LAST UPDATE | 6 Jul 2023

GOOD MORNING.

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

RTÉ scandal

1. RTÉ executives grilled for a second time by the Oireachtas Media Committee yesterday – this time for six hours.

Here are five things we learned.

Defence Forces

2. The Women of Honour group is to express “disappointment” over Tánaiste Micheál Martin’s decision not to substantively change terms of reference for an inquiry into the Defence Forces.

The support group for former and current female Defence Force members who allege they were abused within the military has published its own proposed terms of reference for the planned statutory probe into the claims.

The group is due to meet the Tánaiste at Government Buildings today. 

Climate crisis

3. Tuesday was the hottest day of modern records – the second day in a row that the record was broken.

The average daily air temperature on the Earth’s surface reached 17.18 degrees Celsius, according to data compiled by an organisation attached to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).  

For comparison, the world’s average air temperature, which fluctuates between 12 degrees Celsius and just under 17 on any given day over the year, averaged 16.2 degrees at the beginning of July from 1979 to 2000. 

Weather warning

4. Met Éireann has issued a Status Yellow rainfall warning in four counties in the west of the country ahead of heavy rain today.

A warning is due to come into effect at 10am in Cork, Kerry, Galway and Mayo and last until 8pm.

The forecaster is cautioning of heavy rain at times in those areas that may cause localised flooding and poor travelling conditions. The level of rainfall is expected to be higher in mountainous regions. 

Summer storm

5. A record-breaking summer storm hammered the Netherlands and Germany yesterday, killing two people and disrupting international air and rail travel.

Storm Poly brought winds of up to 146 km/h, the strongest on record to hit the Netherlands in the summer months, where a rare rare “code red” warning was issued, telling millions of people in the low-lying nation to stay indoors. 

A 51-year-old woman was killed when a tree fell on her car in the Dutch city of Haarlem and a 64-year-old woman died after being struck by a falling tree in the German town of Rhede. 

Ukraine

6. Four people have been killed by a Russian missile attack on the western Ukrainian city of Lviv.

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said that four people were killed and nine people had been injured in the overnight attack.

The city’s mayor Andriy Sadovyi said around 60 apartments and 50 cars were damaged with emergency service workers searching in the debris for more people trapped. 

Threads

7. Facebook’s parent company Meta has launched Threads, its text-based rival to Twitter.

There have reportedly been ten million sign-ups in the first few hours after the launch.

However, its release in Europe has been delayed over data privacy concerns. 

Sligo

8. Three men have been charged in relation to assaults and a number of public order incidents at a pub in Co Sligo.

The incident occurred in the early hours of Monday, 3 July at Garavogue Weir, Sligo.

Three men in their 20s were taken to Sligo General Hospital to be treated for injuries arising from the incident, which are believed to be non-life threatening.

Taylor Swift

9. Taylor Swift has added a third night to her run of shows set to take place in the Aviva Stadium in June next year.

The freshly announced concert will take place on Sunday 30 June on top of gigs already scheduled for 28 and 29 June as part of her Eras Tour. 

Tickets are due to officially go on sale for Irish fans on Thursday 20 July.