GOOD MORNING.
Here’s all the news that you need to know as you start your day.
1. Our lead story this morning is a new investigation by Noteworthy examining the impact of overgrazing in vulnerable habitats.
Despite being recognised as a problem by government for at least two decades, Anthea Lacchia found that the practice continues to cause damage to upland areas, including the loss of rare plants.
“It is time for policy and payments to be restructured to support farmers to work with these systems and get them back to health, or else we will lose these special areas,” one expert warned.
2. In a move described by authorities as ‘unusual’, North Korea launched eight ballistic missiles overnight.
The exercise represents the largest number of ballistic missiles the country has recently launched on a single day and occasion.
It is seen as a response to joint US-South Korea military exercises, and comes amid growing concern that North Korea is preparing to carry out another nuclear test.
3. A motorcyclist was killed and five other people were injured in a collision involving a motorbike and a car in Kilkenny yesterday.
The crash occurred on the R712 in the townland of Blanch Field Park in Clifden at around 4.50pm this evening.
The motorcyclist – a man in his early 40s – was fatally injured.
4. A new Sunday Independent/Ireland Thinks poll found that 70% of people believe that Ireland will slip into another recession within the next year.
The poll also found that the cost of living continues to be the primary concern among the public, followed by housing, and Sinn Féin remains the most popular party.
5. Long Covid can be associated with a range of neurological and psychiatric conditions, research carried out in Ireland found.
The Sunday Times reports on the results of the two studies, which found that anxiety and PTSD were more common among patients who were experiencing long Covid compared with the general public.
6. Kyiv was rocked by explosions overnight as an intense battle rages in the east over a key Ukrainian city.
There were no deaths reported in the missile strikes on the country’s capital, but one person was injured and infrastructure was damaged.
There are conflicting reports over the situation in Severodonetsk: the Ukrainian military claims to have made gains in a counteroffensive and that street-to-street fighting is currently taking place, while the Russian military maintains that Ukrainian troops continue to withdraw.
7. The Irish Mail on Sunday has details of an internal report compiled by Fine Gael on its prospects in the next general election.
It found that as many as 80% of the party’s seats are under threat, sparking concern among members of Fine Gael’s ability to withstand the growing support for Sinn Féin in a future vote.
8. As many as 32 people are dead and hundreds injured after a massive explosion in Bangladesh.
BBC News reports that a number of containers – possibly containing chemicals – caught fire and exploded at a storage depot in Chittagong.
Many of the injured are said to be in a critical condition.
9. It’s a mixed bag on the weather front today.
While temperatures will remain high at between 15 to 19 degrees, showery rain will spread into Leinster during the day and Munster in the evening.
If anyone’s in with a chance of warm weather, it’ll be the west and north, but they won’t be spared from the odd shower too.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say