LAST UPDATE | 14 Feb 2023
GOOD MORNING.
Here’s all the news that you need to know as you start your day.
1. A Magdalene laundry survivor has expressed her disappointment that the United Nations Committee Against Torture (CAT) has concluded the Irish State did not breach her human rights.
In her complaint, Elizabeth Coppin argued that Ireland had violated her rights under articles 12, 13, 14 and 16 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Coppin argued that Ireland had failed to undertake a prompt and impartial investigation into her allegations of abuse and had not ensured that she could obtain full redress, and also failed to act to prevent cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
2. A gunman who killed at least three people and wounded five on a US university campus shot himself dead yesterday after a massive police manhunt.
Thousands of students at Michigan State University were ordered to shelter in place after shots were fired in a campus building in the early evening, leaving two dead.
The gunman fled to the students’ union, where he killed one more person, sparking a major police operation as officers swarmed the 5,000-acre campus.
Just after midnight, police confirmed the suspected gunman had shot himself dead a short distance away.
3. Cabinet is expected to sign off on the list of St Patrick’s day visits for ministers across the globe.
It is tradition for ministers and ministers of State to travel to different destinations around the world to mark St Patrick’s Day.
No one was permitted to travel abroad in 2021 due to the pandemic, but last year the Government saw a promotional programme of 33 high level visits.
4. The Stormont assembly will be recalled later in a bid to pass a new law on organ donation in Northern Ireland.
Rival parties are attempting to ramp up the pressure on the DUP to end its boycott of devolution, but the unionist party has made clear it will again block any attempt to elect a speaker.
The recall petition is attempting to get MLAs to implement a new opt-out organ donation law inspired by Belfast boy Daithi MacGabhann, six, who is waiting for a heart transplant.
5. Western leaders will meet today to discuss how to keep ammunition flowing to Ukraine, with Kyiv pressing for fighter jets to push Russia back.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for Western aircraft having already secured commitments from allies in the West for tanks, air defence and precision missiles.
But those allies insist that they are scrambling to ensure that Ukraine’s forces have the ammunition they need on the ground to push back renewed Russian offensives in the east of the country.
6. Independent TD Denis Naughten has announced that he will not contest the next general election, which is due in 2025.
Naughten has been an Independent TD for the Roscommon–Galway constituency since 2016.
From 2007 to 2016, Naughten was a TD for the Roscommon–South Leitrim constituency and from 1997 to 2007 he was a TD for the Longford–Roscommon constituency.
In a statement released tonight, Naughten said: “I have decided, for both personal and professional reasons, after giving 26 years of my life to national politics that now is the time to step back and explore new opportunities.
7. A Syrian mother and her newborn have been rescued from the rubble of her earthquake hit home twice in one week, a charity has said.
Dima was seven months pregnant when the earthquake caused her house in Jindayris to partially fall down, the BBC reports.
She suffered minor injuries and later gave birth to a boy, Adnan, with the support of the Syrian Medical Society in Afrin.
They returned to her house – only for it to fall down again.
8. Lilt has been pulled from the shelves after 48 years and will be replaced by a new type of Fanta.
The tangy drink began in 1975 with the strapline “The Totally Tropical Taste” and was only sold in the UK, Ireland, Gibraltar and the Seychelles.
Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) confirmed the change in a statement, noting that the drink’s packaging and logo are being changed and it will now be known as Fanta Pineapple and Grapefruit.
9. A jobs scheme that aims to get people with Down syndrome into paid employment is aiming to have 200 extra people in jobs by 2025, RTÉ reports.
Down Syndrome Ireland (DSI), which supports people with Down syndrome and their families, states that around one in ten adults with the condition are in paid employment.
DSI has worked with employers across a range of industries to help people with Down syndrome secure jobs they enjoy.
Under an expanded jobs strategy, the charity is aiming to have another 200 employees in paid work by 2025
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