LAST UPDATE | 21 Apr 2023

GOOD MORNING.

Here’s all the news that you need to know as you start your day.

Abortion laws

1. In our main story this morning, Political Correspondent Christina Finn reports that the review of the State’s abortion laws recommends that the three-day waiting period should be shortened. 

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly will bring a memo to Cabinet on Tuesday on the report, which the government was legally obliged to have carried out. 

The review found a lack of sufficient clarity as to how certain sections of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 apply, requesting fresh ministerial guidelines on issues around fatal foetal abnormalities in particular.

Ulster Bank 

2. Ulster Bank’s remaining branches will close permanently today.

25 branches had already closed but the remaining 63 will shut their doors today.

Garda arrest

3. A serving garda has been arrested at Dublin Airport for alleged possession of suspected cocaine.

The woman, aged in her 30s, was apprehended yesterday afternoon while at the airport and taken to Ballymun Garda Station, where she was later released without charge.

Murder

4. A 40-year-old man has been remanded in custody after gardaí charged him with the murder of a man in a hostel in Dublin in the early hours of Wednesday.

Gardaí responded to a report of a man with serious injuries following an alleged assault at the premises on Harrington Street in south inner city Dublin at 4.45 am.

Jamie Kavanagh, 24, was taken to St James’s Hospital and later died from his injuries.

Biden campaign

5. US President Joe Biden could announce his long-expected bid for a second term as early as next week, US media reports have said.

According to reports in outlets including The Washington Post and CNN, citing unnamed sources, Biden is set to launch his re-election campaign with a video release.

Alec Baldwin

6. The case against Alec Baldwin over the shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins has been dismissed, according to the actor’s lawyers.

Baldwin had faced two counts of involuntary manslaughter over the shooting on the set of the Rust movie in October 2021.

Toronto heist

7. Canadian police are investigating a heist of more than $20 million (€13.5 million) in gold and other “high-value” goods being moved through the Toronto airport.

The gold and valuables arrived on Monday evening in a container that was offloaded from a plane and securely stored in a cargo holding facility, Peel Regional Police Inspector Stephen Duivesteyn told a news conference.

It was reported missing shortly after.

Twitter

8. Twitter has dropped “state-affiliated” and “government-funded” labels from media accounts, according to a review by AFP of many high-profile pages on the platform.

Russia

9. Russia has said one of its fighter jets lost ammunition over Belgorod near the Ukrainian border yesterday, after local authorities reported a blast that injured two people and left a huge crater in the city.

Russian jets have regularly flown sorties over Belgorod since the launch of Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine in February 2022.