LAST UPDATE | 12 Aug 2022

GOOD MORNING.

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

Hot houses

1. In our lead story this morning, Orla Dwyer looks at how Irish homes are generally built to keep heat in – which becomes a problem during a heatwave.

As temperatures soar over the coming days in heatwave conditions, closing blinds or curtains in times of direct sunlight are among the actions householders can take to deal with the heat while indoors.

Reports from the UN’s IPCC have highlighted that countries need to focus on both reducing emissions and also adapting to the impacts of climate change already being experienced by millions across the world.

Weather

2. Met Éireann is forecasting highs of 30 degrees Celsius in some parts of the country today, as a nationwide Status Yellow temperature warning continues.

The mercury hit 30.5 degrees in Carlow yesterday.

Today’s forecast is a hot, dry and sunny day with highest temperatures generally between 25 to 30 degrees, possibly reaching the low 30s in a few inland spots of Leinster or Munster.

Menopause

3. The government has been urged to remove VAT from hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to improve equality of access to these products for women experiencing menopause.

A zero VAT rate already applies to oral medication, but the Department of Health has suggested that all non-oral medication on the HSE’s formal reimbursement list could benefit from a similar measure.

Donald Trump

4. US Attorney General Merrick Garland has said he had “personally approved” the dramatic raid on Donald Trump’s Florida estate earlier this week – and, in a highly unusual move, was requesting the warrant justifying the search be made public.

The country’s top prosecutor did not reveal the reason for the unprecedented search of the home of a former US president, and condemned “unfounded attacks” on the FBI and the Justice Department that followed it.

Ukraine

5. The head of the UN nuclear watchdog has warned an emergency Security Council meeting of the “grave” crisis unfolding at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, as Moscow and Kyiv traded accusations of new shelling near the facility.

“This is a serious hour, a grave hour,” Rafael Grossi, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the Security Council, adding that the IAEA must urgently be allowed to conduct a mission to Zaporizhzhia.

Capitol riots

6. An off-duty Virginia police officer who stormed the US Capitol in Washington DC has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison.

Former Rocky Mount Police Sgt Thomas Robertson did not speak in court before US District Judge Christopher Cooper sentenced him to seven years and three months in prison.

Anne Heche

7. US actor Anne Heche is “not expected to survive” after suffering a serious brain injury in a car crash in Los Angeles last week, US media has reported.

The fiery crash left Heche, 53, comatose with a “severe anoxic brain injury,” according to a statement from a representative quoted by several outlets on Thursday.

Job fairy

8. US healthcare firm Abbott Technologies is to create 1,000 jobs in Kilkenny and Donegal.

The new positions are part of a €440 million investment which will see a new greenfield manufacturing site built in Kilkenny.

The company will expand its existing premises in Donegal.

Eurovision
9. Seven British cities have been shortlisted to host next year’s Eurovision, after Ukraine was deemed unsafe to host the contest after its victory this year.

Some 20 cities submitted expressions of interest, with the list whittled down to Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield.

Belfast submitted an entry but was not shortlisted.