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LAST UPDATE | 18 Mar
GOOD MORNING.
Here’s all the news you need to know as you start the day.
1. At least 330 people are reported dead after deadly strikes by Israel on Gaza overnight, the most intense attacks on Palestine since the start of the truce in the war.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the strikes because of a lack of progress in talks to extend the ceasefire with Hamas, with Israeli officials saying that the military operation was expected to expand.
2.In our main story this morning, Maria Delaney reports on how Ireland is one of few EU countries where the patient load of GPs has increased over the past decade.
Each GP has an average of 100 extra people in their catchment area due to a surge in population that has not been matched by to an equivalent rise in doctors here.
The research emerged following research looking at a number of EU countries, The Journal Investigates can reveal.
3. US president Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to speak by phone today in a potentially crucial step toward halting the war in Ukraine, over three years into Moscow’s invasion.
Trump said over the weekend that he and Putin would discuss “dividing up certain assets” including land and power plants: an apparent reference to the Moscow-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in south Ukraine, Europe’s largest.
4. MMA fighter Conor McGregor was in the White House to meet US President Donald Trump for St Patrick’s Day, just days after Taoiseach Micheál Martin marked the annual Irish visit in the Oval Office.
The visit caused outrage back home, with Tánaiste Simon Harris speaking out against McGregor as he began his own visit to New York for a trade mission.
5.There is no agreed timeline in place to activate new, strict gambling regulations despite a watchdog agency for the industry being established by the government this month, The Journal has learned.
This means the majority of global gambling companies set up in Ireland, some of which turned over billions of euro in profit last year, are not legally required to follow any new laws and remain, largely, unregulated.
6. Tributes have been paid to two brothers who were struck by a runaway car in Co Donegal in the early hours of St Patrick’s Day.
Anthony and Martin Gallagher, who were both in their 60s, were walking home from a night out in Letterkenny and lived less than 100 yards from the scene of the tragedy. Anthony died after the incident and Martin is currently in a critical condition in hospital.
7. An Irish website for global online retailer Amazon has launched today.
The multinational is promising “over 200 million products” for Irish customers, with prices set in Euro, one-day delivery and “easier returns” all part of the offering.
8.Gardaí arrested a man who allegedly smashed up a departure gate inside Dublin Airport Terminal One after missing his flight yesterday.
9. It was a happy St Patrick’s Day for Rory McIlroy who joined the short list of multiple winners of The Players Championship with a bloodless victory over JJ Spaun in Monday’s playoff at TPC Sawgrass.
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