Updated 23.00pm

NEED TO CATCH up? TheJournal.ie brings you a round-up of today’s news…

Frank Flannery, who is under pressure to appear before the Public Accounts Committee, seated next to Enda Kenny in 2008. (Eamon Farrell/Photocall Ireland)

IRELAND

• After mounting pressure, Frank Flannery called it a day and resigned as a director of the Rehab Group and as the director of elections and a trustee of Fine Gael.
• The Catholic group Pure in Heart told teenagers that condoms fail one in six times and that they can melt in wallets.
• The HSE is investigating the death of another baby at Portlaoise Hospital.
• Gardaí are continuing their investigations after a man was stabbed multiple times outside a house in Coolock.
• Banana companies Chiquita and Fyffes have combined to form a new company, ChiquitaFyffes.
• A body taken from the River Barrow is believed to be that of Bernie Motley, who has been missing since January.
• Two turf cutters have taken a High Court action to halt their prosecution for cutting turf in conservation areas.
• This letter confirms that the Public Accounts Committee can’t release the transcript of evidence given by garda whistleblower Maurice McCabe in a private meeting.
• A post-mortem examination is due to be carried out on the body of a woman that was found dead in a house in Dublin.
• Glenroe and Fair City actress Eileen Colgan has passed away.

INTERNATIONAL

The search is still ongoing for missing Malaysian Airline flight MH370. (PA Image)

#MALAYSIA AIRLINES: The mystery continues as samples taken from an oil slick off Malaysia are not from the passenger jet that went missing over the weekend.

#SOUTH AFRICA: Oscar Pistorius became physically sick in court today as he listened to harrowing testimony about the autopsy of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

#USA: A St Patrick’s Day celebration at the University of Massachusetts got out of hand resulting in 70 people being arrested.

INNOVATION

• Do you have an alarm set for tomorrow? Studies show a burst of orange light is the most powerful wake-up call. [New Scientist]
• We all love a good GIF, but MIT researchers want to go one step further and turn it into a language. [The Atlantic]

PARTING SHOT

Brazil’s statue of Christ is famous around the world as one of the ultimate religious statue. It’s history on how it became a symbol of a nation is detailed here, with photos. [BBC]

First published 9.00pm

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