EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine things you need to know as you begin your day.
1. #BAILOUT: The finance ministers of the 17 eurozone member states, and the 27 countries of the European Union, are today beginning a two-day summit in Dublin. The meetings are the first since the bailout of Cyprus, and will give ministers an opportunity to discuss the fallout of the botched levy on small deposits. Proposals to extend the repayment period for the bailout loans of Ireland and Portugal will also be a focus point. Around 30 members of the Garda Representative Association are protesting outside Dublin Castle in response to the summit.
2. #RTÉ: The Director General Noel Curran says he is concerned that some of the top talent on RTÉ are being paid “too much”. Curran says that, once the broadcaster is finished negotiating outstanding contracts, salaries will be down by as much as 40 per cent from their highest level, according to the Irish Independent.
3. #KOREA: The US Secretary of State John Kerry has travelled to South Korea for meetings likely to focus of mounting tensions in the region. While there, Kerry is expected to call on China to evoke “a sense of urgency” in its talks with North Korea, the BBC reports. Meanwhile, a Pentagon report has given the clearest acknowledgement yet that the North probably has the capability of launching nuclear ballistic missiles.
4. #CANNABIS: The Irish Medical Board has approved a cannabis-based spray, which can ease symptoms and significantly improve the quality of life of people suffering from debilitating illnesses like multiple sclerosis. MS Ireland has previously estimated that many of the 8,000 people in Ireland who suffer from the disease could benefit from cannabis – however the Medical Independent reports that the spray cannot be made available in the country until the government changes the current legislation around the Misuse of Drugs Act.
5. #SAVITA: The inquest into the death of 31-year-old Savita Halappanavar will take place today. Yesterday, the husband of the late dentist thanked a midwife from Galway University Hospital for confirming her remarks about Ireland being “a Catholic country” as a part-explanation for his wife not being able to receive a termination last October. The inquest also heard that eight entries have been made retrospectively to Savita’s medical records.
6. #ALCOHOL: Doctors have called for action to be taken against cut-price alcohol, with the Irish Society of Gastroenterology calling for a 1 per cent levy on alcohol advertising and sponsorship, RTÉ News reports.
7. #CHILE: More than 100,000 people have taken to the streets in Chile students resumed their protests for education reforms. In Santiago, police fired tear gas and water cannon to break up a march, which resulted in eight officers and 109 protesters injured, the Washington Post reports. Demonstrators are demanding free access to education, saying that the current system is “profoundly unfair”.
8. #CYPRUS: Cyprus has eased the unprecedented eurozone capital controls it imposed to prevent a run on its stricken banking sector, ending restrictions on all transactions under €300,000 – however a daily cash withdrawal limit of €300 is to remain in place for at least the next seven days, the finance ministry decreed.
9. #GOOGLE: Google is to let users decide what happens to their data after they die or stop using their account. In a new feature called Inactive Account Manager, users can choose what happens to their emails, photographs, videos, blogs, social networks and other Google services if their account becomes inactive.
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