EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine stories you need to know as you kick off your day.
1. #FLOODING: Heavy rain in most parts of the country overnight has led to flooding in many areas. Blackpool in Cork has been the worst hit and was submerged in four feet of water last night. Gardaí and AA Roadwatch have warned motorists to take care as as excess surface water and spot flooding are causing dangerous driving conditions. Met Éireann’s rain warning remains in place for Munster, Connacht and Leinster. Meanwhile, a snow-ice warning is still in place for Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal.
2. #CANCELLED: The runway at George Best Belfast City Airport is currently closed due to persistent snowfall. Meanwhile, bad weather has forced the cancellation of all Irish Ferries Jonathan Swift fast craft sailings between Dublin and Holyhead.
3. #CYPRUS: The House of Representatives in Cyprus is to vote on nine pieces of legislation prepared to protect the country’s financial services system and avoid a run on banks when they open next week. The crisis discussions come after lawmakers rejected an EU/IMF rescue package worth €10 billion.
4. #SYRIA: European foreign ministers are meeting in Dublin over the next two days for informal talks on the Syrian war. The ministers will discuss calls to open up weapons deliveries to Syrian rebels.
5. #DRINKING WATER: Around 1.5 million children die every year from diarrhoea because of poor sanitation and hygiene. According to Oxfam Ireland on World Water Day, unsafe water is the main reason for these preventable deaths, with 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa alone lacking access to safe toilets.
6. #SARKOZY: French ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy has been placed under formal investigation over claims he accepted envelopes stuffed with cash from the world’s richest woman to illegally finance his 2007 election campaign. Sarkozy denies the charges and his lawyer said he would immediately appeal.
7. #SHOOTING: Three people have died following a shooting at a marine base in Virginia. The Marine Corps Base in Quantico said “an isolated shooting incident” occurred at its Officer Candidate School at around 11pm yesterday.
8. #POPE: Pope Francis will wash the feet of 12 prisoners in a youth detention centre in Rome next Thursday at a Mass to celebrate Holy Thursday. It is the first time in living memory that the Mass would break tradition by not being held in St Peter’s basilica or the basilica of St John in Lateran.
9. #CÉAD MILE FÁILTE: Ireland is one of the most welcoming countries in the world, as mapped out by The Washington Post. The World Economic Forum gathered the data by asking people in over 140 countries: “How welcome are foreign visitors in your country?”
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