LAST UPDATE | 13 Dec 2023

GOOD MORNING.

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

Cop deal

1. Almost 200 countries at COP28 have agreed for the world to transition away from fossil fuels.

This was in a last-ditch bid to break a deadlock between nations seeking a phase-out from oil, gas and coal and Saudi-led crude producers.

Following all-night negotiations, the text proposed by the Emirati presidency of the COP28 summit in Dubai marks the first time that all fossil fuels are addressed in the 28-year history of international climate conferences.  

‘Explosion’ in shoplifting

2. Retailers will tell politicians today that over the last two years there has been an “explosion” of shoplifting, with the levels of crime, violence and anti-social behaviour towards staff at an all-time high. 

A representative of Musgraves, the owner of retail brands SuperValu, Centra and Daybreak, is set to tell the Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment that there is an “alarming rise” in underage youths who “get a kick out of intimidating staff”.

One representative is also expected to ask the committee to “seek explanations” from the gardaí in relation to why Anti-Social Behavior Orders (ASBO’s) are not commonplace as a deterrent in Ireland. 

Biden says Israel is ‘losing support’

3. US president Joe Biden has warned that Israel is losing international support because of its “indiscriminate bombing” of Gaza.

The president spoke out with unusually strong language while meeting with Jewish donors during a fundraiser yesterday.

“Israel’s security can rest on the United States, but right now it has more than the United States. It has the European Union, it has Europe, it has most of the world supporting them.

“They’re starting to lose that support by indiscriminate bombing that takes place.”

UN demands ceasefire

4. Just hours after Biden’s comments, the United Nations demanded a humanitarian ceasefire in Israel’s war against Hamas in the region.

The resolution, which is non-binding, saw 153 vote in favor of the resolution, exceeding the 140 or so countries that have routinely backed resolutions condemning Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

Ten countries, including the United States and Israel, voted against, while 23 abstained.

Landlord study

5. A majority of small landlords have either a neutral or negative attitude towards Rent Pressure Zones.

Rent Pressure Zones (RPZ) are in parts of the country where rents are highest and rising, and where households have the greatest difficulty finding affordable accommodation, and where rents cannot be increased by more than 2% per year.

The finding is in the 2023 Rental Sector Report by the Residential Tenancies Board, which began in April 2022 and was completed in July 2023.

The RTB described the report as “one of the largest and most extensive pieces of research ever undertaken on the private rental sector in Ireland”. 

Cardiac report

6. A long awaited report into Ireland’s cardiac care system has not been published, with the review still sitting on Health Minister Stephen Donnelly’s desk, the Oireachtas Health Committee will be told today.

Pending the reviews’ implementation, cardiac care will remain “in a state of limbo”, committee members will hear.

The report was commissioned six years ago, following campaigns in a number of regions such as the south-east and north-west seeking greater cardiac services to prevent people having to travel for critical surgery.  

Martin to meet Cameron

7. Tánaiste and Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin is to travel to London today to meet with the new UK Foreign Secretary, David Cameron.

The former UK prime minister was appointed foreign secretary last month. 

In what will be the first meeting between the two men in their roles as foreign ministers, they are expected to discuss the efforts to restore the power-sharing institutions in Northern Ireland, and to share perspectives on wider foreign policy issues including the crisis in the Middle East and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Car insurance

8. The average car insurance premium fell by 7% last year, according to the Central Bank.

On a quarterly basis, the average earned premium has decreased by 22% since its highest point in Q4 2017.

The reductions have been welcomed by the Alliance for Insurance Reform which said it was “only right that at least some of the savings were passed on” to policy holders. 

Netflix releases viewing data

9. Netflix has for the first time published detailed viewing figures about thousands of its shows and movies, offering an unprecedented glimpse into the world-leading streaming platform’s top hits and highest-profile flops.

The report, which Netflix says will be repeated every six months, is a major departure for a company that has historically guarded its data closely.

It came under renewed pressure to be more transparent during strikes this year by Hollywood writers’ and actors’ unions.