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

IRELAND

Airfield Estate will host its new Healthy Being Festival this weekend. Sasko Lazarov / Photocall Ireland Sasko Lazarov / Photocall Ireland / Photocall Ireland

• Aer Lingus pilots escalated an ongoing industrial dispute with the airline by announcing an eight-hour strike will take place next week, on top of the industrial action the pilots had already planned. Aer Lingus cancelled 124 flights.
• A High Court judge ruled in favour of People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy in a case he took against the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) after it did not investigate a complaint he made against former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.
• Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, the Green Party and Labour announced the formation of a ruling coalition on Dublin City Council that is likely to see local property tax paid by residents of the capital increase, raising an additional €60m for the city over the next five years.
• Justice Minister Helen McEntee McEntee said that over the last number of years she has “consistently” seen sentencing for assaults that “have not seemed strong enough”.
• Tánaiste and Defence Minister Micheál Martin moved to clarify why a superior commander gave evidence in the trial of an Irish soldier who was given a suspended sentence after attacking a young woman.
• The Council of the Bar of Ireland last night recommended that its members who are criminal law practitioners got on strike in July.

INTERNATIONAL

Firefighter tackling a blaze in Greece earlier this week. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#EXTREME HEAT Heatwaves and wildfires ravaged countries in southern Europe, with 11 people killed by a blaze in Turkey.

#RUSSIA A military court in Russia sentenced a Ukrainian woman to 12 years in prison for letting off balloons in protest against the war in Ukraine. 

#UK Rishi Sunak said Tory figures who are found to have broken gambling rules “should face the full force of the law”, as he faced questions on the betting scandal engulfing his faltering election campaign.

PARTING SHOT

Images of dogs injured after being forced to fight wildlife including badgers, foxes and minks. Facebook Facebook

BRED TO KILL – these are the horrifying images of dogs being used and abused in illegal hunting networks in Ireland.

The pets are being forced to fight protected species such as badgers, where the wild animals are mauled to death, and the dogs left with catastrophic injuries.

Noteworthy can reveal how some cruel owners are even cashing in on the brutal injuries – by selling on severely scarred pets for a higher price based on their ability to attack, kill and survive.

Read the full report here.