LAST UPDATE | 16 Aug 2021
GOOD MORNING.
Here’s all the news that you need to know about as you start your day.
1. In our main story today, Cónal Thomas reports that the Department of Equality expressed fears that its plan to end Ireland’s Direct Provision system could be undermined if it did not have access to State-owned lands.
The government’s White Paper for phasing out the system was heralded as a landmark shift away from the widely-criticised privatised system by committing to a Government-led human rights-based approach to housing asylum seekers in Ireland.
Discussions prior to its release, however, show that Housing officials raised a number of objections to proposals from the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration & Youth and insisted that any reference to the Land Development Agency [LDA] be removed.
2. US troops have fired shots into the air at Kabul airport as thousands of Afghans crowded onto the tarmac in the hope of catching a flight out of the country.
The Taliban has taken control of Afghanistan after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country and conceded the insurgents had won the 20-year war.
The astonishingly quick collapse of the government, with militants taking over the presidential palace last night, triggered fear and panic in the capital.
Thousands of people were still trying to escape Kabul today and the feared hardline brand of Islamic rule of the Taliban.
3. The death toll from the magnitude 7.2 earthquake that battered Haiti has risen to at least 1,297 as rescuers race to find survivors amid the rubble ahead of a potential deluge from an approaching storm.
Saturday’s earthquake also left at least 5,700 people injured in the Caribbean nation, with thousands more displaced from their destroyed or damaged homes.
Survivors in some areas are sheltering in streets or soccer fields with their few salvaged belongings while overloaded hospitals scramble to help the injured.
4. A local authority hit back at a damning report by the Ombudsman for Children which said the rights of Traveller children were being violated at an accommodation site in their area.
Cork City Council said matters were “nowhere near as simple as outlined” in a lengthy finding-by-finding rebuttal, which they submitted to the Department of Housing.
It also said the report on the Spring Lane site did not show a “complete understanding or appreciation of the complex problems and deep-rooted socio-economic issues” involved at the site.
5. Buy now, pay later services are on their way to Ireland, but experts have warned that customers should be fully informed about their potential effect on credit ratings and finances.
The market for buy now, pay later services (also known as ‘after pay’) has been previously limited to larger products such as furniture, and had been primarily offered for customers looking to pay off the cost of their purchases over a number of months with interest added.
In recent years, a number of companies have emerged to offer online shoppers the ability to spread the cost of purchases over a set period of time.
6. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has triggered an election as he seeks to capitalise on the country being one of the most fully vaccinated in the world.
Trudeau announced the election would be held on 20 September after visiting the governor general.
Trudeau is seeking to win a majority of seats in Parliament. His Liberal Party fell just short of that two years ago and must rely on the opposition to pass legislation.
7. Public health officials confirmed a further 1,758 cases of Covid-19 yesterday afternoon.
As of 8am yesterday, 248 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 48 are in ICU.
New South Wales has reported its worst day of the pandemic with 478 new infections and seven Covid-19 deaths as pandemic restrictions tightened in other parts of Australia.
The previous record daily tally in New South Wales was 466 new cases reported on Saturday.
Just 26% of Australians aged 16 and older had been fully vaccinated by Saturday.
8. And finally, there will be a mix of cloud and bright spells this morning with some light showers in the north and west of the country.
Clouds will increase with some patchy light rain in the north and northwest in the afternoon and evening. Met Éireann said the weather will stay mostly dry elsewhere with limited sunnier spells confined to the south.
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