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

IRELAND

A man and a dog go for a walk as waves crash onto Clontarf promenade in Dublin. PA PA

• A school and a number of homes were evacuated in parts of Kilkenny and Waterford amid heavy flooding during an Orange Weather warning. 
• The Tánaiste said schemes “on a scale that we haven’t seen before” are required after last week’s flooding in Midleton in Co Cork.
• A sentencing hearing heard that Yousef Palani, who was sentenced today for the killing of two gay men and an attack on another, told detectives that he would have continued “to kill” if gardaí had not stopped him.
• Tributes were paid to Denise Morgan, a woman from Co Louth, who was shot and killed in New York.
• “Unhelpful” was how Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney summed up comments by the Israeli Ambassador to Ireland which accused President Michael D Higgins of making “misinformed comments” related to the ongoing war. 
• The Israeli Embassy in Dublin also had to distance itself from a social media post by one of its officials suggesting Ireland has funded Hamas’ tunnels under Gaza.
• The number of deaths on Irish roads so far this year has now equalled the total number of fatalities in 2022.
• TikTok secured permission from the High Court to challenge the Data Protection Commission’s decision to fine it €345m for failing to protect children’s privacy on its social media site.
• A loyalist “supergrass” told a court that two Catholic workmen were killed by the UVF in north Belfast for “pure sectarianism”.
• Fermoy in Co Cork received a “great boost” after Graham Norton apologised for comments made about the town on a recent episode of his BBC chat show.

WORLD

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip. Ariel Schalit / AP Ariel Schalit / AP / AP

#GAZA: Hamas said it freed two more Gaza hostages after mediation by Qatar and Egypt.

#PAKISTAN: The nation’s former prime minister Imran Khan has been charged with leaking classified documents. 

PARTING SHOT

The first Deaf students to qualify as primary school teachers using Irish Sign Language (ISL) graduated at a ceremony today in Dublin City University (DCU).

The three graduates, Kevin Dudley, Aimee Ennis McLoughlin, and Aisling O’Halloran completed DCU’s Bachelor of Education through a pilot ISL programme.

Introduced in 2019, the programme enabled Deaf and hard of hearing people who use Irish Sign Language (ISL) to enter primary teaching for the first time.

Kyran O'Brien, DCU Kyran O'Brien, DCU

In recognition of their work, DCU used the ISL version of its anthem at today’s graduation ceremonies for the first time.

The three graduates now work together as part of the teaching staff at Holy Family School for Deaf Children in Cabra, Dublin. 

The creation of the ISL pathway followed years of campaigning by Deaf community groups.