Monday’s Top Stories: Israel says two hostages rescued as air strikes reported in Rafah; world marathon record holder dies in accident

Israel frees two hostages in Rafah as air strikes kill 37 in southern Gaza city

Israel carried out a special forces operation that freed two Israeli hostages in Rafah amid air strikes early on Monday that local health officials said killed 37 people in the southern Gaza city.

A joint operation by the Israel Defence Forces, Israel’s domestic Shin Bet security service and the Special Police Unit in Rafah freed Fernando Simon Marman (60) and Louis Hare (70), the Israeli military said.

The two men were kidnapped by Hamas from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak on October 7th, the military said.

Top News Stories

• Uisce Éireann ‘taking advice’ on warnings to over 220,000 people about presence of toxic chemicals: Uisce Éireann has said it is taking advice on whether it needs to warn more than 220,000 consumers that their drinking water contains a level of toxic chemicals called trihalomethanes in excess of that permitted under European Union limits.
• Action considered over 51-week student housing leases: Ministers have instructed their officials to “engage” with student housing operators after two of the big players in the sector said they will offer students only 51-week tenancies for the 2024/25 academic year.
• Gardaí await medical clearance to interview suspect for Matthew Healy (6) death: Gardaí investigating the death of six-year-old Matthew Healy near Dunmore East in Co Waterford last week are hoping to interview a suspect as early as today.
• More gardaí, youth offending crackdown and safe taxi hubs proposed after Dublin riots: An increased Garda presence in Dublin, a crackdown on youth offenders, more 24-hour public transport and safe taxi hubs are among proposals made to Government by a business representative group in the wake of a riot that occurred last November.
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News from around the World

• World marathon record holder Kelvin Kiptum dies in accident in Kenya: Marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum and his coach have died in an accident in Kenya, it has been announced. Kenyan member of parliament Gideon Kimaiyo confirmed the pair’s death in a statement on X.

The Big Read

• St Valentine’s Day: Counting the cost of love: How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. Well, maybe let me count the total outlay first.

The best from Opinion

• Una Mullally: The ghost office is here. By 2025, 34 soccer pitches’ worth of space will lie empty in Dublin
• Roderic O’Gorman: We have the chance to consign a narrow view of families and women to the past
• Unthinkable: Love is . . . ‘the extremely difficult realisation that something other than oneself is real’

Today's Business

• Lessons from an inventor who snubbed conventional wisdom of capitalism: Imagine discovering a cheap, simple gadget that you use at least once a day because it does a much better job of making something you crave than all the fiddly, expensive devices you tried before.

Top Sports news

• Kansas City Chiefs win back-to-back Super Bowls with touchdown in overtime: The Kansas City Chiefs have become back-to-back Super Bowl winners for the first time in 19 years with a 25-22 overtime win over the San Francisco 49ers in Las Vegas.
• Five things we learned from the second round of Six Nations matches: Ireland earned another 13 lineouts against Italy, just as they did last week against France. And Ireland won another 13 lineouts just as they did last week.

Picture of the Day

Culture Highlights

• Dancing with the Stars: Rosanna Davison is high on emotion as Davy Russell tops the public vote: Tears are shed and heartstrings tugged remorselessly as Dancing With The Stars (RTÉ One, 6.30pm) arrives at the annual weepathon that is Dedicated Dance Week. True to the evening’s spirit of kindness and generosity, eliminations have been put on hold, with the winner on the night gaining immunity in the next episode.

Video & Podcast Highlights

• In the News: What’s going on at Boeing - and should passengers be worried?

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