LAST UPDATE | 2 Aug 2023

GOOD MORNING.

Here’s everything you need to know as you start your day.

Monaghan crash 

1. Investigations are ongoing into the cause of a crash in Co Monaghan in which two teenage girls died.

Kiea Mc Cann, 17, and Dlava Mohamed, 16, were fatally injured when the car in which they were travelling crashed on the N54 at Legnakelly on Monday as they were being driven to a Debs ball.

Three other people were in the vehicle at the time and were hospitalised with their injuries.

Trump 

2. Former US President Donald Trump has been indicted in relation to an investigation into attempts to overturn the 2020 election. 

Trump was charged with three counts of conspiracy and one count of obstruction in the 45-page indictment brought by special counsel Jack Smith yesterday evening.

Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is accused of conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding: the January 6, 2021 joint session of Congress held to certify Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory.

Beijing flooding

3. China’s capital has recorded its heaviest rainfall in at least 140 years over the past few days.

The city recorded 744.8 millimetres (29.3 inches) of rain between Saturday and this morning, the Beijing Meteorological Bureau said today.

The amount of rain recorded in just 40 hours neared the average rainfall for the entire month of July.

Ukraine

4. Russian drones damaged port infrastructure in Odesa and targeted capital Kyiv from several directions, Ukrainian authorities said today.

The army said it repelled Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones launched from the Sea of Azov through the Black Sea that were aimed at the Odesa region.

“The enemy’s obvious target was the port and industrial infrastructure of the region. Air defence forces worked non-stop for almost 3 hours,” the Operational Command South wrote on Telegram.

Deportation

5. People served with a deportation order can no longer return to Ireland once deported as part of wide-ranging legislative amendments that have come into effect.

The residency requirement for children born in Ireland, who are of a different nationality, to apply for citizenship has also been reduced from five years to three years.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee has commenced the majority of the provisions of the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2023.

Mammograms

6. A first of its kind randomised controlled trial involving over 80,000 Swedish women has found that artificial intelligence (AI)-supported mammography screenings are as good as two breast radiologists working together to detect breast cancer.

The AI-supported screening detected 20% more cancers compared with the routine double reading of mammograms by two radiologists.

An interim safety analysis of the trial also found that AI-supported screenings can increase efficiency without increasing false positives and almost halves the screen-reading workload.

Barnardos

7. Over a quarter of secondary school parents said they were very concerned that they would not be able to meet back to school costs this year, according to a new survey.

The annual Back to School Survey from children’s charity Barnardos also found that just under a quarter (24%) of secondary school parents surveyed said they had to take out a loan or borrow from friends in order to meet back to school costs.

A total of 1,100 parents were surveyed in relation to the cost of sending a child to primary or secondary school education.

Renting

8. Sinn Féin has today published legislation that would make seeking sex for rent, or advertising such arrangements an offence under the Residential Tenancies Act. 

The party’s housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin said he will seek to introduce the Bill when the Dáil resumes in September. 

The Bill comes after RTÉ Investigates last week broadcast a report looking into sex for rent in Ireland. 

Workplace Relations Commission

9. A special investigations unit in the Department of Agriculture targetting criminal fraud in farming and the food chain was left “decimated” and with a “dwindling number” of investigators amid alleged “interference” from politicians and senior management, two of its most senior former veterinary inspectors have claimed.

They have claimed they were moved out of their long held roles due to “interference” arising from the work they carried out in their jobs, with several investigations “shelved” following their exit.

Louis Reardon, a veterinary inspector with almost 20 years’ service at the Department of Agriculture, has alleged to the Workplace Relations Commission that his career was brought to a “shuddering halt” when he was involuntarily transferred out of his job with the department’s special investigations unit.