LAST UPDATE | 7 Mar

GOOD MORNING.

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

Care referendum

1. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has addressed the criticism levelled at him over comments he made in relation to the care referendum during an interview on the Six O’Clock Show, dismissing it as “classic social media”. 

Varadkar has received significant online criticism after he appeared on the Virgin Media programme last Friday to discuss the referendums. 

A short clip of his comments about his own experience of being raised by his parents and his view on the State’s responsibilities in relation to care has been widely shared on social media. 

Dog fouling

2. Only one fine for dog fouling has been paid in Dublin city in the past four years – and it was cancelled on appeal.

Figures released by Dublin City Council show just eight fines were issued between 2019 and 2023.

The figures indicate the council made a handful of unsuccessful attempts to prosecute people for dog fouling over that period.

Rust 

3. A jury has convicted a movie weapons supervisor of involuntary manslaughter over the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by actor Alec Baldwin during a rehearsal on the set of the western movie Rust.

The verdict against movie armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed assigns new blame for the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in October 2021 after an assistant director last year pleaded no contest to negligent handling of a firearm.

Baldwin, the lead actor and a co-producer on Rust, was indicted by a grand jury in January on a charge of involuntary manslaughter. 

Gaza

4. China has described the conflict in Gaza as a “disgrace to civilisation” and has called for an immediate ceasefire as the fighting stretched into its sixth month despite efforts by mediators to reach a truce.

US President Joe Biden has urged Hamas to accept a ceasefire plan with Israel before Ramadan begins, which could be as early as Sunday depending on the sighting of the crescent moon.

However, mediators in Egypt have struggled to overcome tough obstacles in their attempts to negotiate a pause.

February temperatures

5. Last month was the warmest February on record globally, making it the ninth month in a row with record temperatures for the time of year, scientists have said.

Global sea surface temperatures are also at their highest ever recorded, data from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service shows.

The data shows February was 1.77C warmer than the pre-industrial average for the month, from 1850-1900, and 0.81C above 1991-2020 levels.

Belfast murder

6. A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a man who was found with serious injuries in west Belfast later died in hospital.

Last night at around 8pm, PSNI officers found a man with serious injuries in the Cupar Street area of west Belfast. He died in hospital a short time later.

Casement Park

7. Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill has said she is determined that Casement Park will be rebuilt in time for Euro 2028.

But Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said any funding for the GAA stadium must be provided on a “fair and equitable basis”.

The Stormont leaders addressed the saga during a visit to a GAA club in west Belfast, close to Casement Park.

Saoírse Ruane 

8. Saoírse Ruane, a Toy Show favourite who inspired millions, has died aged 12.

Saoírse, from Co Galway, appeared on the Late Late Toy Show in 2020.

During her segment, Saoírse spoke about living with a rare form of cancer called Osteosarcoma.

6 January 

9. The US Supreme Court will hear Donald Trump’s claim that he is immune from criminal prosecution as a former president on 25 April. 

Trump, 77, who is all-but-certain to be the Republican presidential nominee for the upcoming election, had been scheduled to go on trial in Washington this week for conspiring to subvert the results of the 2020 election won by President Joe Biden.

But the proceedings have been frozen as his presidential immunity claim wound its way through the courts.