LAST UPDATE | 15 Nov 2023
GOOD MORNING.
Here’s all the news you need to know as you start your day.
1. In our main story this morning, Shane Raymond reports that Irish anti-immigration activists have seized on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East to push racist rhetoric, including antisemitic claims, online.
The wave of hateful speech coincides with Israel’s continuing attack on Gaza. According to the latest figures more than 11,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in Gaza since the start of the conflict.
The increase in antisemitic tropes comes on the back of a growing prevalence of such messages in recent years – a trend that has become increasingly clear in Ireland.
2. Israeli forces have stormed Gaza’s largest hospital, targeting what they believe is a Hamas command centre housed among thousands of ailing and sheltering civilians.
Israeli and Palestinian officials said military operations were taking place at Gaza City’s Al-Shifa hospital – the focal point of days of deadly fighting and nearby aerial bombardments.
Youssef Abu Rish, an official from the Gaza health ministry who is inside the hospital, told AFP he could see tanks inside the complex and “dozens of soldiers and commandos inside the emergency and reception buildings”.
3. Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that a group of Irish citizens have been cleared to evacuate Gaza through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt today.
In a statement to The Journal, a spokesperson for the Department said that arrangements are in place for staff from the Irish Embassy in Cairo to meet them and to provide them with consular assistance and support, including with onward travel to Ireland.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin said this morning he could not confirm precise numbers as to how many Irish citizens will be able to cross the border.
4. Staff at housing charity Threshold worked with more than 12,000 households last year which were deemed to be at risk of homelessness, an increase of 12% on 2021 figures.
The charity today launched its Annual Report for 2022 which outlined that the housing charity assisted over 18,600 households last year.
5. Traces of a powerful synthetic opioid have been detected in heroin samples related to overdoses in Dublin city in recent days.
Fifty-seven people have overdosed in the city centre area since last Thursday, the HSE confirmed yesterday. No deaths have been reported.
The Journal looked into nitazenes, and the growing concerns about a possible increase in the use of opioids.
6. In the UK, the Supreme Court will deliver its judgment on whether Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda policy is lawful after Suella Braverman warned he has no credible back-up to “stop the boats”.
Justices at the UK’s highest court will today hand down their verdict on the British Prime Minister’s legislation.
7. Staying abroad, US President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping are set to meet at a summit in San Francisco today, their first engagement in a year.
Biden expressed hopes that the talks would help put a shaky US-China relationship – marked by sharp differences over the last year – in a better place.
8. Back home, the Teachers’ Union of Ireland has found that the recruitment crisis in second level schools is worsening, after surveying 104 schools across the country.
TUI is calling for the Government to take action after a survey it carried out revealed that 64% of 104 secondaries have unfilled vacancies, and just 1% of principals believe enough is being done to tackle the issue.
9. Health risks due to inaction about the climate emergency will have a “catastrophic threat” to the health and survival of billions of people, a 2023 Lancet report has found.
In its eighth iteration, the Countdown on Health and Climate Change reveals that inaction by state bodies has led to a number of ‘alarming’ health complications and even an increased number of people dying due to soaring temperatures.
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