EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine things you need to know as you kick off your day.
1. #REFERENDUM: The polls have opened across the country, with over 3.1 million people entitled to vote in today’s referendum on ratifying the Fiscal Compact treaty. Polls remain open until 10pm, with the count beginning tomorrow. This morning we’re asking you: do you intend to vote today?
2. #COURTS: A man is due in court this morning charged in connection with the killing of Siobhan Stapleton, the 51-year-old Kilkenny mother-of-five who died last Friday. The man had been arrested on Tuesday.
3. #INVESTIGATION: The body of the 21-year-old DCU student who died in a Tokyo hotel room last week is to be flown home from Japan today. Nicola Furlong’s remains will be returned to her family in Curracloe, Co Wexford, while Japanese police continue their investigations.
4. #NO TOBACCO DAY: Health minister James Reilly has said the vast majority of smokers are determined to quit the habit, as the world marks No Tobacco Day today. An EU survey marking the day found that Irish smokers begin smoking earlier than most, though anti-smoking groups say Ireland is falling short of international conventions.
5. #DERBY FIRE: The parents of six children who were killed at a house fire in Derby earlier this month have been formally charged with their murder. Michael and Mairead Philpott, aged 55 and 31 respectively, were formally charged last night after being arrested earlier in the day.
6. #PERJURY: The former editor of the News of the World has been charged with perjury after a day of being questioned by police in Scotland. Andy Coulson – who was hired as David Cameron’s Director of Communications after his time at the paper – had told a Scottish politician’s trial that he was unaware of phone-hacking during his time at the paper.
7. #YER WHA?: Almost half of Irish firms are confused by the term ‘cloud computing’, a survey has found. The Behaviour and Attitudes poll for O2 found that 45 per cent of businesses were either ‘confused’ or ‘very confused’ by the terminology.
8. #OFF THE AIR: RTÉ has told staff unions that workers could face further pay cuts this year, in the broadcaster’s attempts to halve its projected €50 million deficit. RTÉ News said proposed measures include the “repositioning” of Lyric FM, Raidió na Gaeltachta and the RTÉ Guide.
9. #BACK IN BLACK: The latest instalment in the Men in Black franchise has topped the box office ratings in China – but only after censors removed 13 minutes of footage from the film. Footage was cut from MIB 3 in order to remove three scenes which featured Chinese ‘humans’ (actually aliens) attacking protagonist Will Smith.
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