LAST UPDATE | 9 Jan

GOOD MORNING.

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

1. Autopsies

Ireland’s autopsy system is in “jeopardy” and families could face delays holding funerals if staff shortages and pressures are not addressed, a new paper warns.

The paper, published this week by the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI), says that many hospitals across the country are no longer carrying out autopsies.

2. Electricity bills

Irish electricity prices are dramatically outpacing both inflation and what customers and businesses elsewhere in the western EU are facing.

New analysis from the Nevin Economic Research Institute (NERI) shows power prices have undergone a “massive divergence” from other consumer costs over the last decade.

3. Oisín O’Reilly

A father and son found dead at two separate houses in west Dublin have been named.

The 11-year-old boy, Oisín O’Reilly, is suspected to have been killed by his father Wayne.

Tusla has confirmed that both of them were known to the agency.

4. Mercosur

The Irish government is set to vote against the Mercosur trade deal in a vote to be held today.

In a statement yesterday, Tánaiste Simon Harris said that following negotiations with the EU on the deal, Ireland does not find the additional measures “sufficient to satisfy our citizens”.

“So our position stands. We will vote against the agreement,” he said.

5. Online safety

A GAA club in Armagh has issued a warning to its members after a young person was targeted by AI-generated sexual content.

Police are investigating the incident in which someone was allegedly contacted and told to pay money or risk fake sexual images of them being circulated.

6. Crans-Montana

Switzerland is marking a national day of mourning for the dozens of people, mostly teenagers, killed in the fire at a ski resort bar during New Year’s celebrations.

Just over a week after the tragedy at the Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, which left 40 dead and 116 injured, the country will come to a standstill for a minute of silence at 2pm local time.

7. US withdrawals

US President Donald Trump released a presidential memorandum yesterday ordering the US to withdraw from 66 global organisations and treaties – roughly half affiliated with the United Nations – for being “contrary to the interests of the United States.”

The move has garnered significant criticism, with the UN’s climate chief calling it a “colossal own goal” that will only harm Trump’s country.

8. Space station

Nasa crew members at the International Space Station are set to return to Earth within days after an astronaut suffered a health issue, the first such medical evacuation from the station in Nasa’s history.

Officials did not provide details of the medical event but said the unidentified crew member is stable and that it didn’t happen as a result of any kind of injury onboard or from ISS operations.

9. Iran protests

Mass anti-government protests took place again in Iran last night, including in the capital Tehran.

The twelfth night of demonstrations appeared to be the biggest protests yet as people step up their challenge to the country’s clerical leadership and authorities cut internet access.