LAST UPDATE | 16 Mar 2025

GOOD MORNING.

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

Ireland’s trade missions

1. On the back of threats of tariffs on Irish whiskey, Tánaiste Simon Harris is now picking up the mantel of protecting business back home, travelling to Philadelphia and New York this week.

In our main story this morning, Political Editor Christina Finn looks at the contrasting views around recent Irish government trips to the US.

Yemen strikes

2. US air strikes on Yemen have killed at least 31 people, according to the health ministry run by Houthi rebels.

US President Donald Trump ordered the air strikes on the capital Sanaa, promising to use “overwhelming lethal force” until the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels stop their attacks on shipping along a vital maritime corridor.

Ukraine peacekeeping

3. UK prime minister Keir Starmer believes that Russian president Vladimir Putin would “sooner or later” have to “come to the table” as he opened a virtual summit to drum up support for a coalition willing to protect any eventual ceasefire in Ukraine.

Starmer held a video call with potential members of the “coalition of the willing” yesterday.

Nightclub fire

4. A fire that broke out at a nightclub in North Macedonia where more than a thousand people had gathered for a concert killed at least 51 people, according to the country’s government.

EU conservatism

5. A plan for all types of parents and families to be recognised across the entire EU needs to be put back on the political agenda after a series of delays from more conservative countries, Fine Gael MEP Maria Walsh has said.

She has warned against “bending the knee” to conservative countries over new family laws.

Dozens killed in tornadoes

6. Violent tornadoes and high winds flattened homes, wiped out schools and toppled trailers as a storm that killed at least 32 people ripped its way across the central and southern US.

Scattered twisters killed at least a dozen people in Missouri, authorities said.

Italia 90

7. President Michael D Higgins welcomed members of the football squad that famously represented Ireland at the 1990 World Cup in Italy to Áras an Uachtaráin, which took place 35 years ago yesterday.

Dancing with the Stars

8. With the finale set for tonight, Carl Kinsella goes behind the scenes on the Dancing with the Stars set.

Six Nations

9. Ireland closed out their Six Nations campaign with a struggling win against Italy yesterday, with France claiming the crown as tournament winners.

Our friends at The42 have looked at the Irish players’ performances here.