Catch-up with what you've missed so far today with our lunchtime briefing

Good afternoon. Here’s all the news you need to know this lunchtime.

IRELAND

An investigation has been launched into the beating of an off-duty garda  at a underage GAA football match in Sligo on September 2.

A woman whose entire family was wiped out by a suicidal driver has issued an emotional thank you  to the public after her fundraising campaign in their memory broke the €100,000 barrier.

Pat Hickey was last night charged by prosecutors  in Brazil over his role in the Olympic ticket touting scandal.

A mother whose newborn daughter died from a rare congenital heart defect  which went undetected during pregnancy has urged expectant mums to ask for detailed scans.

Heroin with an estimated value of €150,000  has been seized by Gardaí in west Dublin.

Tributes have poured in for a champion Irish athlete who sustained serious head injuries  in a freak fall just hours after celebrating winning a bronze medal at the FISU World University Rowing Championships, in Poznan, Poland.

Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar has strongly hinted at his interest in leading Fine Gael  and of having a vision for the party and the country, ahead of a pre-Dáil conference next week.

WORLD 

Thirteen people were shot dead over the Labour Day weekend in Chicago,  making it the deadliest holiday weekend of one of the worst summers the city has experienced in decades.

A four-metre high wall is to be built in Calais to prevent migrants from entering vehicles approaching the port.  The wall - stretching one kilometre in length - will cost €2m and be paid for by British taxpayers.

SPORT

Warren Gatland has been appointed head coach for the 2017 British and Irish Lions tour  to New Zealand.

The rivalry is heating up ahead of the first Premier League Manchester derby  of the year on Saturday, when Man City make their short trip to Old Trafford for the early game.

BUSINESS

Early September in the tech world has come to mean one thing: it’s new iPhone time.  Apple is holding a live event in San Francisco on Wednesday evening Ireland time, where the next iPhone is expected to be unveiled. Having had the 6s this time last year which changed little in terms of core features (3D Touch was the big news), we’re expecting something a little more hefty this time around.

The Dalata Hotel Group is tentatively planning to pay its first dividend  to shareholders next year.

LIFESTYLE

There’s a lot of people out there who think they are ‘cat people’ but they really don’t understand their pets at all, writes Caomhan Keane

ANALYSIS

Ireland north and south has two different education systems. Patrick Walsh looks at how providing free school books in the Republic could be one step in bringing them together.

VIRAL

Politics is all about securing the young vote and Enda Kenny will be happy to hear he is topping the polls among toddlers. The reason? It all stems from a rather elaborate story from a boy named Finn.  Finn was interviewed by CCCahoots production company about his opinion of the Taoiseach and to the interviewer's surprise, he had quite an interesting story about the Fine Gael leader, 20 yoyo, a chipper and a charity dog.

How well do you know our green and pleasant land?  It's time to put your geographical knowledge to the test and add a municipal twist. This Playbuzz quiz is one for the truckers and commuters who travel our highways, byways and bog roads up and down the country.

VIDEO

Inspector Finbar O'Sullivan, cork City Traffic Corp speaking at the launch  of the Cork Road Safety Strategy.

TECHNOW

GAMING: PlayStation VR is coming in just a few short weeks  and Sony will be hoping to revolutionise the experience of virtual reality by making it accessible to a whole lot more people.

MOVIES/TV: Game of Thrones season 7 is going to be pretty epic television, with a shorter run and a headlong sprint towards the finale coming in season eight.  It also sounds like its going to have an epic cast too, with Jim Broadbent recently confirmed for a role. And he's not alone, and there's a chance the legendary Angela Lansbury could be on board too.

TECH: Emoji are a language in themselves and now a keyboard app is aiming to let you have a say in which ones get created in the future. 

SHOWBIZ

EastEnders star Ross Kemp has revealed the financial pressure  Brexit has put on his ability to make documentaries.

MOST READ RIGHT NOW

How well do you know our green and pleasant land?  It's time to put your geographical knowledge to the test and add a municipal twist. This Playbuzz quiz is one for the truckers and commuters who travel our highways, byways and bog roads up and down the country.