EACH WEEKDAY EVENING, TheJournal.ie brings you five stories you really should check out by 5pm.
1. #FINANCE: The Governor of the Central Bank has announced that his staff are carrying out a review of how financial institutions are observing the current code of conduct in dealing with mortgage arrears. This morning, Patrick Honohan told the Oireachtas Finance Committee that while a blanket forgiveness scheme for mortgage debt relief is unlikely, the banks will be expected to look after those people in large arrears.
2. #PALMER REPORT: The long-awaited United Nations report regarding an Israeli raid on a flotilla attempting to breach the blockade of Gaza last May has concluded that Israel’s naval blockade of the area is legal – but that the IDF used excessive force against activists.
Turkey – which saw nine nationals killed in the incident – has reacted angrily, expelling the Israeli ambassador and threatening to take the matter to the International Court of Justice. Israel has also expressed reservations about some of the statements in the report.
3. #HACKING: The two teenagers arrested in connection with the hacking of Fine Gael’s website earlier this year have been released without charge. In the hacking attack, the new site was replaced with a holding page marked ‘Anonymous’ and a message was displayed that alleged the site was censoring visitors.
4. #EUROZONE: Wondering which country is boosting Eurozone GDP growth? The answer may surprise you, as it’s a country without a government.
Yep – it’s Belgium. The country, which has been without a government for 15 months, has a GDP average of 0.7 per cent – boosting the Euro average to 0.2 per cent. (Thank you, Belgium.)
5. #ELECTRIC PICNIC: Missing Electric Picnic? Well, we’ve hand picked nine videos to help you pretend you’re there so you can enjoy the best bits. (Without a warm beer in sight.)
If you are going – and you’re pregnant – you might want to reconsider: journalist and writer Colin Murphy recalls the year he and his heavily-pregnant partner camped it out in Stradbally – and how they were lucky their child wasn’t born in a field. And called Electra.
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