LAST UPDATE | 11 May 2023

GOOD MORNING.

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

Defence Forces

1. So-called ‘ship stoppers’, a requirement to double-job to fill the gaps across the country, and even sending aircraft abroad for maintenance – these are some of the realities for military personnel dealing with the Defence Forces recruitment crisis. 

 There are also safety worries around firearm maintenance, the risk of burnout and financial burdens due to inadequate pay. 

At the PDFORRA conference in Trim, Co Meath, much of the discussions are big picture problems, but there is also insight into the individual impact of a military struggling to deal with years of neglect.

Offshore wind 

2. The results of the country’s first auction for the production of electricity from offshore wind projects will be revealed later today.

As part of the Government’s climate targets, 70% of electricity needs to be generated from renewable sources by 2030.

EirGrid, which operates the national grid, will announce how much electricity Ireland’s offshore wind projects will be expected to produce and what range of prices are on offer.

 US border rule changes 

3. Pandemic era rules that have prevented migrants from claiming asylum at the United States’ southern border will expire at midnight tonight, with tens of thousands of people expected to make their case over the coming weeks. 

Troops and National Guardsmen have been sent to help border control officers handle an expected surge of mainly poor people seeking refuge in the world’s wealthiest country. 

Rental market 

4. A quarter of older renters expect to remain in the private rental sector for life as they felt no other accommodation options were available to them, a joint report from ALONE and threshold found.

Gaza airstrikes 

5. Ten civilians and a leading Islamic Jihad commander are among 23 people killed by a series of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.

The pre-dawn strikes – which follow rockets fired from Gaza the previous day – also killed two other senior militants.

Kenya

6. A Kenyan court has today ordered a doomsday cult leader accused over the deaths of dozens of people to be held behind bars for three more weeks.

Paul Nthenge Mackenzie faces terrorism charges over what has been dubbed the “Shakahola Forest Massacre” after the grisly discovery last month of mass graves near the Indian Ocean town of Malindi.

Weather 

7. There is a possibility of thunderstorms today in the east and southeast, as showers are expected to become widespread this morning and to remain throughout the day. 

Rain will be heaviest across the eastern half of the country with possible spot flooding. 

Food prices

8. Tesco Ireland announced that it would be cutting the price of its own-brand bread by 10c, following a meeting between supermarket representatives and the Government yesterday.

This means a 800g sliced pan will now cost 89c compared to 99c.

Aldi is also reducing the retail prices of its own brand bread products with effect from tomorrow.

Trump mocks victim

9. Donald Trump has made a rare live appearance on longtime adversary CNN where he repeated his false claims about the 2020 election and hurled insults at a former magazine columnist he was found liable of sexually abusing and defaming.

If reelected, he also committed to pardoning a “large portion” of the hundreds of Trump supporters who have been jailed for their roles in the January 6, 2021 storming of the US Capitol.