NEED TO CATCH up? TheJournal brings you all of today’s top stories.

IRELAND

Pictured at Coillte’s Avondale Forest Park are Callie O'Neill and Kayley Byrne from Our Lady’s Girls National School, Rathdrum, Co Wicklow with Éanna Ni Lamhna, National Tree Council, to kick of National Tree Week.

• A judge ordered that an independent post-mortem be conducted on a man who died a number of days after he was allegedly fatally assaulted at an accommodation centre in Co Tipperary.
• It was reported that Tayto Park has been ordered to pay €500 compensation to a disabled woman who was asked to leave the theme park because her assistance dog was not registered with a recognised charity.
• Further and Higher Education Minister Simon Harris said he “hopes” a new chair of the RTÉ Board will be appointed next week.
• Another frosty night is forecasted ahead with temperatures to drop below zero degrees again later. 
• A new opinion poll found that First Minister Michelle O’Neill is now more popular than any of the main political party leaders in Ireland, including Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald.
• A man was charged after €720,000 worth of cannabis was seized at Dublin Airport.
• Five people were rescued after a fishing boat ran aground on one of the Aran Islands off the coast of Co Galway. 
• Gardaí appealed for witnesses after an elderly woman was seriously injured after being struck by a tractor in Co Tipperary. 
• TDs called for an independent investigation into how the horseracing industry calculates deaths of its animals. 
• TheJournal revealed how a small network of companies is making millions from a ballooning industry.

WORLD

A bust of Queen Victoria covered in porridge and jam by activists in Glasgow today. (This Is Rigged / PA) (This Is Rigged / PA) / PA)

#GAZA: Mediators in Cairo made a renewed push for a Gaza ceasefire, but differences remained today as fighting raged on in the Palestinian territory gripped by desperate food shortages.

#UKRAINE: Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for the world to help Kyiv defeat “Russian evil” as the death toll from a Russian drone strike on Odesa rose to 10, including three young children.

#ISRAEL: Israel said it has asked lyricists to revise its proposed Eurovision Song Contest entries, potentially heading off a dispute with the organisers over political content. 

PARTING SHOT

148 years ago today, Kentucky meat shower took place. A weird entry from the Depths of Wikipedia:

148 years ago today! pic.twitter.com/aPdNrA5h4u

— depths of wikipedia (@depthsofwiki) March 3, 2024