LAST UPDATE | 3 Aug 2023

GOOD MORNING.

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

Clones tragedy

1. Funerals are taking place today of two teenage best friends who were killed after the car they were travelling in crashed while on the way to a Debs ball in Co Monaghan.

A funeral mass for Kiea McCann, 17, will be held at the Sacred Heart Chapel in Clones at 2pm today. She will be laid to rest in Mount St Oliver’s Cemetery.

A funeral service will be held for Dlava Mohamed, 16, at the Clonskeagh Mosque and Culture Centre in Dublin at 1.30pm, and she will be laid to rest in Newcastle Muslim Cemetery.

National risk assessment

2. The government has released its National Risk Assessment report for 2023, identifying nuclear threats, higher interest rates and the absence of a sitting government in Northern Ireland among its new top strategic risks in 2023.

These were among a number of new risks identified in this year’s report, alongside concerns over a concentration in Ireland’s enterprise mix, deglobalisation and food security.

Firefighters

3. Retained firefighters across the country have said they have “hardened resolve” to carry on their industrial action until pay, staffing, and recruitment issues in the service are resolved.

Over 2,000 firefighters are currently on strike.

Fire stations around the country have been operating at half capacity, with 50% stations closed and picketed at a time.

Donald Trump

4. Former US president Donald Trump is due in federal court today to answer charges he sought to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

He is facing a judge just a few streets away from the US Capitol that his supporters stormed to block the peaceful transfer of power.

Ukraine

5. Almost 15 drones have been downed during an overnight attack on Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials – the second strike on the capital in as many days.

Air defence forces “detected and destroyed almost 15 air targets”, said Sergiy Popko, head of the Kyiv city military administration, without specifying who launched the attack.

Early information indicated no damage or casualties, he said.

Twitter blue tick

6. Users on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, will now be allowed to hide their once-prized blue check marks, the company says.

A coveted status symbol at Twitter before Elon Musk bought the company, the blue checks have been mocked by some as a sign that the user is willing to pay for special treatment.

Niger

7. The leader of the coup that toppled Niger’s president said this evening that French citizens had no reason to leave the country, but rejected international sanctions, vowing not to bow to “threats”.

The first plaines, carrying French and other European citizens, evacuated from Niger and landed in Paris earlier today, a week after a coup toppled one of the last pro-Western leaders in the jihadist-plagued Sahel.

Laya Healthcare

8. Axa has announced that it is to buy Laya Healthcare, the second-largest health insurer in Ireland, in a deal worth €650 million.

Axa said it has entered into an agreement to buy Laya from Corebridge Financial Inc., a subsidiary of AIG.

The completion of the deal is still subject to closing conditions, including the receipt of regulatory approvals.

Derry Girls

9. Derry Girls was the most-watched TV programme in Northern Ireland last year, with the first episode of the final series being watched by nearly half a million viewers on Channel 4, a new report from Ofcom has shown.

The sitcom averaged more than three million viewers in its third season and won a number of Baftas, including best scripted comedy.