By Sarah Finnan
15th Aug 2023
15th Aug 2023
Your speedy summary of today's must-read stories.
Schools under ‘enormous strain’ over unfilled teaching posts – ASTI
Schools are under “enormous strain” with hundreds of teaching posts still unfilled ahead of the new term, the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland has warned. In a statement, ASTI said there are 416 post-primary teaching vacancies advertised at present on recruitment website educationposts.ie.
RTÉ
Trump indicted for racketeering in Georgia over 2020 election interference
Donald Trump has been indicted on charges of racketeering and a string of election crimes after a sprawling, two-year probe into his efforts to overturn his 2020 defeat to Joe Biden in the US state of Georgia. The case – relying on laws typically used to bring down mobsters – is the fourth targeting the 77-year-old Republican this year and could lead to a watershed moment, the first televised trial of a former president in US history.
The Journal
Over 700 hospital procedures a day cancelled in first six months of 2023
Over 700 hospital procedures a day were cancelled or postponed in the first half of this year. In the first six months of 2023, 127,213 procedures were moved.
The Irish Examiner
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The tattoo that saw trainee garda sent home from Templemore
A trainee garda who was sent home from Templemore Garda College after he was told the tattoo on his hand did not comply with the force’s dress and uniform code said he has been “treated very unfairly”. The 32-year-old Munster-based father of one is now back applying for other jobs after he, along with two female garda cadets, were told their positions were being deferred “pending their compliance with the uniform and dress code within An Garda Síochána”. In an interview with the Irish Independent, the former recruit who was forced to leave the Garda College after just one week said: “I feel very deflated and very disappointed about the whole situation.”
Independent.ie
Hawaii’s wildfires disaster is a ‘continuation of long standing frustration and pain’
For the firefighters on Maui, it’s been a grim and gruelling week and they are still tackling new outbreaks of fire, sparked from smouldering wreckage. I find several of them chatting at the side of the road. They say they’re not permitted to speak on camera but tell me that on Tuesday afternoon when fires ripped through this island, when they were trying to save lives, their hydrants first ran out of pressure, then dried up entirely. “It was a serious, serious problem,” one says. As they left the scene of the blazes in search of more water, local people were forced to fight their own fires.
Sky News
Mount Etna eruption leads to flight cancellations at Sicily’s Catania airport
Flights serving the eastern Sicilian city of Catania were halted after an eruption from nearby Mount Etna, local authorities said, bringing fresh travel troubles to the crisis-plagued Italian airport. The 3,330-metre-high volcano burst into action overnight on Sunday, firing lava and ash high over the Mediterranean island. The lava flow subsided before dawn, but ash was still coming from one of the craters.
The Guardian
Today’s forecast
Today will bring a mix of cloud and sunny spells with just well-scattered showers. Highest temperatures of 17 to 21 degrees with light west to northwest breezes. Tonight will be dry apart from a few isolated showers. Some patches of mist and fog will form overnight in calm conditions. Lowest temperatures of 8 to 12 degrees.
Met Éireann