LAST UPDATE | 21 May 2022
GOOD MORNING.
Here’s all the news that you need to know as you start your day.
1. Russia has declared victory in its months-long operation to capture the strategic port of Mariupol after Ukraine ordered the last of its troops holed up in the city’s Azovstal steelworks to lay down their arms.
Russia’s defence ministry said 2,439 Ukrainian personnel had surrendered at the steelworks since May 16, the final 500 yesterday. Ukraine hopes to exchange the surrendering Azovstal soldiers for Russian prisoners.
Moscow’s flattening of Mariupol has drawn multiple accusations of war crimes, including over a deadly attack on a maternity ward, and Ukraine has begun a legal reckoning for captured Russian troops.
2. The UK Foreign Secretary is set to meet with a top US Democrat today as tensions mount over the UK’s controversial plans to overwrite parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Liz Truss and International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan are expected to hold meetings with a bipartisan congressional delegation led by Richard Neal, who heads up the powerful ways and means committee in the US House of Representatives.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin insisted yesterday there was “no substitute” for substantive negotiations between the UK Government and EU to resolve difficulties with protocol.
3. Fresh surveys have revealed widespread support for mandatory calorie information on restaurant menus despite plans to introduce the measure currently being off the table.
In the morning lead, Céimin Burke looks at the Red C poll carried out for The Journal which has found that 61% of respondents think calorie information should be introduced in all restaurants in Ireland. A further 12% said it should be introduced but only in restaurants with more than 250 staff.
2. Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman said the Russian military is holding more than
4. A bill that seeks to regulate and reduce the use of election posters will be delayed until next summer at the earliest.
Green Party Senator Pauline O’Reilly published the bill this week, with the government tabling an amendment that will see the second stage reading of the bill take place in June 2023.
The government has said that its proposed Electoral Commission will also look at the question of political posters and that Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien is therefore not in a position to support the Green Party bill at this present time.
5. The World Health Organisation is holding an emergency meeting on the monkeypox disease. It comes as more European and North American nations have reported their first cases of the disease, which is endemic in parts of Africa.
6. A tornado has swept through the western German city of Paderborn, injuring at least 30 people as it blew away roofs, toppled trees and sent debris flying for miles.
Meteorologists had warned that heavy rainfall and hail were expected in western and central Germany today, with storms producing gusts up to 130 kilometres per hour.
7. Polling stations have opened across Australia for voters to decide whether Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s conservative government will defy odds and rule for a fourth three-year term.
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese’s centre-left Labor Party is a favourite to win its first election since 2007.
But Mr Morrison defied the opinion polls in 2019 by leading his coalition to a narrow victory.
His coalition holds the narrowest of majorities — 76 seats in the 151-seat House of Representatives, where parties need a majority to form a government.
8. The latest FactCheck examines the claim that Ireland spends 10% of its healthcare budget on diabetes.
It has been made by the HSE and government ministers in recent years, as cases of Type 2 diabetes continue to rise.
9. You’re likely familiar with The Good Information Project here from its reporting over the past year, and now it’s moving into another form.
The Good Information Podcast, hosted by Journal Media Managing Editor Susan Daly, will dive into some of Ireland and the EU’s most pressing concerns, with help from our reporters, expert contributors to our Open Newsroom events, and exclusive data from independent polling company Ireland Thinks.
Each episode will feature interviews with reporters and contributors who immersed themselves in the topics that we’ve covered since March 2021, including Brexit, the future of working, public transport, housing, gender equality and more.
You can take a look at upcoming episodes here.
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