A demonstrator holds a computer keyboard during a demonstration in Tunis. Tunisia’s Islamist prime minister has decided to form a non-partisan technocrat government – to the disdain of his own party. (AP Photo)
HERE ARE THE things we learned, loved and shared today.
THINGS WE LEARNED
#HORSE MEAT: The Food Safety Authority of Ireland has advised anyone who may have bought a Findus beef lasagne product not to eat it, after it emerged that some of the products contained up to 100 per cent horse meat. The products, which were sold in Ireland but taken off the shelves earlier this week, may contain a veterinary chemical which can cause health problems in humans. The beef in the products was provided from France, where investigations are underway.
#PROMISSORY NOTES: The promissory notes have formally today been abandoned, with the NTMA officially issuing a stack of Government bonds which will be used to cover the former IBRC’s debts instead. Eamon Gilmore has called the arrangement “very, very significant”, while businesses and financial institutions have also welcomed the deal.
#MAGDALENES: TDs will vote next week on whether to back calls for a formal State apology for the women of the Magdalene Laundries, after Fianna Fáil tabled a motion which will be voted on this Wednesday. Earlier, the Council of Europe’s Human Rights Commissioner said the victims of forced labour deserved State apologies “and restorative measures”.
#EU BUDGET: European Union leaders have agreed on the EU’s Budget for 2014 to 2020 – divvying up spending worth a total of €960 billion, a cut in real-terms compared to the previous seven years. There’s already unease about it passing, however – with the leaders of the four biggest groups of MEPs saying they won’t offer the support necessary to pass it.
#DRINK DRIVING: Independent TD Clare Daly has asked for the Garda Ombudsman to investigate how details of her arrest for alleged drink-driving last week became public. The call came as the official results of a urine sample given by Daly showed she was well under the legal urine-alcohol limit having taken a hot whiskey to treat a cold.
#I WILL: Irish people are waiting until they’re older before they marry, according to new official figures from the CSO. The average groom was 34.1 years old in 2010 – up from just 26.2 in the 1970s – while the average bride is aged 32, up from 24 in 1977. Civil marriages accounted for 29 per cent of all marriages in 2010, the same amount as in 2009.
THINGS WE LOVED
- The crazy, runaway day of Sinn Féin’s Gerry Adams. Does anyone know a good glazier?
- These wonderful photos from Karl Martini 0f the residents of the Liberties in inner city Dublin. You can see more of his work – and some Bono-baiting graffiti – over here.
- We’re not sure if we count this as ‘loved’, but anyway… This McDonalds in Lockport, Illinois is doing a Valentine’s Day Dinner service.
A Chinese actor dressed as a Qing Dynasty emperor sits on a sedan chair as he prepare for a rehearsal of an ancient Qing Dynasty ceremony for the upcoming Chinese New Year at Ditan Park in Beijing. Chinese will celebrate the Lunar New Year on February 10 this year, marking the arrival of the Year of the Snake. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
THINGS WE SHARED:
- This piece about how Groundhog Day might just be the perfect comedy, for ever.
- This piece about how Groundhog Day might just be the perfect comedy, for ever.
- This piece about how Groundhog Day might just be the perfect comedy, for ever. (Sorry, that gag only really works once…)
- Speaking of seeing the same things over and over again… Canadian photographer Francois Brunelle makes it his mission to find people who look perfectly alike but who aren’t at all related. This pretty striking gallery is some of his work. (We think the pair in number 15 are the most alike.)
- We quite liked this. You’ll remember Collective Cadenza from the Google Translate version of the Fresh Prince theme. This is another one from their vaults: it’s an abridged history of Western music in 16 different musical genres.
(Video: collectivecadenza/YouTube)
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