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

Dublin by-election candidate for the Green Party Janet Horner meeting former Fianna Fáil leader and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern while canvassing. Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie / RollingNews.ie

IRELAND

• Micheál Martin has said his party “don’t approve” of former taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s comments on immigration, which he made while being covertly filmed.
• A woman in her 20s has died following a two-vehicle collision in Co Tipperary.
• Ireland is “exposed to global energy shocks” as a result of its dependence on imported fossil fuels, according to the Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC).
• A Dublin passenger on board the cruise ship being held in Bordeaux, France, has said that “everybody is enjoying themselves”.
• Union representatives and HSE officials are set for Labour Court crunch talks on Thursday morning ahead of further ambulance worker strike action planned for next week. 
• House prices rose by 6.5% in the year to March, and the median cost of a home in Ireland is now nearly €28,000 higher than it was a year ago.
• Homeowners who build modular homes in their back gardens will be liable to pay a separate local property tax on them because they will be classed as separate dwellings.
• Only one of Ireland’s 153 bathing sites was classified as “poor” by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last year.

INTERNATIONAL

US President Donald Trump, waves as he boards Marine One for the trip from Washington to China to hold meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#BEIJING: US president Donald Trump has landed in Beijing for a high-stakes summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping aimed at easing deep tensions between the rival superpowers. 

#STARMER: UK prime minister Keir Starmer has “full confidence” in Wes Streeting as health secretary, even as he looks set to resign in a bid to launch a leadership challenge.

#VIENNA: The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has said that four audience members were removed from the arena at the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna. 

#JOURNALISM: The New York Times has said claims that it would retract an article about “widespread” sexual violence by Israeli prison guards, soldiers and settlers against Palestinian detainees are false.

PARTING SHOT

The 70th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest is playing out this week in the shadow of unprecedented controversy.

Five traditionally participating countries, including Ireland, are boycotting this year’s competition in Vienna over Israel’s inclusion in protest over the country’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

The Journal’s News Editor and resident Eurovision expert Daragh Brophy joined The Explainer to examine the impact on the song contest.

Listen to it here.