LAST UPDATE | 28 Oct

GOOD MORNING. 

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

Dublin Marathon 

1. Colin Farrell has praised the courage of his friend Emma Fogarty, who he helped over the finish line at the Dublin Marathon.

Swing states

2. With just over a week to go before the US presidential election, The Journal’s Órla Ryan explains all you need to know about the swing states that will likely be decisive. 

Phone boxes

3. Just over 500 phone calls have been made to date on each of 63 so-called “digital kiosks” Eir installed since 2021 to replace older phone boxes – and to support large LED advertising screens. 

Sexual assault

4. French actor Gerard Depardieu is expected to appear before a criminal court in Paris today over the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021.

Iraq and Israel 

5. Iraq has condemned Israel’s use of its airspace in last Saturday’s aerial attack on Iran.

IDF links

6. An American tech company which has come under pressure over the work its US arm does with the Israeli army has taken down information on that work from the ‘success story’ section of its website.

Georgia 

7. The Georgian opposition has called for protests and the European Union demanded an investigation into “irregularities” after a disputed legislative vote that showed a win for the ruling party accused of moving towards Russia’s orbit.

SPHE FactCheck

8. In the last few weeks, Ireland’s misinformation sphere has been dominated by a concerted campaign against sex education in secondary schools.

This kind of misinformation isn’t a new phenomenon: we’ve already seen it play out last year, when proposals to update the Relationships and Sexuality module of the Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) syllabus caused a stir after certain groups argued that children shouldn’t be taught about gender identity, with some saying there should be more Christian values on the curriculum.

Read an extract from this month’s FactCheck newsletter here.

Opinion

9.  As another bank holiday weekend draws to a close, typically a red flag for fatalities and serious injuries on Irish roads, motorists are urged to slow down, leave phones out of reach, and not drive when tired or under the influence of alcohol or drugs. 

But it is not just drivers that are at risk. Up until 24 October, Garda figures reveal 26 pedestrians, 9 cyclists and 3 people on e-scooters died on Irish roads this year, representing more than a quarter (27%) of all traffic fatalities to date.

Read Dr Catherine Conlon’s full Voices article here.