Every morning, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine stories you need to know a little before 9am.
1. #ISRAEL The US has lifted a flight ban to Israel. Meanwhile, doctors have written a letter in The Lancet condemning the violence. The death toll currently stands at 35 Israeli deaths and 718 Palestinian deaths.
2. #MH17 Dozens more bodies from the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 are to arrive in the Netherlands today. Meanwhile, the EU is preparing to hit Russia with fresh sanctions over Moscow’s role in the Ukraine crisis.
3. #SLOW DEATH A murderer took two hours to die after being given a lethal injection in an Arizona prison. Joseph Wood was “gasping and struggled to breathe” for more than an hour after the injection. An investigation has been ordered.
4. #CHILDLINE Children’s counselling phone service Childline has issued a public appeal for donations as it is 20% below last year’s funding levels.
5. #FUNERAL The funeral of the Skeffington brothers, who died tragically in their home earlier this week, will take place tomorrow at St Attracta’s Church in Tourlestrane. It is expected that they will be buried together, says the Irish Independent.
6. #TRAIN CRASH A train has crashed into a school bus in India, killing at least 12 children at an unmanned railroad crossing. The bus driver also died in the incident.
7. #WEATHER WATCH Grab that Factor 30 – it’s going to be a scorcher today. We could be gearing up for the hottest day of the year, with temperatures possibly reaching 27 degrees. Just watch out for those thundery showers.
8. #LIKE Facebook’s net income leapt to $791m during the three months to 30 June, in a 138% increase on the same period last year. Ad revenues were up by 67% and the number of people who visited once a month climbed to 1.32billion.
9. #MOUTH FULL Surgeons removed a whopping 232 teeth from the mouth of an Indian teenager who sought medical help for a swelling in his jaw. It took seven hours to remove the ‘pearl-like teeth’ inside the jaw bone.
have your say