GOOD MORNING.

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

1. #STORM EUNICE: Thousands of homes and businesses are without power this morning following Storm Eunice hitting Ireland overnight.

Schools and colleges in nine counties will remain closed today, as the storm moves across Ireland bringing “severe and damaging” winds. 

2. #CBD: Dozens of cannabis-derived products have been recalled since 2021, with newer CBD items seen as “problematic” by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, Stephen McDermott reports.

It has included batches of artisan coffee, hemp tea and even hemp whiskey, as authorities crack down on products with higher levels of THC. 

3. #UKRAINE: The US has warned Russia could order a major military attack on Ukraine in the “coming days”. The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made the claims in an unscheduled speech to the United Nations in New York. 

4. #NPHET: Mandarory mask-wearing should end in most settings, public health officials have advised. 

5. #MINNEAPOLIS: A policeman on trial for violating George Floyd’s civil rights on the day he was killed has told a court that he was still on probation the day the 46-year-old African American man was killed, and had been deferring to his senior officer Derek Chauvin, who has been convicted of Floyd’s murder.

6. #AFGHANISTAN: A boy trapped in a well since Tuesday in a remote village in the Zabul province has died shortly after being pulled out alive.

7. #CANADA: Police have arrested two protest leaders in Ottawa and threatened to break up a nearly three-week protest against the country’s Covid-19 restrictions.

8. #SMISHING: A man in his 20s has been arrested over a scam which has targeted people nationwide. 

9. #PORTUGAL: The country has announced it is winding down coronavirus restrictions.