LAST UPDATE | 14 Jan

GOOD MORNING. 

Here is all the news you need to know to start your day on this very cold Sunday morning.

Israel-Hamas war enters 100th day

1. The war between Israel and Hamas entered its 100th day today after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed “no one will stop us” from destroying the militant group.

Sister of Hamas hostage says time is running out

2. The sister of a national who remains hostage amid the conflict in the Middle East has warned “there is no more time” for those captured, and called for their release ahead of the 100th day of the Israel-Hamas war. 

US presidential election heats up

3. Voters will venture into sub-zero temperatures Monday to kick off the Republican presidential nomination race with the Iowa caucuses, the first major test of whether runaway front-runner Donald Trump is as much of a sure thing as he appears.

Garda veteran’s plight

4. Donal Forrester as a soldier and garda for more than 36 years but last week he retired from An Garda Síochána and signed on the dole because he cannot get access to his contributory State pension.

Forrester – who worked in a specialist firearms training role – along with a number of colleagues have completed their time but they are delayed in getting access to their full pension entitlements.

Matt Carthy interview

5. According to Matt Carthy, Ireland is at a “pivotal” point in its history and generations to come will look back at this time as a “period of profound positive change”.

This is because, in the view of the Sinn Féin spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, we are edging closer to a United Ireland and the undoing of partition – something that Carthy says will happen “much quicker than people might think”.

Rental Sector

6. The 3,700 or so apartments owned by Ireland’s biggest landlord could soon be put up for sale, along with the rest of the company.

Dissatisfied investors, led by Canadian firm and 5% shareholder Vision Capital, are pushing for an overhaul at Ires REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) which could result in the firm being taken private or selling off its assets.

Weather

7. Temperatures are to drop as low as -3 tonight, with widespread frost and icy patches on the roads. Ice, frost, mist and fog will clear this morning, and there will be some rain showers throughout the mostly dry day ahead. 

Pro-Palestine protests

8. Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald spoke at the London rally calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza yesterday. During her speech she referred to Ireland’s own “long journey of conflict”. 

Jacinda Ardern 

9. New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern has finally married her longtime partner, Clarke Gayford, in a private ceremony in the scenic Hawke’s Bay region of Aotearoa.