GOOD MORNING.

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

International students

1. In our Morning Lead, Sophie Finn writes on concerns among student union officers at Irish universities regarding high unemployment rates among international students in Ireland.

Public sector pay talks

2. Formal negotiations aimed at creating a new pay deal for public sector workers are set to begin on Monday at the Workplace Relations Commission. 

Waterford arson attack

3. Two people appeared before court yesterday evening in connection with an investigation into a house fire in Waterford that claimed the lives of four members of the same family.

France unrest

4. France has woken up to devastated streets this morning after clashes between police and protesters, mass looting and fires erupted nationwide as marches against rising costs of living degenerated into “extreme” violence.

Trump lifts sanctions

5. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that President Donald Trump’s waiver of sweeping sanctions and tariffs on Russia would be a 60-day pause to “sort of analyse” their impact on the global economy.

Canada fire

6. Several people have died following a major fire at a military base in western Canada, the country’s defence minister has confirmed.

West Bank

7. In her latest piece from the West Bank, Eimer McAuley reports from Nabi Samwil, a Palestinian village where checkpoints and movement restrictions have left residents cut off from nearby Jerusalem and much of the surrounding West Bank.

Compulsory Purchase Order

8. Tipperary County Council’s attempt to compulsorily purchase 24 vacant houses in an unfinished estate in Emly has stalled after its application was deemed invalid.

Higher rents

9. Thousands of Dublin renters could face higher rents as Ireland’s biggest private landlord, Ires REIT, is set to be bought by US investment firm Barings for €726 million.

Paul O’Donoghue examines how the deal could test the government’s new rental rules and whether higher profits will lead to more housing.