European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has written to staff saying she is "ready to engage, and to listen to your concerns" over the conflict in the Middle East, following a letter signed by over 800 Commission officials last week protesting against her allegedly unequivocal support for Israel.

The Secretary General at the Department of Health has said there is no way of treating the ever-growing number of sick patients in acute hospitals under the current system.

Meanwhile, new figures for hospital overcrowding show 130 patients without a bed in University Hospital Limerick — a record figure for the regularly under-siege hospital.

The Indo reports that Ryanair has reached almost two million signatures on a petition to call on the European Commission to keep overflights from strike action by air traffic controllers. 

The Times reports that a woman has been fired from the Irish office of an Israeli tech company over social media posts where she described Israel as a “terrorist state” in recent days. Read more on that here. 

The Echo has this run down from last Friday’s Menopause Summit, where our own Ashley Connolly spoke on a panel.

And finally, the UCD Geary Institute is holding a seminar this Thursday on the Global Tax Expenditures Database (GTED) and the newly launched Global Tax Expenditure Transparency Index (GTETI). Tickets are free and available here. 

Zen 

Leaning in to the season my favourite Halloween song brings you zen. 

Have a good day folks.