LAST UPDATE | 16 Apr 2021

EVERY MORNING, The Journal brings you all the news you need to know as you start the day.

1. #KBC: KBC Bank Ireland said it has entered into talks with Bank of Ireland which could lead to BOI acquiring “substantially all” of KBC’s loan assets and liabilities. This would result in KBC’s withdrawal from the Irish market.

2. #HATE CRIME: New hate crime legislation has been approved by government, which will see tougher sentences imposed.

3. #TRADE: Talks have taken place about Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit arrangements amid warnings from MEPs that the breakdown in trust could derail the trade agreement between the UK and European Union.

4. #JOBS: Professional services firm Deloitte Ireland has announced it is to create 300 new jobs. 

5. #VALPROATE: Parents of children harmed by the valproate drug have said they feel failed by the State. Our Noteworthy investigation finds that pleas for help from women impacted by valproate (Epilim) continue to be dismissed.

6. #R KELLY: A US federal judge has given the green light to move jailed R&B singer R Kelly to New York City to go on trial this summer after several delays.

7. #VARIANT: Thousands of London residents have queued to take coronavirus tests at additional facilities set up after new cases of the South African variant were found in boroughs across the English capital. 

8. #RACISM: The Association of Mixed Race Irish (AMRI) has written to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) calling for the Expert Group on People of African Descent to visit Ireland and investigate institutional racism. 

9. #SHOOTING Eight people have been killed and multiple have been injured in an incident in the US city of Indianapolis.