EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine things you need to know as you start your day.
1. #EUROZONE: The ECB is due to hold its regular monthly meeting today in Frankfurt. An expected rate rise is now unlikely to happen given the pressure on the Italian and Spanish economies, whose borrowing costs have hit 14-year highs. Britain’s Centre for Economics and Business Research says in a report today that Italy is likely to default, but has a slightly more positive forecast for Spain.
2. #SHOOTING: A post-mortem is due to be held today on the remains of a man who was found dead at his home in Carrigaline, Co Cork, yesterday with gunshot wounds. Gardaí are appealing to the public for assistance in their investigation of the murder.
3. #SYDNEY: Police in Sydney have said that a device placed around a teenage girl’s neck which took experts ten hours to remove yesterday was an elaborate hoax.
4. #MITCHELL: The Mirror (print edition) reports that Fine Gael TD Aine Collins is calling on her party’s presidential election nominee Gay Mitchell to explain why he wrote a letter to US authorities several years ago asking for double murderer Paul Hill to be taken off Florida’s death row. Hill was later executed by lethal injection.
5. #DEATH PENALTY: Meanwhile, British MPs could debate the reintroduction of the death penalty after a new e-petition scheme received voter support for such a debate, according to the BBC. Amnesty International has spoken out against the move, saying the death penalty is a “cruel relic of the past”.
6. #SCHOOLS: The Department of Education has proposed increasing class sizes for both primary and second-level pupils in an effort to save €75 million, the Irish Times reports, and is considering merging some of the 42 teacher training courses currently available. The paper also reports that 14 new secondary schools will open in the next three years.
7. #DATA: Tallaght Hospital’s acting chief has indicated that the leaking of patient information may not be confined to that hospital alone, according to the Irish Times. The Independent reports that Tallaght will continue to outsource its paperwork, despite the data breach. RTÉ reports that a Freephone number will begin operating today for Tallaght Hospital patients and former patients who are concerned about their info.
8. #UP AND ATOM: A 31-year-old Swedish man was arrested in his home after he contacted Sweden’s Radiation Authority to check if it was possible for him to split atoms at home. He has been charged with the unauthorised possession of nuclear material.
9. #CHILEAN MINERS: Tomorrow marks the first anniversary of the Chilean mine collapse which trapped 33 men below the earth’s surface for 69 days. A year on, and almost half of those men are unemployed and only one appears to have successfully managed to live off of the fame. Four have returned to work as miners.
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