LAST UPDATE | 2 Apr
GOOD MORNING.
Here’s all the news you need to know as you start your day.
1. At least seven food aid workers have been killed in Gaza after an Israeli airstrike hit their delivery convoy yesterday, the World Central Kitchen has confirmed.
The aid organisation said this morning that it is pausing its operations in Gaza until further notice. The seven killed are from Australia, Poland, United Kingdom, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Canada, and Palestine.
There are currently no reports of any Irish citizen being among the dead, following claims last night that an Irish person working for the charity had been killed. The Department of Foreign Affairs have been contacted for comment.
2. A number of survivors from the St Joseph’s baby home in Stamullen, Co Meath are considering legal action after their institution was excluded from the list of homes which qualify for the State redress scheme.
In this morning’s lead story, Órla Ryan speaks to those impacted who are describing the situation as “being victimised all over again”. Thousands of people are excluded from the scheme including those who spent less than six months in an institution as a child.
3. The Irish National Teacher’s Union accused the government and education minister Norma Foley of having a “lacklustre” response to the recruitment and retention crises in the sector.
The organisation’s secretary general John Boyle called for a special commission to be formed with the aim of creating a plan “before Christmas” to attract teachers who have moved abroad, at the union’s annual congress yesterday.
According to figures by the INTO, there were more than 2,000 long-term vacancies in the sector at the start of the academic year. Meanwhile, it estimates that more than 4,800 Irish teachers are working abroad.
4. Former US President Donald Trump has posted a €163 million bond to avoid the seizure of his assets in a New York court case.
The bond Trump is posting with the court now is acting as a placeholder, to guarantee the payment of a €423 million fine he owes, if the judgment is upheld.
If that happens, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee will have to pay the state the whole sum, which grows with daily interest. If the judgment is thrown out, he will be reimbursed.
5. “A change is coming – young people want to unionise,” writes National Student Voice Organiser for the Irish Second-level Students’ Union (ISSU) Maeve Richardson in The Journal’s Voices section this morning.
The union representative and Siptu member discusses the shift in secondary school students’ views towards union after a UCD research study said 67% of people aged between 16 and 24 years are positively disposed to trade unions.
6. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to enact a ban on broadcasts in Israel from news channel Al Jazeera under newly-adopted laws.
Israel claimed in January that an Al Jazeera staff journalist and a freelancer killed in an air strike in Gaza were “terror operatives”. The following month it said another journalist for the channel, wounded in a separate strike, was a “deputy company commander” with Hamas.
Al Jazeera has fiercely denied Israel’s accusations and accused Israel of systematically targeting Al Jazeera employees in the Gaza Strip. The law, which passed yesterday, plans to ban the broadcast of content from foreign channels but also allows the closing of their offices in Israel.
7. The Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf has said he is “very confident” in the ability of Police Scotland to implement new Scottish hate crime legislation “in the way it should”.
It comes as author JK Rowling criticised the new laws, claiming they were “wide open to abuse” and challenging Scottish police to arrest her if her social media posts were a breach of the legislation.
8. A sunny start today but “unsettled” conditions are forecast for the week ahead. Met Éireann has said any mist, fog or patches of frost will clear quickly this morning to leave mostly dry conditions with sunny spells.
This afternoon will see cloud thicken in the midlands and south with outbreaks of rain developing in southern coastal areas.
During this evening, rain is forecast to turn persistent and heavy at times in Munster and south Leinster but staying mainly dry elsewhere apart from the odd shower.
9. ‘Concept Plans’ for a third terminal at Dublin Airport were submitted by D.A. Terminal 3 Ltd, which aims to develop and construct a the campus at Dublin Airport, to Fingal County Council this morning.
While they are not a part of official planning permission submissions but aim to “set out a clear vision” for the development of a third terminal.
The idea sees the terminal and a western campus placed between the airport’s two existing runways and the company claim the building will be key in tackling increased footfall at the airport in the coming years.
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