LAST UPDATE | 13 May 2022
GOOD MORNING.
Here’s all the news that you need to know as you start your day.
1. Student accommodation for Ukrainian refugees is set to come on stream this month, but largely on a temporary basis during the summer months.
As of this week, approximately 4,500 beds have been secured from both third-level institutions and private student accommodation providers, Rónán Duffy writes in today’s lead story.
The Department of Higher Education told The Journal that about 2,000 of those beds are coming directly from Irish universities but that the final allocation of beds “is a matter for each institution”.
2. Russia is facing mounting accusations of war crimes in Ukraine including forcing thousands of people into interrogation camps, as the number of refugees reported to have fled the conflict has surpassed six million.
The Russian invasion has also led to a seismic policy change by Finland, whose leaders said yesterday the previously neutral nation must apply to join Nato “without delay” — triggering a blunt warning of retaliation from the Kremlin.
Throughout the 11-week conflict, Russian forces have been accused of committing atrocities — including the killing of unarmed civilians, torture and rape.
3. The new Northern Ireland Assembly will meet later today with the DUP set to block the election of a Speaker.
Ninety MLAs will gather in the chamber after last week’s election saw Sinn Féin emerge as the largest party for the first time.
The DUP had previously indicated that it will not nominate for the position of Deputy First Minister, which will prevent the forming of a new Executive, as part of its protest against the Northern Ireland Protocol.
4. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reported that the quality of Ireland’s bathing water continued to improve last year, with 97% of sites meeting or exceeding the minimum standard.
Bathing areas are classified in one of four categories: ‘excellent’, ‘good’, ‘sufficient’ or ‘poor’.
Of the 148 sites across the country, 115 had excellent water quality and the number of beaches with poor water quality reduced to two, compared with four the previous year.
5. Coleen Rooney is expected to start her evidence in the high-profile libel claim brought by fellow footballer’s wife Rebekah Vardy at the High Court in London.
On the fourth day of the trial today, Vardy is due to finish her evidence, with Rooney then taking her place in the witness box in Court 13 of the Royal Courts of Justice.
Vardy has been giving evidence for around 10 hours, at times becoming emotional on Wednesday and Thursday.
6. Brooke Scullion is out of the running for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest final after failing to qualify from the second semi-final.
The Derry singer failed to finish in the top 10 in last night’s heat in Turin after the jury and viewer votes were tallied.
Ireland’s entry had been all-but-written-off by the bookies this year, but it had been hoped the 23-year-old’s confident performance – alongside some pyrotechnic staging – might be enough to seal a place in Saturday’s decider.
7. Six people have died and 350,000 have been treated for a fever that has spread “explosively” across North Korea one day after the country acknowledged its first Covid-19 outbreak.
North Korea likely does not have enough testing supplies, and state media reported the cause of the fevers was unclear.
Experts have warned a Covid outbreak could be devastating in a country with a broken health care system and an unvaccinated, malnourished population.
8. Scientists have for the first time grown plants in lunar soil brought back by astronauts in the Apollo programme.
The ground-breaking experiment, detailed in the journal Communications Biology on Thursday, has given researchers hope that it may be possible to one day grow plants directly on the moon.
That would save future space missions much hassle and expense, facilitating longer and farther trips.
9. And finally, the weather.
It will be a rather cloudy morning in many areas with a few showers in the northwest, according to Met Éireann.
It will become a little brighter in the east of the country and any lingering showers will die out in the afternoon. Sunny spells will develop during the day with highest temperatures of 16 to 19 degrees Celsius.
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