LAST UPDATE | 23 Nov 2021

GOOD MORNING.

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

Bulgaria

1. Overnight in Bulgaria, at least 45 people have died after a bus caught fire south of the Bulgarian capital early this morning.

A cause has yet to be determined but officials believe a fire broke out on board and the bus crashed into guardrails.

Air Quality

2. Air pollution caused by traffic fell last year as fewer vehicles travelled on Ireland’s roads during Covid-19 restrictions.

However, significant pollutants were present at levels above the World Health Organization’s Air Quality Guidelines – though they stayed within EU legal limits.

Disability rights

3. Personal transport supports for disabled people are inadequate, unfair and inequitable, Ombudsman Peter Tyndall has said.

In a new report, the Ombudsman says that both he and his predecessors received many complaints about three schemes – the Motorised Transport Grant, the Mobility Allowance, and the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers scheme.

Memorial 

4. Over to the UK now and there will be a memorial service held for the late Conservative MP David Amess who was killed at a constituency clinic earlier this year.

A message from the Pope will be read as the requiem mass is held in London today following a private funeral held in Southend a day earlier.

Cross-border trade

5. Brexit is fuelling a boom in cross-border trade. But why? And what does it mean for the island? Our reporter Ian Curran has more here.

UN complaint

6. Relatives of Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, who goes on trial in the US next week, have complained to the UN that her detention is illegal, lawyers have said.

The 59-year-old British socialite could spend the rest of her life in jail if convicted in New York of trafficking underage girls for US financier Epstein, who killed himself in prison more than two years ago.

Wisconsin

7. Staying with US news, it has emerged that the driver of the car that plowed into a Christmas parade in the Midwestern US city of Waukesha, killing five and injuring 48, was apparently fleeing a domestic dispute at the time — and will face charges of intentional homicide.

Garda welfare

8. The Minister for Justice will today tell rank-and-file gardaí that she is committed to supporting the expansion of their mental health supports.

Minister Helen McEntee will later address the annual conference of the Garda Representative Association (GRA). She will tell delegates that she will work with Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to identify how to fund expanded services in the coming years.

Weather

9. Another cold start today with temperatures as low as three degrees in some places. 

Met Éireann is predicting that today will be dry with sunny spells, the cloudiest conditions will be over the northern half of the country. There will be longer spells of sunshine further south. Highest temperatures of 6 to 9 degrees in light southwest winds, or calm conditions. You can get the full forecast here.