Peter, Pollen, Mary……….

The Minister for Housing has said that 89 buildings have been identified for accommodating Ukrainian refugees following a trawl of local authorities' vacant properties.

Darragh O'Brien said that if utilised, these could create more than 5,000 bed spaces.

He told RTÉ's Drivetime programme that the first 89 buildings could be made functional "within a matter of weeks".

The minister said that these buildings are of different sizes and include vacant larger properties such as former hospitals and schools.

https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2022/0426/1294309-ireland-ukraine/

The United States and its allies have pledged new packages of ever heavier weapons for Ukraine during a meeting at a German air base, brushing off a threat from Moscow that their support for Kyiv could lead to nuclear war.

US officials have switched emphasis this week from speaking mainly about helping Ukraine defend itself, to bolder talk of a Ukrainian victory that would weaken Russia's ability to threaten its neighbours.

One of Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest allies, Nikolai Patrushev, said Ukraine was spiralling towards a collapse into "several states" due to what he cast as a US attempt to use Kyiv to undermine Russia.

The comments seemed to be an effort to blame Washington for any break-up of Ukraine that emerges from the war, now in its third month.

https://www.rte.ie/news/2022/0426/1294306-ukraine-russia/

reformed

Any potential application from Finland to join Nato must be ratified by all 30 member states, but Croatia's Parliament — not the President — will make that decision.

YLE NEWS
26.4. 11:20

Croatian President Zoran Milanović has called on his country's parliament to vote against Finland and Sweden joining Nato, Croatian television has reported.

If the two Nordic nations decide to apply for membership of the alliance, their applications must be ratified by all 30 current member states. Croatia has been a member of Nato since 2009.

Milanović stated that Croatia's approval of any potential Finnish and Swedish application could be dependent on the reform of Bosnia and Herzegovina's electoral law.

In a complicated political system created after the end of war in 1995, Bosnia and Herzegovina is made up of two main administrative units that represent the three main ethnic groups — the Serb-dominated entity of Republika Srpska and the Bosniak-Croat majority Federation of BiH.

https://yle.fi/news/3-12418999

Schools in Missouri would be required to test drinking water for lead, and install filters if it’s above safe levels, under a bill that won near-unanimous approval Monday in the state Senate.

The proposal, amended onto a separate bill by Sen. Jill Schupp, D-Creve Coeur, passed on a 32-1 vote.

“Let’s make sure our students, staff and teachers have clean water in our schools,” Schupp said in a text message to The Independent. “Lead causes lasting damage. We have the ability to clean it up, and now is the time to move this effort forward.”

The bill now heads to the Missouri House, where a similar proposal has yet to come up for a floor debate. The legislative session ends at 6 p.m. May 13.

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/health-science-environment/2022-04-26/missouri-senate-overwhelmingly-approves-bill-requiring-schools-test-filter-water-for-lead

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — College students squeezed by a massive housing shortage and surging rents are paying too much for moldy apartments, commuting long distances or sleeping in their cars to get an education — and that doesn't appear to be changing anytime soon.

For some colleges, the housing crunch was related to the pandemic, which muddied projections for who might want on-campus dorms when classes resumed in person last fall. But the lack of housing both on-campus and off has been a longstanding problem at other schools, including many in California, where homeowners and communities have sued to curb new student housing construction.

Nationally, 43% of students at four-year universities experienced housing insecurity in 2020, up from 35% in 2019, according to an annual survey conducted by The Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice at Temple University. Students reported being unable to pay their rent or mortgage, living in overcrowded units, or moving in with others due to financial difficulties.

For the first time since it began tracking basic needs in 2015, the survey found an equal percentage — 14% — of students at both four-year and two-year colleges who had experienced homelessness in the last year.

https://krcgtv.com/news/nation-world/housing-shortage-and-soaring-rents-squeeze-us-college-students-campus-housing-university

QUILCENE, Wash. (AP) — A woman who accidentally dropped her cellphone into the hole of an outhouse in a national forest and fell in while trying to retrieve it had to be rescued by firefighters in Washington state.

Brinnon Fire Department Chief Tim Manly said the woman, who was at the top of Mount Walker in the Olympic National Forest northwest of Seattle, had been using her phone when it fell into the toilet on Tuesday, The Kitsap Sun reported.

Manly said she disassembled the toilet seat and used dog leashes to try and get the phone and eventually used the leashes to tie herself off as she reached for it. That effort failed and she fell into the toilet headfirst.

“They didn’t work very well and in she went,” Manly said.

https://krcgtv.com/news/offbeat/woman-rescued-after-falling-in-toilet-trying-to-get-phone

Each year since 1992, April has been recognized as Stress Awareness Month.

SSM Health Psychologist, Dr. Laurel Kramer said when it comes to tackling stress, one of the first things to focus on is figuring out what your red flags are. She said since COVID, all age groups experience stress over a variety of things, but everyone has different triggers.

According to Kramer, there are two kinds of stress, overstressed and burnout. The signs of being overstressed include being more tired than normal, unmotivated, and even a little depressed. On the other hand, burnout comes from living with high stress levels for a longer period of time. Kramer said burnout is a stress that has reached a higher level to where it impacts sleep and can heighten the feelings of anxiety.

If you find yourself displaying signs of being overstressed or burnt out, Kramer suggested hitting the pause button.

https://krcgtv.com/news/local/april-is-stress-awareness-month-04-26-2022

An associate professor at Lincoln University has been awarded a Fulbright Global Scholar Award from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

Dr. Brian Norris is an associate professor of political science.

He will use his award to study rural local governments in Colombia and Mozambique over the next three summers.

"Many people in rural areas of Colombia and Mozambique lack basic services that most Americans take for granted, such as running water, electricity, in-ground sewer, paved roads, and more,” Norris says.

https://krcgtv.com/news/local/lincoln-university-associate-professor-wins-fulbright-award-colombia-and-mozambique-global-scholar-award-us-department-state-fulbright-foreign-scholarship-board-dr-brian-norris

The body of a Texas Guardsman on the southern border mission who dove into the Rio Grande River to rescue drowning migrants was found Monday morning, the state's governor's office announced.

Spc. Bishop Evans, 22, was a field artilleryman, assigned to A Battery, 4-133 Field Artillery Regiment, in New Braunfels, Texas. He joined the National Guard in May 2019 and served in Kuwait and Iraq, according to his service record.

Evans went into the Rio Grande River near Eagle Pass, Texas, while attempting to rescue two drowning migrants. The two survived and are currently in custody, according to a statement from the Texas National Guard.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/04/25/texas-guardsman-drowns-after-rescue-attempt-during-border-mission.html