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

IRELAND

Protesters sit down outside the Israeli embassy Laura Hutton / Photocall Ireland Laura Hutton / Photocall Ireland / Photocall Ireland

• The family of Irish woman Edel Mahady killed on MH17 have spoken out.
• Thousands of people attended a Gaza protest in Dublin. 
• A woman was in court over the death of a man in a Rathfarnham house.
• Social welfare staff have been told to refuse dole to Greyhound workers.
• A councillor removed an Israeli flag from Dún Laoghaire.
• President Higgins sent condolences to the Dutch king after MH17.
• Parts of Cork were hit with flash flooding.
• The Defence Forces have been remembering those who died in service.
• ‘Tiny Dancer’ Lily-Mae Morrison is officially cancer free.
• Dunnes Stores workers began their anti-apartheid strike 30 years ago today.

INTERNATIONAL

Pro-Russian fighters walk on a road beside the bodies of MH17 victims. AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

#MH17: Investigators are still being denied full access to the site of the MH17 crash in Ukraine, which is controlled by pro-Russia gunmen.

#GAZA: The death toll in Gaza has risen to 337 Palestinians and 3 Israelis on a day of heavy attacks. The UN chief Ban Ki-moon is heading to the region to bolster truce efforts.

#SELFIE: A US teenager may face jail time on child porn offences after taking photos and videos of his own penis and sending them to his girlfriend.

INNOVATION

• The stats don’t like: Shakira has set a new social media record after becoming the first person ever to reach 100 million likes on Facebook, ahead of Eminem and Rihanna. 
• Spain has lifted a ban on six file-sharing websites saying there was “insufficient grounds” for the sites to be blocked. [BBC]

PARTING SHOT

The New York Times runs a regular column called Modern Love in which people can submit their stories about the ups and downs of their romantic life. The stories are generally good, but often familiar. The most recent piece, however, is different. In it, a woman describes why she is visiting her ex-husband in hospital as he approaches death, even though their time together was so awful. [NYT]