LAST UPDATE | 6 Jan

GOOD MORNING. 

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

Micheál Martin gives warning on Middle East conflict 

1. A widening of the conflict in the Middle East would have devastating consequences for the world, the Tánaiste has warned.

Gaza now ‘uninhabitable’

2. Israel’s bombing of Gaza has continued today, as the UN has warned that the territory is now uninhabitable for people. Its child agency said that malnutrition, violence and a lack of access to health services has left Palestinian children there trapped in a deadly cycle. 

Court decision on Trump’s 2024 presidential bid due

3. The US Supreme Court is to issue a ruling on if Donald Trump can run for president of the United States again. It will hear the former president’s appeal against a ruling from Colorado’s highest court that will keep him off the ballot in the Western state. 

Dublin’s gangland

4. Jason Hennessy Senior died on Thursday from gunshot wounds sustained in a shooting at a restaurant in Blanchardstown, Dublin. The Journal’s news correspondent Niall O’Connor takes a look at Hennessy’s life as a West Dublin gang member. 

RTÉ petitioned on Eurovision

5. More than 600 emails have been sent to RTÉ calling on it to boycott the Eurovision due to Israel’s involvement in the song contest.

Operation Transformation

6. A Sinn Féin TD has questioned the amount previously spent by the Department of Health in sponsoring RTÉ’s Operation Transformation after a 30% decrease in cost this year.

Road deaths

7. A young woman who died in a collision in Letterkenny became the third Irish person to die on Ireland’s roads yesterday. 

Housing

8. An expert in housing explains why Ireland is stuck in a perpetual housing crisis, for The Journal’s voices section. Fiona Cormican writes, “If private investors are willing to put money in, why on earth would we say no?”.

Joe Biden 

9. US President Joe Biden has accused Donald Trump of echoing Nazi Germany as he kick-started his 2024 reelection campaign with a major speech warning of a threat to democracy.