EVERY DAY, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you need to know with your morning cup of coffee.
1. #WE GOT A DEAL EU leaders reached a late night deal that it is hoped will go some way towards solving the European sovereign debt crisis. The Taoiseach was among those to welcome an agreement which will see a 50 per cent write off of Greek debt, the European-wide bailout fund increased to €1 trillion and a requirement for banks to raise more capital. But the finer details are still to be worked out.
2. #VOTING DAY The nation goes to the polls today with voting in the presidential election, two referendums and, in Dublin West, a by-election. Polling stations have been open since 7am and will stay open until 10pm tonight before counting begins tomorrow. The next president, the outcome of two constitutional amendments and the fourth TD for Dublin West should be clear by Saturday.
3. #THAILAND The government in Thailand has ordered a five-day holiday to allow residents of the capital Bangkok to flee the city ahead of expected flooding. Some 90 per cent of several districts which are submerged in water have been told to evacuate immediately, BBC News reports. More than 360 people have died so far in the worst flooding to hit the country in decades.
4. #FLOODS Extensions and paved lawns for cars contributed to this week’s flooding of homes across Dublin, according to Dublin City Council. The Irish Times reports that executive manager Tom Leahy has said that the drainage system in some homes was not designed for such improvements. One TD sympathised with the council but said criticising homeowners was “very simplistic”.
5. #JOBSWATCH On the jobs front this morning it has been announced 165 new positions are to be created in the coming years. IDA Ireland has announced that a Candian IT company is to provide 100 new jobs in Galway over this year and next as three cloud computing companies, Engine Yard, Pinger and Commence Corporation, also announce today they are setting up headquarters in Dublin.
6. #BERTIE Some of this morning’s papers carry excerpts from Bertie Ahern’s interview with Mike Murphy to be broadcast on RTÉ One tonight. In it the former Taoiseach says he believes he would have been able to play a “key role” had he still been in power during the financial crisis. He has also said that he paid back all the money from his infamous dig-out in the 90s, some to people he owed and some to charity.
7. #MADOFF The wife of fraudster Bernie Madoff has revealed how she and her husband tried to commit suicide three years ago. Ruth Madoff said she and her husband took “a bunch of pills” in December 2008 after the jailed swindler’s $65 billion fraud was revealed. The elaborate ponzi scheme led to Bernie Madoff being jailed for 150 years in 2009.
8. #GADDAFI Muammar Gaddafi’s driver and one of the few surviving members of his entourage, which was ambushed by Libyan rebels a week ago, has told The Guardian that the Colonel was looking very confused in the moments leading up to his capture and death. Huneish Nasr said of Gaddafi: “He wasn’t scared, but he didn’t seem to know what to do.”
9. #HARSH A man in Colorado called the police on a woman who was due to visit his home after his girlfriend arrived before her. Kevin Gaylor met a woman online, invited her to his house but after his girlfriend walked-in he reported his new acquaintance as an intruder when she arrived, AP reports.
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