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

IRELAND

Members of the 353 Samba Club who will be performing as part of City Sounds during this Friday’s Culture Night. Over 300 free events will take place across Dublin city and county. JULIEN BEHAL PHOTOGRAPHY JULIEN BEHAL PHOTOGRAPHY

• An XL Bully dog was put down after it attacked a man in Dublin on Sunday morning.
• Gardaí and international police forces worked together to break up a new Irish drug cartel which has resulted in wide ranging arrests and seizures of heroin and cocaine across the country, The Journal learned.
• Meanwhile, Gardaí have begun using an unmarked Scania truck on specialist road policing operations across the country. 
• Former Finance Minister Michael McGrath was announced as the new EU Commissioner for Justice.
• President Michael D Higgins said that a stroke he experienced earlier this year continues to affect him physically, but that he is still cognitively sharp.
• Micheál Martin said that Cork’s Páirc Uí Chaoimh is being “seriously looked at” as a potential alternative venue for the Euro 2028 game originally earmarked for Casement Park in Belfast.
• A Dublin man described as “a loner” after being charged with threatening to kill Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald in a viral social media video lodged a fresh High Court bail application.
• An Bord Pleanála proposed lifting controversial restrictions on night-time flights at Dublin Airport which will extend its normal operating hours by two hours.
• Donegal gardai issued a warning after a spate of drink-driving arrests over the weekend including one in which the driver was twelve times over the legal limit.
• An international disinformation campaign that was uncovered in June after it targeted outlets including The Journal with pro-Kremlin content has been directly linked to Russia.
• A deal to save Dundalk FC was confirmed by the League of Ireland club.
• A former smuggler’s ship will complete an unusual ten-year stint in Ireland when its tugged to the seabed off Co Mayo, where it will be sank to create the country’s first artificial reef.

INTERNATIONAL

Sean 'Diddy' Combs. Jordan Strauss / Invision/AP Jordan Strauss / Invision/AP / Invision/AP

#LEBANON: Nine people died and around 2,800 have been reported wounded when Hezbollah members’ paging devices exploded simultaneously across Lebanon today.
#FRANCE: “I am a rapist,” said a Frenchman accused of drugging his wife so that he and dozens of strangers could sexually assault her, his first testimony in a trial that has horrified France.
#MANHATTEN: Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs was charged with racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking in an indictment unsealed that accuses the superstar rapper of engaging in decades of sexual abuse of women.
#KYLE CLIFFORD: The daughter of a BBC commentator had been tied to a chair in an incident which saw her and her sister shot with a crossbow and their mother suffer multiple injuries in a stabbing, a court heard today.
#US: Donald Trump said US President Joe Biden contacted him after his attempted shooting to ask about his wellbeing.

PARTING SHOT

There's clear blue skies in Ratheniska, Co Laois today. Muiris O'Cearbhaill / The Journal Muiris O'Cearbhaill / The Journal / The Journal

Around 75,000 people attended the National Ploughing Championship today in Co Laois, up considerably on the 66,000 or so who attended the opening day last year.

Heavy rain impacted opening day attendance last year, but the blue sky today brought the crowds back. 

This year marks the 93rd National Ploughing Championships and as the event returned to Ratheniska, we wanted to know in our daily poll: Have you ever been to the Ploughing?

More than 275,000 people are expected to attend across the three days, but have you ever been among these crowds?

Take part in our poll here or see how others have been voting.