GOOD MORNING.

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

On the run

1. Defeated right-wing presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro was on his way to Ecuador after fleeing Brazil, Argentina’s government said on Wednesday.

Bolsonaro, who lost Brazil’s run-off election to Lula on Sunday, entered Argentina on Tuesday night before boarding a flight to Ecuador, the country’s National Directorate of Migration said on X.

The 45-year-old entered Argentina “with valid travel documents and no legal impediment,” it added, despite a court order banning his exit.

Sickness during pregnancy

2. Women who experience severe sickness and vomiting during pregnancy should be routinely and periodically screened for emotional distress during and after pregnancy, according to new clinical guidelines for hyperemesis gravidarum (HG).

The new HSE guidelines, published last week, also highlight how “almost 5% of women with HG will terminate a wanted pregnancy due to severity of symptoms”. 

HG can profoundly debilitate those who suffer with it.

Solicitor strike 

3. The Law Society will meet with Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan today as the two sides seek to resolve the ongoing dispute over reforms to how solicitors are paid under the free legal aid scheme.

It will be the first direct engagement between the two parties since July. 

Israeli election

4. The group of right-wing parties led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was ahead in the Israeli general election on Wednesday morning after 50% of the votes had been counted, according to the country’s elections committee. 

After 50.1% of ballots were counted, Netanyahu’s bloc was projected to win 56 of the 120 seats in the parliament, compared with 49 for the opposition bloc and 15 for the Arab parties.

The partial results are likely to change, and several exit polls showed the two major camps neck-and-neck without a majority.

Orange Order 

5. The High Court in Belfast is expected to rule today on a legal challenge to Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Bryant’s decision to ban an Orange Order parade along the Garvaghy Road.

Bryant intervened on 9 October following a 13-day stand-off between Orangemen and residents of the mainly nationalist road in Portadown, Co Armagh.

A member of the Orange Order sought a judicial review of his intervention, with the challenge also concerning the role of PSNI chief Constable Jon Boutcher.

Rainy day fund

6. Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers will today update government ministers on plans to close a 103-year-old rainy day fund. 

The 1923 ‘contingency fund’ was set up in the early years of the Irish state, with £20,000 initially put into it for unforeseen emergencies. 

It hasn’t been used in the past 22 years, and with a €1.2 million balance, officials recommended using other budget mechanisms for contingency funding.

The outstanding balance is set to be returned to the Exchequer.

Vigil

7. Locals gathered in silence in the cold on Tuesday night at Melville Terrace in Finglas in memory of Loredana Morosanu, who was found dead in the housing estate in the early hours of Monday morning.

The 48-year-old had only been resident in the area for a short period of time. It’s understood she originally came from Botosani in Romania.

A 47-year-old man appeared in court on Tuesday evening charged with her murder.

Nanotyrannus 

8. A rare dinosaur skeleton nicknamed Jodi has sold for $47.3 million (€42.4 million) at auction in New York, far exceeding its estimated price of $6-9 million.

Six bidders competed for more than 12 minutes at Sotheby’s on Tuesday before the saleroom broke into applause as the winning bid was confirmed.

The auction house said Jodi became the second most valuable dinosaur ever sold at auction, behind the Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton Gus, which fetched $50.1 million (€44.9 million) in July.

Bluey

9. Australia’s national broadcaster ABC has called on the far-right One Nation party to stop using children’s TV character “Bluey” in its political cartoons.

Bluey is the popular star of an Australian cartoon series featuring canines navigating childhood and parenting in the suburbs.

Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party has come under fire for a 2024 political cartoon depicting “Bluey” driving a car over an Australian politician.