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

An empty bus corridor at College Green in Dublin (Photocall Ireland)

IRELAND

• The Dublin Bus strike ended, with management and unions agreeing to re-enter talks: as you might imagine, many were annoyed at the lack of transport options today.
• The High Court refused to lift freezing orders on Quinn family bank accounts, put in place in 2011.
• Senators will return from their break early to debate transplant legislation, after a petition by a FF member of the Seanad.
• A second man in his 20s has died as a result of injuries sustained yesterday when a stolen taxi crashed in Dublin.
• Junior Minister Kathleen Lynch has been discharged from hospital to recover at home, after a bout of blood-poisoning.
• An Eddie Rocket’s worker was intercepted by thieves who made off with his bank-drop cash in Dublin city centre this morning.
• Gardaí made a renewed appeal for Luas passengers who may have witnessed a gangland shooting to come forward with information.
• Plans for free GP care will be brought to Government in the autumn, the Department of Health confirmed.
• No-one was harmed in a blaze at a school in Meath attended by seven fire units.
• There has been an increase in pub owners selling dangerous counterfeit alcohol, according to Revenue.
• It emerged it may be “several months” before it’s known if the flooded Letterkenny General Hospital can reopen fully.
• Work has begun on a new plinth for the Phil Lynott statue, which will return to its spot outside Bruxelles Bar in Dublin next week.

INTERNATIONAL

(LM Otero/AP/Press Association Images)

#SNAKE: Police in Canada confirmed that two young boys were killed in their sleep by a python that had escaped from a pet store.

#THREAT: The US Government has told all Americans in Yemen to leave ‘immediately’ due to terrorism concerns.

#BEIVIK: The University of Oslo has turned down an application from Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik to study political science by distance learning.

#PUSSY RIOT: An elderly priest who had been critical of the Orthodox Church in Russia and who supported protest group Pussy Riot was stabbed to death.

#BUSH: Former US President George W. Bush (above) was said to be in ‘high spirits’ after surgery to clear a blocked artery.

INNOVATION

• Samsung could be about to launch a ‘smart watch’, according to the BBC: plans for the new device have been revealed in a series of unearthed patent and trademark filings.
• Elton John once sang “it’s lonely out in space!”… The Japanese may have found a solution – a robotic space companion designed to be an ‘emotional anchor’ for astronauts. [Buzzfeed]

PARTING SHOT

Ever seen the Northern Lights in Ireland? The Aurora Borealis was visible over Donegal over the weekend. A photographer from Buncrana captured this stunning image…

(Photo: Adam Rory Porter)

Read: And here his what happened yesterday…