GOOD MORNING, AND happy Halloween.
Here’s all the news you need to know as you start your day.
Bessborough
1. In our lead story this morning, Órla Ryan meets Mary Jo Sullivan, who, after years of searching, has finally found her birth family.
Mary Jo was one of thousands of people born to an Irish mother but adopted by a couple in the United States.
She began her search for her birth family in the 1990s, and after a long and sometimes painful process, finally got some answers this year.
Noteworthy investigation
2. A Noteworthy investigation has revealed how prison is leaving Travellers isolated and traumatised.
Travellers who generally account for around 10% of the male prisoner population and as much as 22% of the female prison population, despite making up less than 1% of the population in Ireland.
Campaigners have said there is “structural racism in the criminal justice system”.
Electricity credit
3. The first of three €200 electricity credits will be paid directly to over 2.2 million domestic electricity accounts tomorrow, including both bill pay and pay-as-you-go customers.
The credit line will appear on bills from the start of November and into December, depending on a household’s electricity supplier and billing cycle.
Ukraine
4. Ukraine has accused Russia of another “massive attack” on the country’s energy infrastructure, after officials announced power and water supply cuts in the capital.
At least five explosions were heard in the Ukrainian capital between 8:00am (6:00am GMT) and 8:20 am.
Brazil election
5. Brazilian president-elect Inacio Lula da Silva has called for “peace and unity” after narrowly winning a divisive runoff election.
‘Lula’, as he is known, capped a remarkable political comeback by defeating far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro – who has yet to accept defeat.
The victory is a stunning turnaround for Lula, who left office in 2010 as the most popular president in Brazilian history, but fell into disgrace when he was imprisoned for 18 months on controversial, since-quashed corruption charges.
Northern Ireland
6. Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said he believes Northern Ireland’s political system of power sharing between unionists and nationalists is no longer fit for purpose.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Martin said there was a reason power sharing was introduced under the Good Friday Agreement 25 years ago, but now, “we should explore an amended system.”
Tips
7. Workers will be entitled to their tips by law from 1 December, Tánaiste and Enterprise Minister Leo Varadkar has announced.
The new law gives employees a legal entitlement to receive tips and gratuities paid in electronic form – such as through debit, credit cards or smart phones.
South Korea
8. South Koreans have flocked to memorials honouring the 154 people killed in a crowd surge at Halloween celebrations, as authorities faced accusations that lax crowd control had caused the disaster.
Mourners wept, prayed and placed flowers at a huge official altar set up in central Seoul for victims – mostly young women – of the Saturday crush, with many railing against authorities’ failures to prevent the catastropic loss of young life.
India
9. At least 132 people were killed after a century-old cable suspension bridge collapsed into a river in the western Indian state of Gujarat.
Authorities said the 19th-century, colonial-era pedestrian bridge over the Machchu river in the state’s Morbi district collapsed because it could not handle the weight of a large crowd, as the Hindu festival season drew hundreds of people to the recently opened tourist attraction.
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