A silhouetted President Barack Obama gestures while speaking at a campaign event at Delray Beach Tennis Center, Florida. The election is exactly two weeks away today. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
HERE ARE THE things you need to know as we round off the day in three easy steps.
THINGS WE LEARNED:
#CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL: A final decision on where to build the new National Children’s Hospital will be made in ‘two or three weeks’, Enda Kenny has said. Though the Dolphin Report on the subject was sent to James Reilly over four months ago, it has not yet been discussed with Kenny and Eamon Gilmore.
#BAILOUT: Meanwhile, Kenny has been keeping his cards close to his chest as to just what exactly he and Angela Merkel talked about on Sunday. Kenny faced questioning about the phone call in the Dáil today – but simply said the statement produced after the phone call spoke for itself. The EU has meanwhile raised €1 billion to pay our latest bailout instalment.
#LEAS CROSS: The former director of nursing at Leas Cross, the nursing home where mistreatment of residents was uncovered in 2005, has been found guilty of professional misconduct. RTÉ said Gráinne Paula Conway had been director at the home from 1999 to 2005, when the RTÉ documentary aired.
#PENSIONS: A new official report out this evening says charges levied by pensions companies can eat up as much as 30 per cent of the value of a pension. Social Protection minister Joan Burton says ensuring value for money in the pension sector will now be a priority for her.
#JOBSWATCH: It’s been an on-off day for jobs – and it’s all been to do with chicken. The Portuguese food chain Nando’s is opening two new stores to create 100 jobs, but 90 jobs are being lost with the closure of Co-operative Poultry Products Ltd in Co Cavan.
#iPAD MINI: Yes, the rumours were true. Apple’s unveiled a range of new products at an event in California – including a new, 7.9-inch iPad mini. The range also included a newer (and original-sized) iPad and a frighteningly thin iMac.
THINGS WE LOVED:
- The profound love and care that’s gone into this blog about life on the Luas Red Line.
- This touching love letter from FT columnist Matthew Engel to Ceefax, the BBC teletext service which is being killed off when the UK finishes the digital switchover at midnight.
- The ingenuity of these billboards for Science World.
For people who helped to write the book, they all seem pretty amazed. From left to right: Humphrey Jones, Aoibhinn Ni Shuilleabhain, Maria Delaney and Paul O’Dwyer at the launch of ‘A Neutron Walks Into A Bar‘, a book of scientific jokes and facts in aid of Cystic Fibrosis research. Picture by Lensmen.
THINGS WE SHARED:
- What do winners of Britain’s National Lottery spend their money on? That’s a matter that clearly exercises the data team at the Guardian.
- Argh! Captcha knows! Captcha knows!!!11!
- As if Old Spice weren’t already brilliant at viral advertising…
(Vimeo/Terry Crews)
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