LAST UPDATE | 13 Oct 2023

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

Israel-Hamas war

1. Israel has called for the immediate relocation of 1.1 million people in Gaza amid its massive bombardment in retaliation for Hamas’s attacks, with the United Nations warning of “devastating” consequences.

The UN said the mass relocation of the entire population in northern Gaza to the south of the enclave was “impossible” and urgently appealed for the order to be rescinded.

Gaza Strip

2. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said “Israel is under threat” but criticised it for cutting off water and electricity to the Gaza Strip, deeming the actions “not acceptable”. 

Speaking to RTÉ’s Prime Time last night, Varadkar said that Israel has a “right to defend themselves, but they don’t a right to breach international humanitarian law”. 

Varadkar added that he is “really concerned” about what he is “seeing happening in Gaza at the moment” and that the action “amounts to collective punishment”.

Garda reform

3. The Government is to increase the age limit for new gardaí from 35 to 50, the Minister for Justice Helen McEntee will announce later.

The decision will be announced at the latest graduation ceremony for 126 new Gardaí in the Garda College in Templemore.

It also comes just days after a €2.3 billion allocation for An Garda Síochána in Budget 2024 to help build stronger, safer communities.

The funding includes an aspirational recruitment figure of 800 to 1,000 new Gardaí and an increase in the training allowance from €184 to €305.

Letterkenny Hospital

4. Management at a major hospital in the north west have apologised and pledged to make improvements after a coalition of local GPs voiced “huge patient safety concerns” ahead of an expected winter surge in emergency department demand.

The Saolta group, which oversees Letterkenny University Hospital (LUH) said it has been “extremely challenged” by a sustained increase in demand and a “lack of available beds” for patients.

It comes on foot of stinging criticism by a 78-strong group of Donegal GPs who sent a letter to the Minister for Health on Monday calling for urgent action at the emergency department at LUH.

Drugs seizure

5. A man has been arrested after more than €3.9 million worth of cannabis was seized in Dublin this week.

It followed searches on Wednesday and Thursday by gardaí from the Dublin Crime Response Team and Dublin Metropolitan Region North.

Germany

6. Seven people have died after a crash in Germany that involved a minibus police believe was stolen.

Numerous others were injured overnight in Germany’s southern Bavaria region after a minibus tried to evade a road check, police said.

A Mercedes Vito minibus with Austrian license plates and carrying more than 20 people tried to evade the check some 50 kilometres from the border between Austria and Germany.

Budget 2024

7. Budget 2024 measures will likely “increase real income next year” but inflation means purchasing power will be lower than in 2020, according to the ESRI.

It said the package of tax cuts, welfare increases, one-off payments and indirect tax cuts is worth around 2% of household disposable income on average.

However, price inflation means households will have lower purchasing power in 2024 than in 2020.

The Economic & Social Research Institute added that there will be higher gains for low-income households when compared to high-income households.

Australia referendum

8. Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese today issued an emotional, final-day plea to salvage a landmark referendum on Indigenous rights, his voice trembling as he told voters: “Kindness costs nothing.”

Tomorrow, Australians will decide whether to recognise First Nations peoples for the first time in the 1901 constitution and create an Indigenous advisory body – a so-called “Voice” – for policies that affect their communities.

Opinion polls give the reforms little hope, with recent surveys indicating the “yes” camp is polling at just over 40 percent and the “no” side at nearly 60 percent.

Climate change

9. More than 40% of Antarctica’s ice shelves have shrunk, with almost half showing “no sign of recovery”, scientists have said, who believe climate change is probably responsible.

Warm water on the western side of the continent has been melting ice, whereas in the east, ice shelves have either stayed the same or grown as the water is colder there.

Scientists at the University of Leeds have calculated that 67 trillion tonnes of ice was lost in the west while 59 trillion tonnes was added to the east between 1997 and 2021 – resulting in a net loss of 7.5 trillion tonnes.