LAST UPDATE | 8 Jun 2023

GOOD MORNING.

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

Ukraine 

1. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed dismay at a lack of help from the UN and Red Cross as the country deals with the fallout from the destruction of the Russian-occupied Kakhovka dam.

“They are not there,” Zelensky said in English in an interview with Germany’s Bild daily, adding that he was “in shock because I think they are the forces who have to be there to save people’s lives”.

The destruction of the dam near the front line in Ukraine has flooded dozens of villages and parts of a nearby city, sparking fears of a humanitarian disaster.

Trump

2. US prosecutors have told Donald Trump’s lawyers that he is the target of a probe into his handling of classified documents after leaving the presidency, in a sign he might be indicted, US media is reporting. 

The notice came from the office of special counsel Jack Smith and gives the clearest sign yet that prosecutors are moving closer to charging the former president.

The islands 

3. Back at home, a long-awaited government strategy for the revitalisation of island communities has received a broad welcome, but some who call the islands home want action to ensure the plan doesn’t become “just a piece of paper”.

The Journal’s Eoghan Dalton was on Arranmore yesterday for the launch of the report which – amongst other measures – provides for a boost in grants available for people planning to renovate vacant and derelict houses on offshore islands.

Although representative groups have strived to be welcoming about the measures put forward, a former minister for the islands criticised the strategy as only holding “vague commitments” with one funding initiative blasted as a “minuscule return for four years work”.

Air Pollution

4. Smoke from Canadian wildfires has poured into the US east coast and mid-west, holding up flights at major airports, postponing Major League Baseball games and prompting people to fish out pandemic-era face masks.

Massive tongues of unhealthy air extended as far as North Carolina and Indiana, affecting millions of people.

Artificial Intelligence

5. The UK will host the first global summit on artificial intelligence (AI) safety, British prime minister Rishi Sunak announced ahead of talks on the issue with US president Joe Biden.

The summit, which will be held in the autumn, will consider the need for international co-ordinated action to mitigate the risks of the emerging technology.

Today, Sunak and Biden will meet to discuss the issue further.

Major League Soccer

6. Lionel Messi will sign for Major League Soccer side Inter Miami, the player said, choosing the United States as his next destination over a Barcelona reunion or blockbuster deal to play in Saudi Arabia.

Hawaii

7. Kilauea, one of the most active volcanoes in the world, began erupting again after a three-month pause, displaying spectacular fountains of mesmerising, glowing lava on Hawaii’s Big Island.

Before issuing the eruption notice, the observatory said increased earthquake activity and changes in the patterns of ground deformation at the summit started, indicating the movement of magma in the subsurface.

 All activity was within a closed area of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

Brexit

8. Ministers are moving ahead with plans to remove the right of EU citizens to vote and stand in elections in England and Northern Ireland.

Seven years after the UK voted for Brexit, the Government confirmed plans to remove the automatic right of EU citizens to vote and stand in local elections.

Crash

9. A cyclist in his late teens has died after crashing into a pillar in Tallaght yesterday evening.

The young man was taken to Tallaght University Hospital after he was seriously injured in the crash and was later pronounced deceased.