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GOOD MORNING

The 9 at 9 Russia strikes Kyiv during Guterres visit, homeowners call for better access to loans for defect repairs and menopause clinics.

LAST UPDATE | Apr 29th 2022, 8:56 AM

WELL GOOD MORNING and Happy Friday.

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

Fire safety

1. In our lead story this morning, Michelle Hennessy reports that homeowners in Celtic Tiger era apartment developments have called for better access to credit to help fund the works on their homes.

Tens of thousands of apartment units built during the Celtic Tiger era are estimated to be affected by construction defects, largely relating to fire safety deficiencies such as a lack of fire stopping between apartments, or water ingress causing leaks and damp.

Owners are being asked to pay bills of between €15,000 and €20,000 and some have complained they were given a short space of time to come up with large lump sums.

They are calling on the government to ensure easier access to loans so they can cover the lump sum and then pay it off over a number of years.

Ukraine

2. Russian forces pressed their offensive in south and east Ukraine today after bombarding its capital during a visit by the United Nations’ chief.

At least three people were wounded in strikes late yesterday in the western part of Kyiv, the first in the capital in nearly two weeks, which came after Antonio Guterres toured Bucha and other suburbs where Moscow is alleged to have committed war crimes.

Three months into an invasion that failed in its short-term aim of capturing Kyiv, Russia is now intensifying operations in the breakaway eastern Donbas region, as Ukraine’s Western allies supply it with increasingly heavy armaments.

Women’s health

3. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has today confirmed that funding from his department will allow for two additional specialist menopause clinics to open this year.

The Women’s Health Action Plan committed to opening four specialist menopause clinics nationally in 2022.

Donnelly today allocated further investment to support two additional specialist menopause clinics, bringing a total of six such clinics nationwide for women who require complex, specialist care.

Discrimination

4. A new report has highlighted barriers faced by Travellers if they try to challenge incidents of discrimination, including prohibitive legal costs and the difficulty proving venues or businesses turned them away because of their ethnicity.

The research from University College Cork surveyed Traveller women, who were asked a number of questions about the current equality framework in Ireland and options for redress if they believed they were victims of discrimination.

Within the focus groups, the majority of women surveyed noted that an initial hurdle to challenging discrimination was proving that the conduct in question satisfied the current test.

Israel

5. Fresh clashes from Palestinians and Israeli police at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound injured 42 people, the Palestinian Red Crescent said, following weeks of violence at the flashpoint site.

The unrest came on the final Friday in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. None of the injuries were serious, the Red Crescent said, adding that 22 people had been taken to hospital.

Abortion ban

6. In the US, the Oklahoma State legislature has passed a bill banning abortions after approximately six weeks of pregnancy – a move that also threatens to cut off access for women from the neighbouring state of Texas, which enacted a similar law last year.

The bill, which passed the Oklahoma House by a large majority, includes exceptions for medical emergencies, but not for cases of rape or incest.

Boris Becker

7. In the UK, three-time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker could be sent to jail when he is sentenced for flouting the terms of his 2017 bankruptcy.

The former world number one, 54, was earlier this month found guilty of transferring hundreds of thousands of pounds from his business account and failing to declare a property in his hometown of Leimen, Germany.

Santina Cawley

8. A distressed father went rushing back to a house where he had socialised earlier that evening and shouted that his girlfriend had smothered his two-year old daughter, a murder trial heard yesterday.

Karen Harrington of Lakelands Crescent in Mahon in Cork is on trial charged with the murder of Santina Cawley at 26 Elderwood Park in Boreenmanna Road in the city on 5 July, 2019.

Green light

9. AIB has been cleared to acquire Ulster Bank’s commercial loans portfolio worth €4.2 billion as the latter bank pulls out of Ireland.

Ulster Bank is set to withdraw all of its banking services from Ireland, which – along with the planned departure of KBC Bank – is creating gaps in the financial landscape.