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GOOD MORNING
The 9 at 9
Citywest closes to new arrivals, a Troubles conviction and a near miss with an asteroid.
LAST UPDATE | Jan 27th 2023, 8:45 AM
GOOD MORNING.
Here’s all the news you need to know as you start your day.
Citywest
1. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has alleged that Ireland is in “clear breach” of its international obligations after the State stopped providing emergency shelter for new International Protection applicants at the Citywest Transit Hub.
The Citywest closed to new arrivals earlier this week, though it will remain open for all other matters, including processing of accommodation for Ukrainian Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BOTP).
Northern Ireland
2. A former British soldier found guilty of killing a man at an army checkpoint in Northern Ireland in 1988 will face a sentence hearing today.
In November, David Jonathan Holden, 53, was convicted of the manslaughter of Aidan McAnespie.
He was the first British veteran to be found guilty of a historical offence in Northern Ireland since the Good Friday Agreement.
Palestine
3. Nine Palestinians been killed during an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank, the deadliest single raid in two decades.
Gaza militants fired rockets and Israel carried out airstrikes yesterday as tensions soared following the raid which killed at least seven militants and a 61-year-old woman.
Memphis
4. US president Joe Biden has called for calm following the charging of five former police officers with the murder of a 29-year-old black man in Memphis.
Tyre Nichols died in hospital after he was was stopped for what the Memphis Police Department said was reckless driving.
Video footage of his arrest is due to be made public today.
Refugees
5. Tánaiste Micheál Martin has said that the government is doing everything it possibly can to accommodate refugees arriving in to the country.
When questioned by reporters in Lebanon today about the different systems to accommodate people fleeing war in Ukraine and those fleeing other countries, the Tánaiste said there is a difference between what is happening in Ukraine and elsewhere in the world.
Asteroid
6. A truck-sized asteroid that suddenly loomed out of the darkness a few days ago – with the Earth in its sights – sailed harmlessly past yesterday, space scientists have said.
Despite what we’ve seen in movies like “Armageddon,” no global mission to blow it up or knock it off course with nuclear weapons was required.
Holocaust Memorial Day
7. A 92-year-old Holocaust survivor said antisemitism is on the rise because young people are not learning about the Holocaust as much anymore.
Vera Schaufeld came to England via the Kindertransport, a movement that was set up to evacuate Jewish children from Germany.
Speaking ahead of Holocaust Memorial Day, she said Jewish people should be treated as individuals instead of as a whole group and that it is important to continue talking about Nazi genocide to remind people of where antisemitism can lead.
Ransomware shutdown
8. The US Justice Department has announced it has shut down the Hive ransomware group, under an internationally supported operation that included An Garda Síochána.
Hive operated as a ransomware service, meaning anyone could hire its software and other services to help hack into and lock down a target’s IT systems, and to process payments. Hive and the client would share the profits from the extortion.
Matt Hancock
9. Former UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock was paid £320,000 for his controversial appearance on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, it has been revealed.
The fee was listed on the MP’s register of financial interests.
Hancock had the Conservative Party whip suspended for taking time off to appear on the ITV reality show.
