By Sarah Gill
14th Nov 2023
14th Nov 2023
Your speedy summary of today's must-read stories.
Migrants on Greek islands
According to a report from Médecins Sans Frontières, migrants arriving on the Greek islands of Lesbos and Samos have reported suffering violence and being sent back to sea. The majority of patients interviewed on the islands made multiple crossing attempts prior to their ultimate arrival. The report details accounts of “pushbacks” from land and sea shared by migrants, including being subjected to “various and alarming forms of inhuman treatment”. Physical assaults – beating with sticks, slapping, kicking, punching and handcuffing of hands and ankles – were often accompanied by intimidation tactics.
Storm Debi clean up
The ESB has said 12,000 households and businesses remain without power this morning after damage to some areas from Storm Debi. The worst affected areas are Roscommon, Longford and North Westmeath. At the peak of the storm, the ESB reported that 100,000 premises were without power. Other counties including Westmeath, Longford, Dublin, Meath and Louth had a significant number of trees down with disruptions to road networks.
Biden says Gaza hospitals ‘must be protected’
Joe Biden said hospitals in the Gaza Strip must be protected and he hoped for “less intrusive” action by Israel as Israeli tanks advanced to the gates of the besieged enclave’s main hospital. These tanks have taken up positions outside Al Shifa Hospital, Gaza City’s main medical centre, which Israel says sits atop tunnels housing a headquarters for Hamas fighters who are using patients as shields. Hamas denies the Israeli claim. Gaza medical authorities say more than 11,000 people have been confirmed killed in Israeli bombardment, about 40% of them children.
RTÉ in crisis
Top shows like the Sunday Game and Fair City are at risk of being outsourced under cost-cutting plan as 400 jobs to go, one in five roles are targeted for voluntary redundancy, and questions arise about the ability to reduce staff without compulsory redundancies. A target of 20pc of jobs is outlined. The redundancies will cost €40m. The plan says RTÉ will “commission significantly more content from independent production”. Among the services to be closed are RTÉ Plus One, RTÉ Radio 1 Extra, RTÉ 2 XM, RTÉ Pulse and RTÉ Junior.
Garda attack
A Dublin-based garda detective has been found guilty of attacking a man in a crowded bar who told a court he was “taking selfies” and not photographing or recording the off-duty officer and his colleagues on a night out. Garda Robert Hennessy pleaded not guilty to assaulting social care worker Michael Finnegan, 40, from Crumlin, Dublin, who was repeatedly punched in the face while socialising at Cafe en Seine on Dawson Street, Dublin, on 11 December 2019. Mr Finnegan testified that Hennessy told him he was in Garda intelligence before he repeatedly punched him, leaving him bleeding, in pain, dizzy, and with a split lip. It was captured on the bar’s security camera system and the footage was played during the trial.
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