LAST UPDATE | 27 Dec 2021

GOOD MORNING.

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

1. Valproate scandal

In our top story this morning, Noteworthy’s Maria Delaney reports that families impacted by the valproate scandal in Ireland are still waiting for a promised inquiry to begin.

It is now over a year since Health Minister Stephen Donnelly committed to holding an inquiry into the historical licencing and use of the anti-epileptic drug sodium valproate (Epilim).

Noteworthy’s investigation also found that the recommended ‘full suite of services’ for affected children is non-existent, resulting in families paying thousands for therapies and other costs.

This was one of the key recommendations of an Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health report over three years ago.

2. Fatal crash

Gardaí are appealing for witnesses after a man in his 20s was killed in a two-vehicle crash in Co Wexford.

The incident occurred at Ballintore, Ferns at around 5.20pm yesterday evening.

A woman in her 50s was seriously injured in the crash. She was taken to St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin where her condition is described as critical.

3. Vaccine equity

Irish NGOs working in developing countries are concerned that the acceleration of booster programmes in richer countries will lead to even deeper inequality in the access to Covid-19 vaccines in 2022. 

Without intellectual property rights waivers to allow developing nations to produce their own vaccines, charities have said these countries will have to continue to compete for supplies with rich countries that can afford to buy up doses to boost their entire populations.

4. Government spending

The Department of Foreign Affairs has spent more than €80,000 on artworks for its embassies, consulates and offices in the past two years, including on four busts of the late SDLP leader John Hume and an oil portrait of the author Edna O’Brien.

The artworks were purchased on behalf of the State’s diplomatic network, which a Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said were used to promote Ireland’s political and economic interests as well as protecting Irish citizens abroad.

They include €28,500 on a John Hume bust and three replicas, €34,547 on a portrait of Edna O’Brien and €13,192 on a commissioned painting in Washington.

5. Ghislaine Maxwell

The jury in the sex trafficking trial of British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell will resume deliberations today after they were sent home for the Christmas period. 

Jurors ended their second full day of deliberations on Wednesday by requesting more transcripts of evidence from the trial.

6. Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would ponder his options if the West fails to meet his push for security guarantees precluding NATO’s expansion to Ukraine.

Earlier this month, Moscow submitted draft security documents demanding that NATO deny membership to Ukraine and other former Soviet countries and roll back its military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe.

The Kremlin presented its security demand amid tensions over a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine in recent weeks that has fuelled Western fears of a possible invasion.

7. Philippines

The death toll from one of the most destructive typhoons to hit the Philippines in recent years has risen to 388, the government said, as disease outbreaks threatened some of the stricken areas.

Typhoon Rai struck the south and centre of the Asian nation on 16 and 17 December, toppling power lines and trees and unleashing deadly floods that also left hundreds of thousands homeless.

The civil defence office in Manila raised the death toll from Rai to 388 with 60 others missing and hundreds injured. Police previously put the death toll at 375.

8. Australia

Australia’s New South Wales state has reported more than 6,000 new Covid-19 cases and confirmed its first death from the Omicron variant.

The fatal case was identified as a man in his 80s who was infected at a care facility in western Sydney. He was fully vaccinated but had underlying health conditions.

New South Wales, the country’s most populous state, reported 6,324 new infections on Monday, a fall of 70 from the record number a day before.

9. Christmas quiz

Most people have their own Christmas traditions that they do every year, regardless of whether or not they really make any sense.

Going to midnight mass, doing a Christmas Day swim or going ‘on the wren’ on St Stephen’s Day are just some of the things Irish people do at Christmas.

But traditions differ widely around the world. Let’s see how much you know about these more obscure traditions in other countries.