GOOD MORNING.
Here’s all the news that you need to know as you start your day.
Abortion safe zones
1. Health minister Stephen Donnelly is to introduce a bill creating a protest exclusion zone around all healthcare facilities, including those that provide abortion services.
Emission targets
2. The three coalition leaders are set to meet again this morning to try to reach an agreement on crucial emissions reduction targets for individual sectors.
Micheál Martin, Leo Varadkar and Eamon Ryan failed to agree yesterday on the target for the agriculture sector, which has become a serious point of conflict within the government.
Passport complaints
3. Poor customer service and almost two-year waiting times were among the issues raised with the Department of Foreign Affairs in the first six months of the year about the Passport Office.
Legislation on consent
4. A proposal will also be brought to Cabinet by the justice minister today which would see the laws around consent changed, so that the accused may no longer be found not guilty of rape if they believed that they had received consent.
Taxis
5. Increasing taxi fares to weigh in favour of those working ‘unsocial hours’ is expected to entice drivers back into city centres during busy weekend evenings, an industry expert has said.
Northern Ireland economy
5. A “feast or famine” economy has been created in Northern Ireland due to the Protocol, with some businesses struggling while others thrive, a parliamentary report from the UK has found.
Origin of Covid
7. An animal market in Wuhan really was the epicenter of the Covid pandemic, new studies have found.
Philippines earthquake
8. An earthquake in the northern Philippines has killed one person, shattered windows and shaken high-rise towers.
Buzz Aldrin’s space jacket
9. The jacket worn by the American astronaut during his historic journey to the Moon has fetched over €2.4 million, making it the most valuable American space artefact ever sold at auction.
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