GOOD MORNING.

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

1. Primary teachers 

THE GENERAL SECRETARY of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) has confirmed that a second strike will take place this month amid an ongoing public sector pay dispute. 

It comes after primary school teachers who are members of the INTO began a work-to-rule today as part of wider industrial action involving more than 100,000 public sector workers. 

2. Budget 2027

Coalition leaders have signed off on a €5,000 increase to the Help to Buy tax rebate for first-time buyers, as crunch talks in Government Buildings came to an end on Monday night.

The finer details on Budget 2027 were signed off by coalition leaders early on Monday night, ahead of Tuesday’s 1pm announcement.

3. French student protests

Tens of thousands of demonstrators are expected on the streets of Paris today as France’s powerful trade unions join high school students rallying for better conditions in a wave of protests marked by clashes with police.

Students have blocked the entrances to hundreds of high schools for 15 to 17-year-olds since late September, complaining of missing teachers, overloaded timetables, dilapidated classrooms and buildings that cannot cope with rising temperatures.

4. Military spending 

Later today, the defence budget will refer to increased funding for more recruits and civilian staff, but behind the scenes the major projects to build capability remain shrouded in a lack of certainty because the money simply has not been assigned to fund them. 

It’s a difficult task to try to get the solid reality of what is happening with defence spend ahead of the budget, with sources wary to put exact numbers on the money needed.

5. OpenAI hack

OpenAI has conceded it botched the handling of a hacking incident in Australia, vowing to rebuild trust in a nation it is courting to host massive data centres.

Chief strategy officer Jason Kwon appeared before Australian lawmakers to answer for the incident, in which a rogue OpenAI model bypassed safeguards to gain unauthorised access to a government health statistics website.

6. UK airbase

Donald Trump has said there were “some threats” that led the United States to pull bombers from a UK base. The US president said the military aircraft “didn’t fly out by accident” from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had sought to play down the withdrawal of the planes after suggestions the move was linked to security concerns.

7. Jeffrey Archer 

Former British politician Jeffrey Archer has died aged 86, his publisher said in a statement.

Archer, who was a Conservative MP for five years before serving as the party’s deputy chairman, died “suddenly and peacefully at his home between writing sessions” on Monday, Harper Collins said.

He had a successful career as a novelist alongside politics and was made a life peer in 1992.

8. UFOs

Are we alone?

Whether it’s the War of the Worlds creatures poorly-thought out plan to invade earth without realising they were allergic to water, or Yoda’s wise old leathery hide, aliens have captured the imagination ever since they first allegedly showed up in Roswell all those decades ago. 

This week, a Donegal photographer captured a mysterious, ghostly spectre traversing the night sky, leading to speculation as to, well, what the hell it is. 

9. RIP

Niamh O’Brien, the Irish dancer and wife of Michael Flatley, has died at the age of 52. 

“My heart is broken. I have lost my beautiful wife, Niamh, and my best friend. My gorgeous bride of twenty years has gone to the Lord in Heaven,” Flatley said in a statement. 

“She was the most loving mother, wife and person, and our lives will never be the same without her.”