EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine stories you need to know as you kick off your day.
1. #SAVITA: The solicitor of Praveen Halappanavar has said his client will not not cooperate with the HSE inquiry into his wife’s death or meet with the committee chair, despite three doctors from University Hospital Galway being removed from the investigative panel. Gerard O’Donnell said it will be “very difficult” to have an inquiry without the cooperation of Praveen Halappanavar and repeated calls for a full independent inquiry.
2. #ORGANISED CRIME: More than 50 people have been arrested and around €3.5 million worth of cannabis plants have been seized by Gardaí in a major nationwide operation against organised crime. Suspects have been detained at Garda stations around the country in connection with drug trafficking, possession of firearms, robbery, and other drugs-related offences.
3. #WORKPLACE ACCIDENT: A Bord na Mona employee has died in an accident at the Lough Ree Power Station in Lanesborough in Longford overnight. The company said the Health and Safety Authority has been informed and an internal inquiry has begun into the circumstances surrounding the man’s death.
4. #GAZA: Fighting is continuing on both sides of Gaza’s borders this morning despite intensified efforts to thrash out a truce to end a week of violence that has cost 136 Palestinian and five Israel lives. The Israel Defence Forces say it targeted more than 100 sites across the Gaza Strip overnight, including the internal security ministry and a police compound.
5. #PROTEST: Dissident republican prisoners at the Maghaberry prison in Northern Ireland have this morning ended their long-running dirty protest at the jail. In a statement given to the Irish News, 22 prisoners confirmed they will end the protest, while five dissidents being held in isolation will continue with the protest which began in May of last year in response to regular strip searches carried out by prison staff.
6. #LGBT: Minister for Justice Alan Shatter has said he wants to change rules which mean schools can discriminate against hiring gay and lesbian teachers in order to maintain their religious ethos. The Minister said he believes it is wrong to exclude people from employment on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity.
7. #WELFARE: Families are being told to expect a wait of up to ten months for a welfare payment aimed at low-earning families. The Department of Social Protection has said people seeking Family Income Supplement will wait until March 2013 before their application is processed.
8. #MUMBAI: India has executed the sole surviving gunman involved in the 2008 attacks in Mumbai in which 166 people were killed. Mohammad Ajmal Amir Qasab was hanged in prison early this morning after being convicted of murder and other crimes in May 2010.
9. #LOVE IRISH FOOD?: Siúcra, Lyons tea, HB ice-cream are all good Irish brands right? Wrong. Research by the Love Irish Food campaign has found that many shoppers are buying more food that they believe has been produced in Ireland – but many of the most well-known products are actually produced abroad. Who knew?
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