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

IRELAND

Musicians Meadhbh Hayes, Jimmy Crowley and Ger Wolfe launching the 45th Cork Folk Festival, which will be held from 2-6 October.

• An Irish woman died after being swept into the sea on the Italian island of Sardinia.
• The British Government announced a public inquiry into the murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane, who was killed in 1989.
• A woman in her 80s died after a crash in south Dublin this morning.
• The officer leading Ireland’s detachment of troops to the EU Battlegroup said that the initiative is designed to allow the European Union to act “decisively” in a crisis. 
• A number of changes need to be made to the government’s Housing for All plan, according to Taoiseach Simon Harris. 
• Searches took place by gardaí in Glenfin, Co Donegal for the remains of Arlene Arkinson, a girl from Co Tyrone who went missing 30 years ago.
• Simon Harris said that the €13 billion windfall from the Apple tax case which the State has begun to withdraw from an Escrow fund provides “options” to the Government for the future.
• The Garda Training Allowance is set to be increased in a bid to boost Garda recruitment figures.
• Inland Fisheries Ireland said farmed salmon have been caught in rivers in Galway and Mayo following an escape of farmed salmon at Killary Harbour.
• An Post unveiled four new stamps honouring the life and music of Séamus Begley, Christy Dignam, Shane MacGowan and Sinéad O’Connor, all of whom died last year.

INTERNATIONAL

Joe Biden and Donald Trump pictured close to one another at the 9/11 memorial in New York Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#GAZA: Israeli air strikes across Gaza hit a UN school sheltering displaced Palestinian families as well as two homes, killing at least 34 people, including 19 women and children.
#9/11: Kamala Harris and Donald Trump shook hands today at New York’s 9/11 memorial to mark the anniversary of the attacks, briefly putting politics aside hours after they clashed in a fiery presidential debate.
#UK: A heated political row has begun in the UK after the British Government approved plans yesterday to cut allowances for fuel during the winter for nearly 10 million pensioners.
#WEST BANK: Palestinians living in the northern West Bank spoke to The Journal about the fear and loss experienced since Israeli forces began a series of assaults that has left dozens of people dead and neighbourhoods in ruins.

PARTING SHOT

Kamala Harris and popstar Taylor Swift Alamy Alamy

Shortly after the lights went down on the debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump last night, American singer Taylor Swift publicly endorsed Harris for the presidency.

Celebrity endorsements are not uncommon in politics but Swift’s voice, which had stayed quiet about the election until now, carries particularly heavy weight given the scale of her support base, which has skyrocketed in recent years.

The endorsement after the debate also came at a time when Swift herself was facing scrutiny over her political position.

Read more from our reporter Lauren Boland on Swift’s endorsement of Harris and why it matters.