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

Laura Hutton / Photocall Ireland Laura Hutton / Photocall Ireland / Photocall Ireland

IRISH

• Micheál Martin is preparing to be the next Taoiseach, and ruled out a Fine Gael-Fianna Fáil coalition.
• The GAA’s birthplace, Hayes Hotel in Thurles, was sold at auction.
• Gardaí will no longer check passports at Dublin Airport, under new legislation.
• Health Minister Leo Varadkar is remaining tight-lipped about the Budget.
• Two men were arrested after a man was found dead in a Carlow house.
• A family of seven was reported missing in North Belfast.
• TheJournal.ie spent a week in the Family Court. Here’s what we found.
• Maurice McCabe had a ‘constructive’ meeting on the penalty points issue.
• A man was arrested over the serious sexual assault of a woman in Dublin.
• Rory McIllroy‘s ex-managers are keeping up their claim to his $100m Nike contract.
• A 17-year-old was shot in both legs in Derry.

INTERNATIONAL

#UKRAINE An angry mob threw a Ukrainian MP into a bin, before throwing a tyre at him.

#THAILAND Three men were arrested over the murder of two British tourists on a beach in Thailand.

#SCOTLAND UK party leaders have pledged more powers if Scotland votes No.

#EBOLA Barack Obama sent 3,000 US troops to West Africa in the fight against Ebola.

#IRAQ The US has bombed the Islamic State near Baghdad – for the first time.

#ISRAEL Israel has claimed it was hit by a mortar fired from within Gaza - the first since last month’s ceasefire.

INNOVATION

• Think Apple wants to gather your user data? Tim Cook says that they actually don’t. Seriously. [TheJournal.ie]

Our business is based on selling these [iPhones]. Our business is not based on having information about you. You’re not our product. Our product are these, and this watch, and Macs and so forth. And so we run a very different company.

• Wikileaks has released more information on commercial surveillance tools as part of its Spy Files series. [The Guardian]

PARTING SHOT

This slideshow of photographs from Time is dark, but powerful. A photographer visited a community of sex offenders in southern Florida to find out about their lives. [Time.com]