generations”.

“You had our back when we got bullied in CBB and we will never forget that. There will never be another Kim Woodburn,” the duo said.