Every morning, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you need to know as you start your day.
1. #BAILOUT: Moves are underway to reduce the interest rate on Ireland’s bailout loans from the EU/IMF today. The minister for communications, energy and natural resources Pat Rabbitte has told RTÉ that Ireland must secure a reduction in its interest rate – saying that the the case for a reduction was unarguable.
2. #JOBS: Today the government will announce a jobs initiative which is expected to include €30m for improving school buildings as well as create thousands of construction-related jobs. The funding for the scheme is coming from the Department of Education (€20 million) and the Exchequer (€10 million), RTÉ reports.
3. #MEDICINES: Pharmacists have warned that there is a shortage of vital medicines in the country, and that some cancer sufferers had been waiting weeks for chemotherapy tablets, the Irish Independent reports.
4. #BROADBAND: An initiative to bring high-speed broadband access to every home and business in the country is to be announced later today, RTÉ reports. Minister for Communications Pat Rabbitte said that the scheme will allow anyone who wishes to have broadband to access it by the end of 2012.
5. #ALCOHOL: Alcohol has been listed on the death certificates of 1,900 people over a three year period, according to recently released figures by the Central Statistics Office. However, chairwoman of the Coroners Society Isobel O’Dea said that while there had anecdotally been a rise in the number of people with alcohol in their systems when they died, that did not necessarily mean that the substance had contributed to a person’s death, the Irish Examiner reports.
6. #GREECE: Speculation is growing that Greece will need more funds than it has already received in its €110billion bailout package. The Greek government and EU officials met secretly in Luxembourg on Friday, after which it was reported that Greece was pulling out of the euro – however this has been denied, the Guardian reports.
7. #PAKISTAN: Pakistan’s first minister will address the country’s parliament about the death of Osama bin Laden – for the first time since the fatal raid in Abbottabad. Meanwhile, Obama has said that Laden likely had “some sort” of a support network inside Pakistan. Speaking on CBS show ’60 Minutes’, Obama said that he did not know who or what that support network was: ”That is something that we have to investigate and, more importantly, the Pakistani government has to investigate.”
8. #EGYPT: Twelve people have died and 232 have been wounded following clashes between Muslims and Christians in Cairo. The Egyptian military has said that it is sending the 190 people arrested in the clashes to be tried in the country’s Supreme Military Court, the Los Angeles Times reports.
9. #SUPER-INJUNCTIONS: A Twitter user has claimed to have been using the social networking site to reveal the identity of celebrities who have obtained super-injunctions to prevent mainstream media publishing details about their private lives, the BBC reports. With the rumour mill now in overdrive, some personalities are coming out to say that they have been mistakenly identified. British socialite Jemima Khan tweeted: “OMG – Rumour that I have a super injunction preventing publication of “intimate” photos of me and Jeremy Clarkson. NOT TRUE!”
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