EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine things you need to know as you kick off your day.
1. #REPOSSESSIONS: The government has agreed to remove legal impediments which stop banks from being able to repossess houses where mortgages have fallen into significant arrears. The latest version of the EU-IMF memorandum of understanding sees the government agree to the measure in order to help banks start turning a profit again.
2. #REVIEW: A legal review into the murder of solicitor Pat Finucane – who was shot in his family kitchen, in front of his children, in Belfast in 1989 – is due to be published today. The review, commissioned by David Cameron, follows longtime accusations of potential British collusion in his UVF murder. Finucane had risen to prominence for successfully challenging the British government in several human rights cases.
3. #BUDGET 2013: TDs will vote this afternoon, and throughout the evening, on the Social Welfare Bill – which will translate some of the Budget’s most controversial proposals, such as a cut to the Respite Care Grant, into law. A general ‘second stage’ vote is due around lunchtime, with votes on individual sections expected throughout the afternoon and evening. TDs will also vote on Sinn Féin’s motion of no confidence in the government, at about 9pm.
4. #ROADS: A 90-year-old woman has died after being struck by a car in central Dublin last night. The woman was seriously injured after being struck on a small residential road in Drumcondra, and died overnight in the Mater hospital. The driver of the car, a 26-year-old woman, was not injured.
5. #WEATHER: About 60 flights from London’s Heathrow airport have been cancelled this morning as a result of freezing fog in Britain. A number of flights from Irish airports are among those which have faced disruption.
6. #NORTH KOREA: Only a day after it said it was deferring it, North Korea has held its planned rocket launch – underlining the potential threat posed by the renegade Asian state to its enemies. While North Korea says the rocket was merely intended to launch a weather satellite – a claim apparently backed up by the US military – countries including South Korea, Japan and the US see it as a front for a potential launch of a nuclear weapon.
7. #SYRIA: US president Barack Obama has said the United States now recognises the Syrian National Coalition as the legitimate government of that country. The recognition follows similar recognitions from the EU and European governments, and will increase international pressure on Bashar al-Assad to quit power.
8. #WHITE CHRISTMAS?: The Donegal postman who has become well-known for his spookily accurate weather predictions reckons there’s a serious chance of a White Christmas this year. Michael Gallagher told the Star he had seen animals foraging for winter food at a level he hadn’t seen before – and that there’s a 60-40 chance of waking up to snow on Christmas Day.
9. #GUESS WHO’S BACK: Eminem is to play at Slane Castle. No, that’s not a botched headline from 2005, when the rapper was due to play the Co Meath castle but pulled out to enter rehab – concert organisers have this morning confirmed that the 40-year-old rapper will play a gig there on August 17, two months after Bon Jovi perform at the amphitheatre.
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