October 18: Today’s top stories in 60 seconds

Junior Cert results confirmed for 23 November
The State Examinations Commission will issue the 2022 Junior Cert results on Wednesday 23 November. This year’s results will be available in schools on 23 November and candidates can also access their results online from 4pm on that date. The delay is being blamed, in part, on a shortage of examiners and the prioritisation given to marking the Leaving Certificate.
RTÉ

Liz Truss apologises for mistakes and vows to lead Tories into next election
British prime minister Liz Truss is battling to save her job after new chancellor of the exchequer Jeremy Hunt ditched the bulk of her economic strategy. In an interview broadcast on BBC on Monday night, Ms Truss apologised for “mistakes”, but said she would not step down. “I do want to accept responsibility and say sorry for the mistakes that have been made,” Ms Truss told the BBC. “I wanted to act but to help people with their energy bills to deal with the issue of high taxes, but we went too far and too fast.”
The Irish Times

Kevin Spacey denies sex abuse claim during testimony at his trial
Actor Kevin Spacey has taken the stand at his civil trial in New York to deny the claim that he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old at a house party in 1986. “They are not true,” he said of the allegations by Anthony Rapp, who is seeking $40m (£36m) in damages. Before taking the stand on Monday, Mr Spacey won a victory when a judge dropped one of the claims brought by Mr Rapp. Mr Spacey is separately facing five charges in the UK of sexual assault.
BBC

Four hospices to be brought under financial control of State
The Cabinet will today approve plans to place four voluntary hospices formally under the financial control of the State, it can be revealed. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly is expected to bring a memo that will look to move four voluntary hospices on to a more certain financial footing. This is because it is now accepted that the existing funding model and continued reliance on fundraised income does not provide financial sustainability. The four hospices — Milford Care Centre (Limerick), Galway Hospice, Marymount Care Centre (Cork), and St Francis Hospice (Dublin) — all provide palliative care beds and services for those who are terminally ill. Mr Donnelly is now formally seeking approval to redesignate the four hospices from Section 39 entities (where the State partially funds the body) to Section 38 organisations where the level of State intervention is higher.
The Irish Examiner

Australia reverses recognition of Jerusalem as Israeli capital
Australia has said it will no longer recognise West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a policy reversal that prompted a curt rebuke from the Jewish state. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the city’s status should be decided through Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, unwinding a contentious declaration by the previous conservative government. In 2018, Australia’s then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison followed US president Donald Trump’s lead and unilaterally recognised West Jerusalem as the Israeli capital. The move caused a domestic backlash in Australia and friction with neighbouring Indonesia – the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation – temporarily derailing a bilateral free trade deal. Jerusalem is claimed by both Israelis and Palestinians, and most foreign governments avoid formally declaring it the capital of either state.
The Journal

French strike turns up heat on Macron over corporate profits
French rail, energy and other key workers are striking on Tuesday to demand a bigger share of corporate profits, raising pressure on President Emmanuel Macron to take further steps to ease the impact of surging inflation. Commuters face travel disruption on regional trains and buses, while some Eurostar services between Paris and London have been canceLled. The CGT union has also asked port workers to hold stoppages for several hours. The general walkout comes on the back of weeks-long blockades at refineries and fuel depots that have led to shortages at nearly one-third of the country’s filling stations and follows marches on Sunday to protest price hikes.
Independent.ie

Today’s forecast
A largely dry and sunny day today for much of the country. It will be cloudier in the southwest with occasional rain or drizzle there, turning more persistent later this afternoon. Becoming breezy later with moderate to fresh east to southeast winds increasing fresh to strong. Highest temperatures of 12°C to 16°C. Becoming wet tonight as rain in the southwest spreads northeastwards over the country. The rain will be heavy, possibly leading to localised flooding. Some parts of Ulster will stay dry until morning. Breezy also with fresh easterly winds. Lowest temperatures of 7°C to 11°C generally, but milder in the south and southwest.
Met Éireann