GOOD MORNING.

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

1. Budget 2027

Budget 2027 appears to have a little something for a lot of people, although it was far from the ‘giveaway budgets’ we’ve seen in the past.

Some key promises came to fruition, while other increases and extensions weren’t as generous as expected. Money ministers Jack Chambers and Simon Harris increased overall government spending by €7.1 billion, bringing the total expenditure for 2027 to €125.6 billion.

Some measures have already begun. 

2. 7 October three years later 

As mourners gathered to mark the third anniversary of the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attacks at dawn this morning, the sound of Israeli airstrikes could be heard hitting the Gaza Strip not far away.

Most people at the site of the Nova music festival massacre in the Negev Desert bowed their heads in silence, although at least one instead put on techno music in tribute to the people killed.

Today in Gaza City, Al-Shifa Hospital reported two people killed in an Israeli strike overnight.

3. Drug smuggling

Two men have been arrested as gardaí investigate an attempted smuggling operation using a drone at Portlaoise Prison campus.

It is understood that the incident happened on Tuesday at 3pm when gardaí responded to a report of the men attempting to fly a drone into the prison.

4. Culture card

After talk of a €100 culture card for young people being introduced in this year’s budget, yesterday in the Dáil there was no mention of it.

Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers subsequently said that the culture card “isn’t something we can fund in Budget 2027″. 

When pressed, he said it was “obviously” something that couldn’t be delivered next year. 

5. RIP

Actress Eva Marie Saint, who won an Academy Award for her first movie On The Waterfront and starred opposite Cary Grant in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller North By Northwest, has died aged 102.

Saint, whose acting work lasted well into her 90s, died at her home in Los Angeles on Tuesday, confirmed family representative Jeff Sanderson.

6. Plague 

US President Donald Trump has said that he will speak very soon with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the reported plague death of a laboratory technician, as Washington and the United Nations called for transparency from Moscow.

Russian authorities denied that they were imposing anti-plague measures and played down the reports of an incident at a plague research institute in Siberia’s Irkutsk region last week.

7. Death row

Christa Pike, the inmate who survived Tennessee’s attempt to execute her, is awake and speaking as she receives treatment in hospital, her lawyers have said.

“Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care. Despite the severe damage she endured to her arms, she is still handcuffed and shackled to the bed. Her recovery is medically unprecedented. Her prognosis remains unclear but, at a minimum, we expect a long recovery,” lawyers for Pike said in a statement.

8. Messi’s farewell 

Lionel Messi brought the curtain down on his 21-year international career on Tuesday, bidding farewell to adoring Argentina fans in an emotional final appearance for the former world champions in Buenos Aires.

In a perfectly scripted finale, the 39-year-old widely regarded as the greatest football player in history signed off with his 126th international goal in front of 85,000 supporters as Argentina cruised to a 3-0 victory over Benin.

9. Factcheck

Budget day brought a raft of announcements on tax, spending and supports for households, as money ministers Simon Harris and Jack Chambers outlined the government’s plans for the coming year.

But if you listened closely enough, some of the measures included in the finance and public expenditure ministers’ speeches today might have sounded familiar.

There were plenty of new items in today’s budget, but there were a few instances where what was outlined had been announced before.