LAST UPDATE | 22 Apr 2022

GOOD MORNING.

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

Ukraine

1.  Mariupol “continues to resist” despite Russian claims to have captured it, according to Ukraine.

Russia says it has “liberated” the city, with just a few thousand Ukrainian soldiers left in the Azovstal plant. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia is only delaying an “inevitable” departure from Ukraine.

Madeleine McCann

2. At Portugal’s request, Germany has declared a man as an official suspect in disappearance of Madeleine McCann nearly 15 years ago.

Madeleine went missing from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on 3 May 2007, a few days before her fourth birthday.

In 2020, German police revealed that the prime suspect was a child sex offender who was already in jail in Germany. 

Covid-19 treatment

3.  A new Covid-19 medication called Paxloid must be shared with low-income countries, the World Health Organisation has said.

The WHO said that availability, lack of price transparency, and the need for quick testing before taking it, are “turning this life-saving medicine into a major challenge for low- and middle-income countries”.

The drug is intended for use by mild and moderate Covid-19 patients at highest risk of hospital admission and the WHO has called it the “best therapeutic choice for high-risk patients to date”. 

Kate Moran

4. Camogie player Kate Moran will be remembered at her funeral this afternoon in Co Galway.

Mourners will gather at the Church of The Sacred Heart in Ryehill, Monivea to honour the 20-year-old.

Kate died tragically on Tuesday following an accident during a match while playing for her club Athenry. 

Aid

5. At a major humanitarian aid centre close to the Ukrainian border, a small team of volunteers are helping refugees travel to Ireland.

In Poland, The Journal reporter Céimin Burke spoke to the centre’s Irish volunteers.

Cannabis

6. People Before Profit intends to introduce a bill in the Dáil in July to end the criminalisation of cannabis.

Dublin Mid-West TD Gino Kenny told The Journal he believes there is “no more reason for cannabis to be illegal than alcohol”. 

The Green Party, now in the government coalition, previously called for cannabis to be decriminalised, saying the law has “made criminals out of decent people.

Offshore wind

7. A new offshore renewable energy hub is to be created at Rosslare Europort in Co Wexford, which would help facilitate Ireland’s efforts to generate 80% of electricity from renewable sources by 2030. 

It’s estimated the news plans for the hub could potentially create 2,000 jobs in the area. 

Normal Novels

8. Sally Rooney’s novel Normal People has been banned in a Florida county as part of a list of 58 books.

Many of the banned novels include stories about LGBT+ people or racism, while some others have sexually-explicit material like 50 Shades of Gray.

Downing Street

9. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces a parliamentary investigation after MPs agreed to refer him over claims he misled the parliament about parties during lockdowns.

MPs on the Privileges Committee will investigate whether Johnson is in contempt of parliament for misleading the Commons with repeated denials about the parties in Downing Street during Covid-19 restrictions.