LAST UPDATE | 17 Oct 2023

GOOD MORNING. HERE are the top stories as the day gets underway.

1. Brussels attack

Belgian police have shot dead a man suspected of gunning down two Swedish football fans in an attack in Brussels last night. Belgium had raised its terror alert to the highest level following the attack while the hunt for the suspected shooter carried on throughout the night. 

2. Strike called off 

Health and community workers have called off a strike that was due to start today after a breakthrough in negotiations overnight. Around 5,000 workers in the community and voluntary sector had been due to go on indefinite strike in a bid to secure higher pay. 

3. European Council

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is to advocate for the opening of a humanitarian corridor into the Gaza Strip at an “extraordinary” meeting of European Council leaders later today.

4. Weather

A Status Orange rainfall warning has come into effect in Cork, Kerry and Waterford with wet and windy conditions forecast across the country today.

5. Betting tax

Sports Minister Catherine Martin sought a 1 per cent increase in the betting tax levy in the Budget– but her proposal was rejected by her counterpart in the Department of Finance for the second year running.

6. Biden visit

US President Joe Biden will travel to Israel and Jordan tomorrow as concerns increase that the Israel-Hamas war could expand into a larger regional conflict.

7. Same-sex marriage

India’s top court has refused to legalise same-sex marriages but said the country has a duty to acknowledge LGBTQ relationships and to protect them from discrimination. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has opposed moves to legally codify same-sex partnerships in the five years since the Supreme Court struck down colonial-era laws banning gay sex.

8. Roads 

A man in his 30s has died after his vehicle struck a parked car in Arklow, Co Wicklow yesterday evening.

9. Putin visit

 Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin will meet again in Beijing tomorrow seeking to further deepen the “no-limits” partnership between their two countries.