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

IRELAND

Eamonn Farrell Eamonn Farrell

• Joan Burton has launched her bid to become leader of the Labour Party while Brendan Howlin has confirmed that he does not want to be the new leader.
• The acting Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan shook hands and chatted with whistleblower John Wilson outside Leinster House today.
• CSO figures have revealed which sectors saw the biggest wage gains so far this year with construction workers coming out on top. 
• A strike is looking likely at Irish Rail as a second union has now rejected the pay deal . 
• Property prices are up by 8.5 per cent on last year but they’re still down compared to the peak prices of 2007.

INTERNATIONAL

Carolyn Kaster Carolyn Kaster

#ACCLAIMED: American writer Maya Angelou has died at the age of 86.

#AMERICA: Barack Obama has announced that “US forces will complete their withdrawal from Afghanistan by the end of 2016.”

#FIRE: A patient with dementia was questioned after 21 people died in a fire at a hospital for the elderly.

INNOVATION

• Skype is planning a feature that will translate in real-time so two people with different languages can chat away. [TheJournal.ie] 
• Google has started building its own self-driving car which have no steering wheel or brakes. [TheJournal.ie]

PARTING SHOT

This is the video footage of deceased writer Maya Angelou reciting her poem “On the Pulse of Morning” at the 1993 Presidential Inauguration of Bill Clinton.