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

IRELAND

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• Dr Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin, chair of the Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss, officially opened the assembly’s six-month programme today, calling for people to help confront Ireland’s climate and biodiversity emergency that was declared in 2019. 
• Simon Harris, Minister for Further and Higher Education, has said that “it is factually incorrect” to suggest that the Catholic Church will have any influence over the new National Maternity Hospital (NMH), which is planned to relocate to the St. Vincent’s Hospital campus. 
• Sinn Féinn party leader Mary Lou McDonald has called it “outrageous” that the DUP are blocking the formation of an executive in Stormont by not nominating a deputy first minister following Sinn Féinn’s recent election victory in Northern Ireland. 
• Irish Water is facing some issues replacing lead piping within homes around the country, with the organisation reporting that some homeowners are not giving permission to have work completed.
• A man in his 30s has been jailed for six months after he grabbed a teenager by her underwear as she chatted with friends during her lunch break from school in Fermoy, Co Cork.

INTERNATIONAL

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#ISRAEL: Israel’s police chief today ordered an investigation into the actions of officers at the funeral of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, after they charged the procession and beat pallbearers, sparking global outrage.

#NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who has overseen her country’s world-leading response to the coronavirus pandemic, has tested positive for Covid-19, her office announced today.

#NORTH KOREA: North Korea has reported 21 new deaths and 174,440 more people with fever symptoms. The country made the announcement today as it scrambles to slow the spread of Covid-19 across its unvaccinated population.

#UKRAINE: The war in Ukraine could reach a “breaking point” by August and end in defeat for Russia before the end of the year, Kyiv’s head of military intelligence has said.

PARTING SHOT

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The moment many of you have been waiting for: The televisual debut of Sally Rooney’s Conversations with Friends is here. If Normal People got you through the early days of lockdown, its successor is here to see you through the tentative steps of our new living-with-Covid world. You may have read the book, you may be engrossed in the series, but have you read The Journal’s long-read interview with the show’s stars? Dive in to Aoife Barry’s own conversations with Alison Oliver, Joe Alwyn, Sasha Lane and Jemima Quirke on everything from working with director Lenny Abrahamson to the responsibility of staying true to a beloved book.