EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you need to know with your morning cup of coffee.
1. #TRAVEL: Winter weather conditions have affected air travel around Europe with many flights delayed or cancelled. Both Aer Lingus and Ryanair have had to cancel flights and are advising customers that the weather conditions continue to be a threat to operating schedules.
2. #GROWTH: IBEC has said that 2013 is set to be the “turning point” for Ireland’s domestic economy as households start to feel more confident about their outlook and so begin to increase their general spending. The body expects final figures for 2012 to show economic growth of 1.2 per cent which would make Ireland the second-fastest growing economy in the eurozone for the year.
3. #CYSTIC FIBROSIS: An assessment of a pioneering new treatment for cystic fibrosis has concluded that the drug is too expensive for across the board reimbursement by the HSE, RTÉ reports. The report says that a company should only be reimbursed if the treatment, which costs €234,000 a year per patient, has worked.
4. #OVERWORKED: Junior medical doctors are being asked to work shifts of up to 36 hours in succession, sometimes working up to 100 hours a week altogether. A source told TheJournal.ie that, while workers are supposed to be paid overtime for the extra hours, this rule is often disregarded.
5. #ABORTION: Taoiseach Enda Kenny has come under fire over his comments on yesterday’s The Week in Politics about the abuse he received from pro-life groups. Kenny said he had received messages from all over the country and was being “branded as worse than Herod”. This morning Senator Rónan Mullen said the Taoiseach was “demonising” pro-life people and accused him of adopting a “passive aggressive strategy to undermine people who oppose his dangerous proposal”.
6. #CANCER: The Irish Cancer Society is due to publish its five year strategy this morning as it emerges that there are twice as many deaths related to cancer in some disadvantaged areas as there are in better-off communities. Speaking to the Irish Independent, chairman of the society, John Kennedy said it was going to work to extend the reach into poorer communities in order to bridge the gap.
7. #JOBS: Thai food outlet Diep at Home has announced the creation of 20 new jobs as part of its expansion into Templeogue in Dublin. Meanwhile, Nua Healthcare has said it will create 50 new positions across Dublin, Kildare, Laois and Offaly in nursing and social care.
8. #ALGERIA: The death toll in the Algerian hostage crisis has climbed past 80 as Algerian forces searching the refinery for explosives found dozens more bodies. The group that claimed responsibility for the takeover have warned of more such attacks against the country backing France’s military intervention in Mali.
9. #INDIA: The trial of the five men accused of the murder of a student who died after being gang-raped is due to begin today. The father of the 23-year-old victim has called for her attackers to be hanged and said he would only rest once a fast-track court had handed down its verdict.
- Over on DailyEdge.ie: Justin Bieber’s arse, Chris de Burgh’s a shortarse, and Katie Price is an arse… It’s The Dredge>
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