LAST UPDATE | 1 Dec 2023

GOOD MORNING.

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

Fighting resumes in Gaza

1. Israel’s military has said it has resumed fighting in Gaza, with airstrikes and artillery fire reported in Gaza City, as a truce expired with no agreement to extend it.

The resumption of fighting dashed hopes for an extension of a seven-day truce that had seen dozens of hostages freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoner releases by Israel.

Shane MacGowan death

2. Musician Shane MacGowan has passed away at the age of 65. 

He is best-known for being frontman of celtic-punk band The Pogues, who had hits such as Dirty Old Town and Fairytale of New York.

Reporter Carl Kinsella this morning looks at how the lifelong punk wrote the seminal Irish Christmas song. 

Wintry weather

3. It’s set to be a cold and icy weekend ahead with a low temperature warning currently in place nationwide.

A Status Yellow low temperature/ice warning is in place for the whole country until midday. 

Another Status Yellow low temperature/ice warning will kick in for the whole country from 5pm and will remain in place until midday tomorrow. 

Public transport suspended in North

4. Public transport in Northern Ireland, including trains and buses, is suspended today due to industrial action by Translink workers.

Cross border services will face significant disruption today with the X1 bus service from Dublin to Belfast and the Enterprise train among the services affected. 

Renewed appeal over murder

5. Police in Northern Ireland have renewed their appeal to find the murderer of Mark Lovell, and are offering a £20,000 reward for information for information that leads to the conviction of those responsible.

The 58-year-old father of three was murdered in Newry one year ago, on the evening of Thursday 1 December 2022.

He was shot multiple times, at close range, as he sat inside his car which was parked outside his home in the city’s Ardcarn Park.

Asylum seeker accommodation

6. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has written to the Equality Minister to express its “deep concern at reports of a shortfall in emergency accommodation for International Protection applicants”.

This week, the Government acknowledged that there is a “real possibility” of a shortfall in asylum seeker accommodation in the coming days. 

Ireland’s first satellite 

7. Ireland’s fire ever satellite is due to be launched into space later today.

EIRSAT-1 (Educational Irish Research Satellite 1) has been designed, built, and tested by students at University College Dublin.

The historic launch is set for around 6pm Irish time.

Violence before Aston Villa match

8. Four police officers have been injured and 39 people arrested amid “disgusting and highly dangerous scenes” before Aston Villa’s game with Legia Warsaw.

West Midlands Police said fans of the Polish side were not allowed into the stadium after missiles were thrown at officers before the start of the Europa Conference League game yesterday evening.

Block on TikTok ban

9. A US federal judge temporarily blocked a ban on TikTok yesterday which was set to come into effect next year in Montana, saying the popular video sharing app was likely to win its pending legal challenge.

US District Court Judge Donald Molloy placed the injunction on the ban until the case, originally filed by TikTok in May, has been ruled on its merits.