Here's What Happened Today: Wednesday

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

IRELAND

• A 36-year-old man appeared in court charged with assault causing harm to a woman at a church in Tramore.
• A hosepipe ban currently in place across six counties is set to be extended nationwide from Friday.
• Three members of the Burke family were banned from attending High Court cases involving Enoch Burke in person for repeatedly interrupting courtroom proceedings.
• After a year of excavation at the site of the former mother and baby home in Tuam, Co Galway, forensic investigators have uncovered the remains of 99 infants - all the infants were found in coffins.
• A mountain blaze in Co Tipperary has spread and the public has been urged to stay away from the area.
• Meanwhile, government ministers have been presented with a proposal to introduce new legislation for national parks, which will include “significant” fines for people who light barbecues in them.
• A woman in her 20s was arrested over allegations of deception against UCD. 
• A man in his 30s was killed after he was struck by a van in Co Kilkenny this morning.
• Gardaí seized 11 e-scooters during a crackdown on the illegal use of the vehicles in west Dublin.
• Finance Minister Simon Harris stressed that improving people’s disposable income will be a core focus of Budget 2027, with cuts to income tax and more support in areas like childcare key priorities for the government.
• Wholesale electricity prices were over 42% higher last month when compared to June 2025.
• The Government has been advised to introduce Municipal Councils in local authorities across the country, as part of a significant overhaul of local government.
• Four juveniles are set to appear before Children’s Court on Thursday in relation to a “serious public order incident” in Co Cavan.
• Culture and Media Minister Patrick O’Donovan is set to return to his duties in September after taking ill earlier this month.

INTERNATIONAL

#GERMANY: A group of Irish politicians who travelled to Germany to attend the trial of Irish activist Daniel Tatlow-Devally said they had concerns about the fairness of the proceedings, with one TD describing it as a “show trial”.

#NETANYAHU: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said his administration does not have the legal authority to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits the city, but called on the US federal government to enforce an International Criminal Court warrant against him.

#IRAN: Fresh US strikes triggered air defences in Iran this morning after Trump warned he was “not finished” with a war that has already cost his nation $37.5 billion.

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#EPSTEIN: A French modelling scout with close ties to the late Jeffrey Epstein was found dead at his home outside Paris.

#OPEN AI: ChatGPT make OpenAI said its artificial intelligence system hacked into another AI company on its own in what the firm called an “unprecedented cyber incident”.

PARTING SHOT

Fota Wildlife Park announced the births of two Sumatran tiger cubs and three Asian lion cubs, calling their arrival a “landmark moment” for its conservation breeding programme. 

The Sumatran tiger cubs were born on 16 June to mother Jambi and father Batak while the lion cubs arrived on 1 July to mother Arya and father Yali.

Sumatran tigers are critically endangered, meaning they are close to being extinct in the wild. The smallest subspecies of tiger, they come from the Indonesian island of Sumatra and have a deeper orange coat that their larger counterparts. 

There are only around 350 Sumatran tigers left in the wild. 

Asian lions are classified as endangered and the only wild population is located in India’s Gir Forest, where there were 891 individuals last recorded in 2025. 

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