LAST UPDATE | 11 Oct 2023

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

Israel-Hamas war

1. At least 30 people have been killed and hundreds wounded as Israel pounded the Gaza Strip with hundreds of air strikes overnight, a Hamas government official said today.

Dozens of residential buildings, factories, mosques and shops were hit, the head of the government’s media office, Salama Marouf, told AFP.

The Israeli military confirmed it had hit several Hamas targets during the night.

Budget 2024

2. Budget Day is done and dusted for another year. 

The changes announced yesterday included tweaks to the USC and tax bands, tax reliefs for landlords, social welfare hikes and an increase in the minimum wage.

Here are the new measures that have already kicked in or been extended – and what to expect in the months to come. 

Budget spending

3. Health was not a priority for this year’s budget, a senior Government source has told The Journal after a lack of big spending announcements in yesterday’s Budget. 

Given such an acknowledgment, it is no surprise that the opposition and those working in the health sector reached the same conclusion. 

The final headline figure for health is €22.5 billion next year, with an increase of €800 million.

But the lack of big announcements meant the two money ministers faced questions about the health budget at various press conferences yesterday.

Weather warning

4. Rain and thunderstorm warnings have been issued by Met Éireann.

Counties Cork, Kerry, Waterford, and Wexford are currently under status yellow warnings for rain.

In Cork and Kerry, the alert expires at noon, while the warning is in place until 3pm in Waterford and Wexford.

Met Éireann warns that the rain will be heavy and thundery at times, which could lead to localised flooding and difficult travelling conditions.

Human Rights Council

5. Russia has been defeated in its bid to regain a seat in the UN’s human rights body by a significant majority after it was suspended last year following its invasion of Ukraine.

Russia was competing against Albania and Bulgaria for two seats on the Geneva-based Human Rights Council representing the East European regional group.

In a secret ballot vote, Bulgaria got 160 votes, Albania got 123 votes and Russia just 83 votes.

Airport fire

6. Luton Airport has been closed after a fire ripped through a multi-storey car park, causing it to collapse.

Firefighters are tackling the blaze which began yesterday evening and appears to have destroyed hundreds of cars.

Flights have been cancelled since the fire broke out at around 9pm and are expected to resume at around noon today, the airport said.

Titan submersible

7. The US Coastguard recovered remaining debris, including presumed human remains, from a submersible that imploded on its way to explore the wreck of the Titanic, killing all five on board.

Officials said the salvage mission conducted under an agreement with the US navy was a follow-up to initial recovery operations on the ocean floor roughly 1,600 feet (488 meters) away from the Titanic.

US Congress

8. A scandal-plagued Republican congressman whose extensive lies have made headlines since his election last year was hit with additional charges by federal prosecutors yesterday.

George Santos, 35, pleaded not guilty in May to seven counts of wire fraud, three of money laundering, one of theft of public funds and two of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives.

Outer Space

9. Nasa is set to reveal the first images of the largest asteroid sample ever collected in space, something scientists hope will yield clues about the earliest days of our solar system and perhaps the origins of life itself.

The OSIRIS-REx mission collected rock and dust from the asteroid Bennu in 2020.

A capsule containing the precious cargo successfully returned to Earth a little over two weeks ago, landing in the desert in the US state of Utah.

It is now being painstakingly analyzed in a specialized clean room at Nasa’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.