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

IRELAND

Pictured at an anti-fossil fuel event outside Dáil Eireann are a group of Stop Climate Chaos members, dressed as Big Oil CEOs wearing elephant masks. Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie / RollingNews.ie

• The Garda Commissioner told TDs he would not be resigning over riots in Dublin last week.
• Twitter, now known as X, did not engage with gardaí when contacted to take down “vile” posts in the wake of the Dublin riot last week, the Minister for Justice said.
• “Vigilante patrols” have been mobilising in rural communities against the arrival of asylum seekers and seeking their identification details, a Dáil committee discussing the policing of the Dublin riots and the far-right heard today.
• Labour TD Alan Kelly accused the Taoiseach and the Garda Commissioner have provided “completely inaccurate” figures on the number of gardaí going through Templemore. 
• Sinn Féin’s motion on neutrality was defeated in the Dáil by 73 votes to 52.
• The party was also criticised  for one of its TDs waving a photo in the Dáil of a man, sitting and drinking from a can near the school close to where the stabbing attack in Dublin happened last Thursday.
• The trial of the All-Ireland winning Limerick hurler Kyle Hayes  accused of assault heard that told gardaí after his arrest that he did not carry out the attack. 
• A request to have the Palestinian flag flown in Leinster House was refused.  
• There was a 415% increase in asylum applications last year when compared to 2019, new data has revealed.
• The father of Irish-Israeli girl Emily Hand, who was released last Saturday after being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza for almost 50 days, revealed his daughter would only speak in whispers after she was freed.
• The Irish delegation at COP28 is set to push for fossil fuel companies to ‘pay their way’ as countries look to strike deals to ramp up climate action and avoid catastrophic temperature rise.
• Four complaints were received by the garda watchdog in connection with the policing of the riots in Dublin last Thursday.
• Police in Derry appealed for information after a “substantial number of sheep” were stolen. 

INTERNATIONAL

Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, a former hostage who was released from captivity by Hamas last month, holds a photo of her husband Oded during a protest calling for the release of hostages still held in the Gaza Strip (AP)

#GAZA Efforts to extend the truce between Israel and Hamas continued on what is the sixth and final day of the temporary ceasefire, but were overshadowed by the killing of two boys by the IDF in the West Bank and the death of an infant hostage.  

#EUROPEAN UNION EU member states and the European Parliament reached a preliminary agreement on curbing industrial emissions, including those from intensive poultry and pig farms and from ore mines.

#NEW YORK The actor Jonathan Majors, who had emerged as a breakout star with major roles in films including Creed III, appeared in court in New York for a trial where he is accused of injuring his then-girlfriend during an argument last spring.

PARTING SHOT

A rumour has circulated online in recent days claiming that Gardaí have installed watch towers opposite the GPO on Dublin’s O’Connell Street in the wake of last week’s riots in the capital.

The allegation has popped up across social media, including on X (formerly Twitter) and the messaging app Telegram, alongside images showing a series of metal structures along the east side of O’Connell Street.

The claims initially appeared on Irish social media accounts, but were subsequently re-shared by others in the UK.

It turns out this was not the case, and to find out more you can read our FactCheck by Shane Raymond.