LAST UPDATE | 23 Oct
GOOD MORNING.
Here’s all the news you need to know as you start the day.
1. In our main story this morning, Valerie Flynn reports that the Government is set to disband the Road Safety Authority (RSA) in one of its last major decisions before the upcoming election.
According to James Lawless, the Minister of State with responsibility for road safety, the decision will be “binding” and although an incoming government would have the power to reverse it, this is “unlikely”.
2. The Israeli army has said it killed the cleric tipped to succeed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an air strike on Beirut three weeks ago.
Hezbollah has not issued a statement about the Israeli claims to have killed Hashem Safieddine.
3. A warning has been issued about a new text and phone scam that has seen victims convinced that their bank account has been hacked and tricking them into transferring their money to a “safe account” to protect it.
The scam is a new “direct debit” scam in which victims receive a text message impersonating their bank, alerting them to a “new” direct debit.
4. Kamala Harris has said that the United States is “absolutely” ready to elect its first woman president but downplayed her historic bid, saying she simply wants to turn the page for a nation “exhausted” by Donald Trump.
“I think part of what is important in this election is really not only turning the page but closing the page and the chapter on an era that suggests that Americans are divided,” the US Vice President told NBC News.
5. A repeat sex offender has appealed his conviction for raping a vulnerable 17-year-old girl at a house party on New Year’s Eve, arguing that a number of factors, including shorter lunch breaks, pressurised the jury and left them in “hurry up mode”.
The now 26-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found guilty following a trial earlier this year of one count of rape and one count of sexual assault on 31 December 2018.
6. Gardaí are searching the former family home of Kyran Durnin as part of the investigation into the disappearance of the young boy.
Kyran, who would now be eight years old, was initially reported missing in August of this year.
7. A €35 billion loan for Ukraine has been approved by MEPs in Strasbourg, France which will be repaid using the revenue collected from frozen Russian assets.
A total of 518 MEPs voted to approve the funding which makes up the majority of a €45 billion financial aid package that was approved by countries in the G7 last June.
8. The Mental Health Bill, which is set to overhaul Ireland’s mental health laws, is not expected to be passed before an election, The Journal understands.
The long-awaited legislation, which has suffered protracted delays for years, would strengthen regulation around people consenting to the type of treatment they receive.
9. American rap artist ASAP Rocky is set to go to trial in Los Angeles early next year on charges that he fired a gun at a former friend and collaborator on the streets near a Hollywood hotel in 2021.
The trial of the 36-year-old Grammy nominee and celebrity co-chairman of the next Met Gala is set to begin with jury selection on 21 January.
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