A review into the State’s abortion law is set to recommend sweeping changes including the decriminalisation of doctors, a change to the waiting period to access termination medication and changes to the granting of abortions in the case of fatal foetal abnormalities. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly will bring a memo to Cabinet on Tuesday on the report, which also highlights an insufficient provision of services in some areas of the country.

A serving member of An Garda Síochána was arrested on Thursday afternoon after being found in possession of drugs at Dublin airport. According to a gardaí statement, the woman concerned serves in the Dublin region. 

SIPTU has said the entire domestic waste collection sector is in need of radical overhaul, following the announcement by waste company, Panda Recycling, that it is to increase its charge for compost bin collection in Dublin.

In other news, firefighters in Cork City have embarked on limited industrial action in an ongoing row over staffing shortages which they claim is putting lives at risk.

Childcare services appear to be under pressure because of recruitment and retention problems. In a survey of over 2,000 child care providers last month, Siptu found that most have vacancies for staff, and almost all of them say that recruitment is negatively affecting the care they offer.

A report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to be released later today is expected to confirm that the years 2015 to 2022 were the eight warmest in global records stretching to 1850. The report will also highlight extreme weather last year, including the record heatwaves in Europe, and urge much greater investment in climate change adaptation.

And Twitter’s blue checkmark, which has traditionally signified verified and authentic accounts, appear to have been removed en masse across the site. 

Zen

Sinead O’Connor started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with her version of the Prince song 'Nothing Compares To You' on this day in 1990. The video won Best Video at that year's MTV Video Music Awards - the first video by a female artist to win in this category.

Have a nice weekend all.