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

A child locked in a withdrawal room for autistic children.  A parent took the photo after arriving at the school, and found the child attempting to dismantle the light after being locked in the room for several hours. (Image supplied to TheJournal.ie by the child’s parent)

IRELAND

• Autistic children are being locked in unsupervised ‘isolation rooms’ for hours, it has emerged. Experts say this puts children at risk.
• A boy (3) died after getting stuck in a lift shaft at the Hynes Building in Galway.
• John McGuinness said that the missing bank guarantee documents need to be found.
• Saverio Bellante (34) was charged with the murder of Tom O’Gorman in Castleknock at the weekend.
• Temperatures will plummet tonight across the country, Met Éireann says.
• Rallies have been planned by the National Hospital Campaign to fight cuts to front-line hospital services.
• Family law and child care court cases can now be reported on – but under strict conditions.
• A man with a seven-week-long erection was treated successfully at a Dublin hospital.
• It was feared that Donegal County Council was set to collapse over its 2014 budget, but the fears were unfounded.
• The Poolbeg incinerator contract may be abandoned by Dublin City Council. [RTÉ]
• Calls to the mental health support line run by St Patrick’s are up by almost one third.
• A woman died in a house fire in Newry – police said it was a ‘tragic accident’.
• A man was sentenced to 15 years for his part in kidnapping a Securicor worker and his family, and the robbery of €2.28m. [RTÉ]

WORLD

An anti-government protester outside MBK Center shopping mall in the Pathumwan district of Bangkok, during protests. Pic: AP Photo/John Minchillo

#THAILAND Tens of thousands of protesters tried to ‘shut down’ Bangkok and called for their Prime Minister to resign.

#AUSTRALIA One person died as wildfires raged through Perth in Australia.

#LONDON A rare tiny water lily was stolen from London’s Royal Botanic Gardens.

#APRIL JONES Mark Bridger dropped his appeal against his sentence for killing April Jones.

#ISRAEL A state funeral for Ariel Sharon was held today, with his body brought to his farm for burial.

#SYRIA The UN has urged the EU to act to avert a Syrian refugee catastrophe. [The Guardian]

INNOVATION

• More than 50 billion instant messages are expected to be sent each day this year. Meanwhile, Jelly Bean is trumping KitKat when it comes to Android devices.
• Heard of Beats Music? It’s a new streaming service – and could threaten Spotify’s popularity. Oh, and it was set up by Dr Dre. [The Guardian]

PARTING SHOT

Screengrab: Sightsmap

This online interactive map shows the most-photographed places in the world… and we sure do like to take photos of Ireland. [Sightsmap]