EVERY DAY, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you need to know with your morning cup of coffee.
1. #STRIKE: The Dublin Bus strike is entering its third day, with up to 400,000 commuters expected to be affected by the action. Irish Rail has said that intercity, commuter and DART services will continue as normal.
2. #THE TROUBLES: Declassified British government documents have revealed the existence of a secret interrogation centre in Derry during the early 1970s. The violent treatment of 12 internees led the Irish government to take a case to the European Commission of Human Rights.
3. #POLITICS: Moves are being made to create a new alliance of independent TDs and disaffected and former Labour TDs for the purposes of speaking rights in the Dáil – although there have been no formal discussions as yet.
4. #HEALTHCARE: The Minister for Health is planning to announce the introduction of free GP care for children aged under five later this year, as part of the phased introduction of free primary care for all, the Irish Times reports.
5. #OVERTIME: The son of the Public Accounts Committee’s chairman claimed the equivalent of almost 22 weeks’ overtime over one year in his position as his father’s personal secretary in the Department of Enterprise, according to the Irish Independent. The overtime claims by Andrew McGuinness totalled €30,817 in 2008.
6. #MEDIA: The Washington Post newspaper is being bought by Amazon.com founder and chief executive Jeffery Bezos for $250 million in cash. Meanwhile, the Boston Globe newspaper is to be sold to the owner of the Boston Red Sox for $70 million, and Newsweek is being sold to IBT Media.
7. #DIRECT PROVISION: Several cases of ‘inappropriate sexual behaviour’ were reported at direct provision hostels last year, the annual report by the Reception and Integration Agency shows. The report also shows the average length of time asylum seekers spend living under the controversial accommodation arrangement is continuing to increase – despite a sharp decline in the number of applicants.
8. #EMBASSIES: Intercepted conversations between two al-Qaeda figures were the basis for a series of sudden closures of US embassies across the Middle East last week. The discussion included details of one of the most serious plots since the 9/11 attacks, according to the New York Times.
9. #SNAKE ATTACK: Two boys, aged five and seven, have died after being strangled by a snake which escaped from a pet shop in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. It is believed the reptile slipped out of its cage and travelled through the ventilation system of the store into the apartment above, where the boys were sleeping.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say