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

IRELAND

President Michael D Higgins at the launch of his re-election campaign in Dublin. Niall Carson / PA Wire/PA Images Niall Carson / PA Wire/PA Images / PA Wire/PA Images

• Michael D Higgins has said he has no issue with transparency with regard to his expenses but said that bringing freedom of information to the Presidency would need to ‘fit in with the Constitution’.
• Government Ministers have hit out at the Public Accounts Committee for questions over an annual €317,000 allowance given to the President of Ireland.
• The sinkhole that split apart a Monaghan GAA pitch appears to have been caused after pillars in an old gypsum mine collapsed, a geological expert surveying the area has said.
• A transatlantic jet has made an emergency landing at Dublin Airport after the crew reported an engine fire.
• Rebecca Carter whose Leaving Cert exam points were wrongly totted up by State Examinations Commission markers, has achieved her dream of winning a place in veterinary medicine at UCD.
• The Housing Minister has said he made “no deal” with his colleague Catherine Byrne to persuade her to vote against a motion of no confidence in him.
• Gardaí are investigating an incident in which a man was allegedly seen masturbating outside a school in Laois. 
• Leo Vardkar has accused socialists of wanting to segregate communities by advocating for 100% social housing builds on public lands.

INTERNATIONAL

President Donald Trump pounds a gavel before addressing the United Nations Security Council Craig Ruttle via PA images Craig Ruttle via PA images

#ACCUSED: US President Donald Trump has accused China of meddling in US elections at a UN Security Council meeting.

#THAI CAVE RESCUE: Two British divers who helped rescue a Thai youth football team from a flooded cave had earlier saved four adults also stranded in the complex, according to a new report. 

#BREXIT: The UK’s Labour Party voted to support “all options remaining on the table” on Brexit, including campaigning for a second vote. 

PARTING SHOT

Royal Mail has said it is facing delays in processing mail because too many people are posting their empty crisp packets without envelopes.