GOOD MORNING AND happy Saturday.

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

Russian spies

1. An alleged Russian spy who studied in Ireland was known to Irish counter-intelligence operations, sources have confirmed.

The Journal has also been told that he is not the only undeclared agent living undercover in Ireland – not just from Russia, but from other countries also, Niall O’Connor reports this morning.

Navan Hospital

2. GPs working with the North East Doctor On Call service (NEDOC) have told Our Lady’s Hospital Navan that it will not accept the care of patients who would normally have been assessed and managed in a hospital setting, Christina Finn reports this morning.

Correspondence sent to all politicians in the region from NEDOC, seen by The Journal, raises serious concerns about the need for patients to have a GP referral before accessing the HSE’s planned Medical Assessment Unit (MAU) at the hospital.

It comes following a HSE announcement that the facility would no longer have a full emergency room, despite opposition from within the government.

Cost-of-living

3. Protests around the country are set to take place today on the cost-of-living, including in Dublin, Belfast and Galway.

The protests are being organised by the Cost of Living Coalition, with the Dublin protest set to kick off at 1pm at the Gardens of Remembrance ion Parnell Square.

Bausch and Lomb

4. Workers at the Bausch and Lomb manufacturing plant in Waterford are set to vote on a new pay deal following negotiations between Siptu and company management yesterday.

It comes after workers took industrial action over an ongoing pay dispute, with action being suspended earlier this week to facilitate the new talks.

Taxi fares

5. Taxi fares are set to rise by 12% on average from 1 September, with taxis now set to be forced to offer a cashless payment option from the same date.

The NTA said the raising of the maximum fare by a weighted average of 12% was being made to reflect the increasing operating costs faced by taxi drivers combined with the introduction of cashless payment facilities in cabs.

Rwanda flights

6. UK Home Secretary Priti Patel has called the decision by the European Court of Human Rights to block the first migrant flight to Rwanda “scandalous” and politically motivated.

 Judges at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Tuesday granted an injunction that resulted in a chartered aircraft to Kigali being unable to depart Wiltshire.

Patel made the comments in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, saying that she believed it to be a politically motivated decision.

Trump 2024

7. The former US President Donald Trump has lashed out at the 6 January committee and has teased his intentions to kick-off a third presidential run in his first public appearance since committee hearings began.

Speaking to religious conservatives at a sprawling resort near the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Trump blasted the committee’s efforts as a “theatrical production of partisan political fiction” and insisted he had done nothing wrong.

Dom Phillips

8. Brazilian authorities have said that some of the human remains which were found deep in the Amazon have been identified as British journalist Dom Phillips.

The remains of two people were found on Wednesday near the city of Atalaia do Norte, after fisherman Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, 41, nicknamed Pelado, confessed he killed Phillips, 57, and Brazilian indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, 41.

Weather

9. It’s set to be mild across the country today with weather remaining mostly cloudy, with some patchy spots of rain, according to Met Éireann.

There will be some bright spells breaking through alongside isolated showers, mainly in the northwest.

The highest temperatures today will be between 13 and 16 degrees.