At least 10 people have died and hundreds more have been left injured following the devastation that Typhoon Jebi has reigned in Osaka. A major airport has been forced to close due to the destruction leaving hundreds of people stranded. Japan is regularly hit by powerful typhoons in the summer and autumn, many of which cause flooding and landslides in rural areas however Jebi appears to have caused damage to the region's infrastructure on an unusual scale.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) is calling for urgent talks with the Government ahead of their conference later this month. They say their sector is in crisis, and that inadequate pay rates are preventing nurses and midwives from taking up vacant posts.

The Lambert puppet theater  is set to close its Monkstown doors after over 40 years in puppetry. The theater, home to the iconic Bosco and Wanderly Wagon, cites financial pressures as reason for closing the premises, however it hopes to still continue as a touring company,

The ESRI/Pobal Childcare study on childcare costs in Ireland, published yesterday,  echoes the findings of this summer’s ICTU childcare survey as well as ICTU’s 2016 report, ‘Who Cares – Report on Childcare Costs and Practices’, and highlights the need to increase investment in early years’ services in Budget 2019 according to Congress General Secretary Patricia King. The ESRI/Pobal report found that women are being shut out of the workplace due to the high cost of childcare in Ireland, with low-income many parents spending up to one-fifth of their disposable income on childcare.

Pressure appears to be mounting for Fianna Fáil following an exchange between An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, and leader of the party Micheál Martin. An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has published a letter that he sent to the Fianna Fáil leader last week, arguing for an extension of the confidence and supply agreement and seeking immediate negotiations between the two parties. Mr Martin rebuffed Mr Varadkar’s appeal for talks on an extension of the agreement for up to two years, saying he would enter talks only towards the end of the year, as specified in the original agreement. Minister for Social Protection Regina Doherty has described Fianna Fáil’s response to the letter from Taoiseach Leo Varadkar as “childish”.

Our Zen this morning is brought to you by Michael Lyster.  After 35 years of fantastic broadcasting, the Galway man has called it a day and Sunday’s All-Ireland football final triumph for Dublin was his last broadcast on RTÉ. There was a lovely montage of Lyster’s time at the national broadcaster at the end of today’s programme and some lovely words said from the likes of Joe Brolly and Pat Spillane.