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

IRELAND

Smithfield market in Dublin.

• Tánaiste Simon Coveney said Ireland will not agree a “side deal” with the UK to avoid a hard border, following suggestions of a bilateral agreement by the British media.
• Wholesale traders set to leave Dublin’s historic Fruit & Vegetable Market when it closes on Friday were compensated in the region of €5 million by Dublin City Council.
• The Government is keen to sign the National Broadband Plan contract with Granahan McCourt consortium and get “started right away”.
• Push alerts warning people about high winds, heavy rain and extreme weather events will soon be available on smartphones under a new project by Met Éireann.
• The High Court has granted Ryanair an injunction preventing its Irish-based pilots from going on strike later this week.
• An 80-year-old woman who worked in a Magdalene Laundry for six years from the age of 11 has won her battle for compensation. 

WORLD

Johnson and Merkel meet in Berlin. Michael Sohn Michael Sohn

#BORIS British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has reportedly told Angela Merkel in Berlin that the Irish backstop must be removed if a Brexit deal is to be struck.

#BRAZIL The president of Brazil has claimed that the record number of wildfires blazing in the Amazon rainforest were lit on purpose by green groups.

#NEPAL Single-use plastics have been banned in the Mount Everest region of Nepal in a bid to reduce the vast amounts of waste left by trekkers and mountaineers.

PARTING SHOT

The full line-up of the upcoming season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK was revealed today with Belfast’s Blu Hydrangea making the cut. 

Hydrangea describes herself as “a GCSE art project, high fashion from outer space, a cartoon character – with muppet realness”.

Some of the other drag queens appearing in the lineup include Baga Chipz, Divina De Campo, and Cheryl Hole.