LAST UPDATE | 15 Aug 2025

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

Alaska talks

1. US President Donald Trump is set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska today.

It’s the first time Putin has set foot on American soil since 2015.

The hastily arranged summit is billed as a step toward ending the war in Ukraine, but with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy left out of the talks, analysts are questioning whether it will achieve anything at all.

President candidates

2. Following Mairead McGuinness’ shock departure from the presidential race yesterday, citing medical advice, Fine Gael will now reopen the process for presidential nominations.

The former Fine Gael MEP made the announcement yesterday evening that she would no longer be contesting the election for the Áras following a stay in hospital last week.

McGuinness said it was an “extremely difficult” call but that it’s the “right decision” for her and her family.

Endangered seals

3. Hunting, pollution and tourism in the EU are threatening some seal species into extinction.

A cross-border investigation by The Journal Investigates shows escalating threats to seals on EU coastlines, with risks of some species becoming completely extinct.

Pollution

4. Talks aimed at striking a landmark treaty on tackling the scourge of plastic pollution have ended with no consensus on a last-ditch proposal aimed at breaking the deadlock.

Negotiators from 185 countries went through the night in a bid to try and find common ground between nations wanting bold action such as curbing plastic production, and oil-producing states that wanted any treaty to focus more narrowly on waste management.

But the talks at the United Nations in Geneva ended without a deal, despite running past yesterday’s deadline.

Train etiquette

5. Irish Rail has released new etiquette guidelines for people using their trains to try to make journeys “as enjoyable as possible” for everyone on-board.

It is cracking down on several issues, including listening to music or watching videos out loud, vaping on the train and putting feet or bags on empty seats.

Speaking to The Journal, Irish Rail Communications Manager Barry Kenny said train inspectors “have and will” issue penalties of €100 if passengers fail to follow these guidelines.

ICE raid

6. A man who was believed to have been running from a raid by US immigration agents died yesterday after being hit by a car on a freeway, police said.

City managers in Monrovia, near Los Angeles, said police had been called after there were reports of activity by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at a Home Depot.

During the raid, one man ran from the parking lot of the hardware store – a place where day labourers commonly gather looking for casual work – and onto a busy freeway during rush hour, Monrovia City Manager Dylan Feik told media.

Mediterranean Sea

7. Increasingly warm waters in the Mediterranean are encouraging hundreds of species native to the Red Sea to move through the Suez Canal and into the eastern Med, disrupting ecosystems, scientists say.

The threat is facing the entire Mediterranean, one of the fastest-warming seas, which this year saw its hottest June and July on record, figures from the Mercator Ocean International research centre show.

Loans

8. Car loans in Ireland hit a new peak in the first three months of this year, new figures show, reaching their highest level since specific record-keeping and analysis of the data began five years ago.

The Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) has released data showing that from January to March, 19,552 car loans were taken out, collectively valued at a total of €259m.

The average car or auto finance loan was €13,267, an increase of €366 compared with last year.

Hot weather

9. Have you been having weird dreams? It could be due to the heat.

Your body may be interpreting Ireland’s current warm spell as an ‘unseen threat’, causing vivid dreams and a bad night’s sleep.