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GOOD MORNING.

Here’s the news you need to know as you start your day.

1. More than half of land affected by Irish wildfires over the past decade overlapped Natura 2000 protected sites, The Journal Investigates revealed this morning.

The analysis sets Ireland apart from many of the European countries most commonly associated with wildfire devastation.

2. A van slammed into people gathered for Berlin’s famed LGBT+ event on Saturday night, killing one person, injuring at least 16 others and prompting police to call off the celebrations and a concert in the German capital hours after they had begun.

Berlin police said they have identified a suspect who has not been arrested and he has ties to Islamic extremists in the German capital.

3. A Dublin man appeared before a late-night sitting of the non-jury Special Criminal Court on Saturday evening charged with possession of an explosive substance in connection with an investigation into the discovery of a bomb in a car in Co Monaghan earlier this week.

The car was stopped while travelling on the N2 south of Carrickmacross last Wednesday.

4. Ukraine faces a dual crisis: its population has been declining for over 30 years, and the Russian invasion has only accelerated this trend.

The global population is projected to decline in the coming decades, but according to Oleksander Gladun of the Ptoukha Institute for Demography and Social Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, “What is unique is the situation in which Ukraine finds itself.”

5. Gardaí are appealing for witnesses following a number of incidents of theft and criminal damage to motor vehicles which were parked on Barrack street in Cahir, Co Tipperary in the early hours of Saturday morning. 

It is believed that some of the vehicles broken into are owned by members of the fire brigade currently fighting wildfires on Slievenamon mountain.

6. When Sweny’s pharmacy first opened its doors in 1847, few could have predicted that not only would it still be standing 179 years later, but that it would also serve as one of the most active links to Dublin’s literary history.

The Journal spoke to author Lee Sheridan, whose latest book titled Soap: A History of Sweny’s Pharmacy tells its story from when it opened right up to the present day.

7. Dubai’s property market – a pillar of its economy – has soared in recent years, buoyed by the arrival of international high-net-worth individuals attracted by the glamorous lifestyle on offer in the emirate.

But the outbreak of the Middle East war in late February has dampened growth. Targets in Dubai came under fire in the early days of Iran’s retaliation against US allies in the region.

8. Dublin will see the better of national temperatures as defending champions Kerry prepare to take on Mayo in the All-Ireland football final in Croke Park.

Highest temperatures are forecast to be between 18 and 20 degrees.

9. You may have thought the phrase “people who get up early in the morning” was confined to the history books of 2017, but Simon Harris has dusted it off this week and brought it back into use, The Journal‘s political correspondent Jane Matthews writes today.

It is a subtle shift in stated priorities from Harris, who had spent the early days of his Fine Gael leadership saying that his overarching goal is to make Ireland the best country in the world in which to be a child.

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