GOOD MORNING.
Here’s all the news that you need to know as you start your day.
1. Harassment and abuse experienced by women on the internet has intensified during the pandemic, experts have said, as more of their work, education and social lives migrated online, Michelle Hennessy writes in today’s lead story.
“One of the biggest things coming through is how much it has become a chilling factor or deterrent to going forward in positions [of employment, politics etc], and that’s very much the case for young women,” Orla O’Connor, director of the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI) told The Journal.
“It’s almost being cited straight away by young women as a reason they’re not going forward for a leadership position.”
2. Campaigners have questioned reports about airlines running empty or near-empty flights due to EU airport rules, saying the problem is “a little overstated”.
The EU has come in for criticism on the issue after Lufthansa said it would fly 18,000 “unnecessary” flights this winter as a result of European Commission rules, which state that airlines have to use a certain percentage of slots at airports to avoid losing them.
Climate campaigners took aim at the European Union, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg who said: “The EU surely is in a climate emergency mode.”
But Andrew Murphy, aviation director at NGO Transport and Environment and a member of Ireland’s Climate Change Advisory Council, played down reports and claims, Orla Dwyer writes.
3. Gardaí are appealing for witnesses following a serious road traffic collision in Dublin early this morning.
Shortly before 1.30am, gardaí and units from Dublin Fire Brigade attended the scene of a collision involving a car and a pedestrian on Drimnagh Road, Dublin 12.
The pedestrian, a man in his 40s, was treated at the scene for serious injuries. He is currently in Beaumont Hospital where his condition is understood to be serious. The driver and sole occupant of the car was not injured.
4. Britain has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of plotting to install a pro-Moscow leader as head of the government in Ukraine as he considers whether to mount an invasion against Russia’s neighbour.
The British Foreign Office took the unusual step of naming former Ukrainian MP Yevhen Murayev as a potential Kremlin candidate to take over in Kyiv.
The move comes as Western allies stepped up warnings that Russia will pay a heavy price if the estimated 100,000 troops massed on the border launch any kind of incursion into Ukraine.
5. Optimism was in ample supply in cities and towns across Ireland last night after a sweeping relaxation of Covid rules.
The moves announced by the Government on Friday evening came into effect at 6am yesterday.
An 8pm curfew on the hospitality sector has gone, with pubs and restaurants able to trade restriction-free and without the need for social distancing.
Covid certification passes are no longer required to gain entry to hospitality, entertainment and leisure outlets.
6. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been forced to postpone her own wedding due to the introduction of new Covid-19 restrictions.
Ardern said tighter rules were needed after nine cases of the Omicron variant were detected in a single family that flew to Auckland for a wedding earlier this month.
The prime minister was planning to get married next weekend but the celebration has been postponed.
“I just join many other New Zealanders who have had an experience like that as a result of the pandemic and to anyone who’s caught up in that scenario, I am so sorry,” she said.
7. Ireland’s advertising standards watchdog says it is monitoring developments in other countries after British authorities unveiled new regulations aimed at curbing misleading advertising for cryptocurrencies.
Under the new UK regime, details of which were made public on Tuesday, the promotion of risky crypto-assets like Bitcoin or Dogecoin and crypto exchanges — apps where investors can buy and trade coins — like Crypto.com and Coinbase, will now be subject to UK Financial Conduct Authority advertising rules.
It means that ads for crypto will be treated the same marketing for other financial products such as shares and insurance.
8. Campaigners for the preservation of a derelict Dublin street synonymous with the 1916 Easter Rising have held a rally calling for Government intervention.
The event was organised by the Moore Street Preservation Trust, whose membership includes descendants of the rebels who staged the insurrection against British rule.
The leaders of the rising retreated from the GPO on O’Connell Street to a row of terraced houses on Moore Street in the final stages of the rising.
9. And finally, the weather.
Today will be mostly cloudy with limited bright or sunny periods, according to Met Éireann.
There will be patches of drizzle, mainly in western and southern coastal counties. Highest temperatures will range from six to nine degrees Celsius.
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