EVERY EVENING, TheJournal.ie brings you five things you should know by 5pm.
1. #CUTS: The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has said it is “gravely concerned” about a leaked HSE plan to fire all agency staff and end overtime in three hospitals. The INMO says that plans to remove 174 agency staff removed from the hospitals in Louth and Meath by the end of the year would have a dramatic impact on patient care – as agency staff are already being used to cover gaps in staffing that exist in the hospitals.
2. #TAXIS: A dispute over parking spaces for taxi drivers operating at Dublin Airport continues to see taxi services at the airport disrupted this afternoon. Taxi drivers stopped picking up passengers at the airport just after lunchtime today – over a dispute about the Dublin Airport Authority’s amendment to the temporary overflow area for taxis. The DAA says it is directing passengers to alternative modes of transport.
3. #LOCKED-IN SYNDROME: Tony Nicklinson, the British man who suffered from locked-in syndrome and had lost a legal battle to be allowed to end his life, has “peacefully” died at his home. In a statement, the family’s law firm said he had been refusing food and medical treatment for several days since the ruling by the court last week and had contracted pneumonia over the weekend.
4. #TODD AKIN: US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has said that congressman Todd Akin should drop out of his senate race after controversially claiming that womens’ bodies could prevent pregnancy in cases of “legitimate rape”. Akin’s comments, for which he has apologised and asked for forgiveness for, have drawn widespread criticism including from President Barack Obama who said the remarks were “offensive”.
5. #NASA: One of the Curiosity rover’s wind sensors has been damaged and is not providing data, according to the latest NASA update on its Mars research mission. The rover landed on the Red Planet on 6 August and researchers are putting it through its paces before sending it on its first proper run which will involve the unit drilling into the Martian rock to collect samples for analysis.
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