EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine things you need to know as you begin your day.
1. #BANKING: Minister for Finance Michael Noonan will meet his EU counterparts in Cyprus today in the hopes of making progress on a deal splitting Ireland’s banking and sovereign debts. The two-day summit follows bilateral meetings between Noonan and his counterparts in France, Germany and Italy earlier this week.
2. #HOMELESSNESS: Homeless charity Merchant’s Quay Ireland has reported an increase in the numbers of people accessing its basic food and medicine services over the past year. In its annual review, the group shows that day and evening services provided over 73,000 meals in 2011 – up from 64,000 on the previous year – and describes its drugs service as “stretched to capacity”.
3. #TURKEY: A father and son will appear in court in Izmir, Turkey, today in connection with the murder of Newry women Marion Graham and Cathy Dinsmore in August of last year. Recep Cetin, who had been in a relationship with Ms Graham’s then 15-year-old daughter Shannon at the time of the killings, has already admitted responsibility but his father, Eyup Cetin, has denied involvement.
4. #PARALYMPICS: Paralympic athletes are to be honoured by the Taoiseach at a ceremony in Farmleigh House later today. The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport will also attend the event, which will hail the 16 medals won by athletes during the London games, reports RTÉ.
5. #SLOW DOWN: People who have highly demanding jobs and little freedom to make decisions are 23 per cent more likely to have a heart attack, according to a new study published in The Lancet. The research involved almost 200,000 people from seven different European countries showed a “small but consistent” increased risk of a CHD event in workers experiencing job strain.
6. #INSOLVENCY: The Minister for Justice Alan Shatter has said that new personal insolvency laws will not exempt items of jewellery from assessments of a debtor’s assets. Fianna Fáil had requested that items of sentimental value, such as wedding rings, not be included in such assessments – however Shatter noted the potential of some debtors having jewellery worth hundreds of thousands of euro.
7. #JOBSWATCH: A company which enables small businesses take credit card payments using mobile technology is to create 40 jobs in Dublin. Minister for Jobs Richard Bruton announced this morning that SumUp, which gives sellers a mobile app which can allow smartphones to be used to process credit and debit card payments, is to set up a customer support and development centre in its new Irish operation.
8. #PROTESTS: More protests are expected to take place across countries in the Middle East today, as anger over a US-produced anti-Islam film spreads through the Muslim world. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has described the film as “hateful” and “deliberately designed to sow bigotry and bloodshed”, reports the AP.
9. #KATE: The Duchess of Cambridge is said to be “saddened and disappointed” by the actions of a French magazine, which has today published photographs showing her topless. The images, taken with a long lens, show the Duchess on the terrace of a guest house during a recent holiday in France.
Royal officials said the publication of such photos was like “turning the clock back 15 years” to the last days of Princess Diana, according to the Telegraph.
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