Updated 11.10pm

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

German Chancellor Angela Merkel being greeted at Trinity College Dublin by Taoiseach Enda Kenny. She was addressing the college’s Philosophical Society, here’s what she said. (Image Credit: Sasko Lazarov/Photocall Ireland)

IRELAND

• German Chancellor Angela Merkel indicated that Ireland could still get a deal on its bank debt.
• She also praised Ireland for ‘braving’ austerity.
• An ambulance call is being reviewed after a 40 minute wait for a cardiac arrest patient.
• 560 suicides were linked to the recession in a new report.
• DAA and Ryanair announced legal action against a planned SIPTU strike.
• A 78-year-old woman was killed in a house fire in Mayo.
• A plane carrying the Spanish PM made an emergency landing in Dublin.
• FLAC said that the State is still failing to protect the rights of people availing of financial services.
• The Defence Forces are now recruiting.
• The ECB was criticised for not releasing correspondence it had with the late Finance Minister Brian Lenihan.

INTERNATIONAL

Polar bear Gerda with her cub emerges from their den in the Zoo in Novosibirsk, about 2,800 kilometers east of Moscow, Russia, (Image Credit: Ilnar Salakhiev/AP/Press Association Images)

#CRIMEA: The US said Russia’s action in the region was a ‘violation of sovereignty’.

#SOUTH AFRICA: The trial of Oscar Pistorius heard the testimony of his ex-girlfriend.

#RUSSIA: The 2014 Winter Paralympics began. [BBC Sport]

#FRANCE: It was alleged that President Nicolas Sarkozy had his phone tapped by judges. [The Independent]

INNOVATION

• Vine banned porn, but will allow ‘educational or artistic’ nudity.
• Japan decided that bitcoin isn’t a currency, but will still tax it.
• Turkey’s Prime Minister warned of a ban on Facebook and YouTube.
• Google‘s giant mystery barge was ordered to leave San Francisco. [The Guardian]

PARTING SHOT

What were you doing when you were 13? This guy made a working nuclear reactor. [BBC News]

(Video Credit: BBC News/YouTube)

Originally published 9pm

Here’s what happened yesterday >