Five things you need to know today

1. France aims to prevent ‘war of religions’

President François Hollande will meet leaders of all French religious communities this morning in the hope of preventing a war of religion after two militants affiliated with Islamic State slashed the throat of an aged priest and critically wounded a male parishoner in a small town in Normandy.

2. Clinton makes history

Hillary Clinton capped a historic night after becoming the first woman to lead a major party into a US presidential election with a surprise appearance at the Democratic national convention. "I can't believe we just put the biggest crack in that glass ceiling yet," the party's newly-crowned nominee told ecstatic supporters.

3. Irish Water to spend €370m replacing lead pipes

Irish Water says it plans to spend ¤370 million over the next decade replacing lead pipes and at least €78 million more treating water to stop lead contamination. The utility is today publishing a draft Lead in Water Mitigation Plan, which will be available for public consultation until September 21st, and is urging owners of houses built before 1980 to check internal plumbing for lead pipes.

4. AIB to return €1.76bn of bailout funding

AIB will pay the State €1.76 billion tomorrow to redeem loan notes issued to it in July 2011 as part of its bailout from taxpayers. This payment will involve the bank paying €1.6 billion to redeem the contingent capital notes (CoCos) at face value along with accrued interest of €160 million.

5. State to buy 5,000 acres in Dublin mountains from Nama

The State is expected to buy almost 5,000 acres at Glenasmole Valley in the Dublin mountains, currently for sale by the National Asset Management Agency (Nama). The 4,900 acres, most of which lie within a special area of conservation and a special protection area, are surrounded by 200,000 hectares of the Wicklow Mountains National Park, Ireland's largest national park.

And finally: Brian Boyd explains why he likes to pretend he's not Irish when he's on holidays: On a rooftop bar in Sicily, a honeymoon couple from Lewiston, Idaho, asked me my name and where I am from. I looked them in the eye, smiled, and said "Hi, I'm Lars from Denmark. "