GOOD MORNING.
Here’s all the news that you need to know as you start your day.
Humanitarian corridors to open
1. Russia said it will open five separate humanitarian corridors to allow the evacuation of civilians from several Ukrainian cities experiencing heavy fighting.
Jet rejection
2. The Pentagon rejected Poland’s offer to give the United States its MiG-29 fighter jets for use by Ukraine in a rare public display of disharmony by Nato allies.
Food security
3. A national committee is to be set up to examine the impact of the invasion of Ukraine on Irish food security.
Refugee Crisis
4. Kieran McConville of the Concern charity’s emergency team has visited five major border crossings in Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary in the past week, speaking to dozens of people as they make the bewildering transition to their new status as refugees.
Read his first-hand account of what he has seen so far in what is the biggest European crisis since World War II.
College Places
5. There were over 78,000 applications received by the Central Applications Office (CAO) for third-level courses by the 1 March closing date.
This is a decrease of 1,164 applicants compared to 2021.
Courses to do with the environment saw a significant jump in 2022, with a 24% increase compared to 2021, with 532 people having environment courses as their first preference and 4,510 mentions in total.
Cost Of Living
6. Plans to reduce the cost of public transport are set to begin rolling out early next month, with Taxsaver tickets set to be reduced by an average of 20% first.
Burnout
7. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has called on the government to improve the working conditions of nurses and midwives across the healthcare service, due to many facing burnout and exhaustion.
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Armed Robbery
A taxi driver was held up at gunpoint in Dublin overnight. The incident happened on Mill Street in Dublin 8. A man in his 20s was arrested.
Weather
9. Wet and windy this morning with heavy rain spreading eastwards across the country, leading to localised flooding in strong and gusty southerly winds.
The rain will be heaviest over the southern half of the country where it will fall as sleet at times, with snow possible on high ground.
Cool with afternoon highs of 5 to 9 degrees.
Full forecast here.
