EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine things you need to know as you start your day.
1. #TRAVEL: Ireland and the UK are to sign a new agreement today to introduce tougher border control measures including the exchange of biometric information in visa applications.
2. #NORTH KOREA: Streams of mourners have been paying their respects to the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, whose remains are now lying in state. His son and heir apparent Kim Jong Un was among the mourners to visit the glass coffin today. Concerns have been raised over how smooth the transition of power to Kim Jong Il’s third son will be, with the US, South Korea and Japan watching for any unexpected developments.
3. #MEASLES: The number of measles cases rose by 149 per cent last year to 403 cases, according to the HSE’s Health Protection Surveillance Centre.
4. #REGENERATION: Following the collapse of the public private partnership involved in the regeneration of Dublin’s Dolphin’s Barn, a number of residents have been left living in worse conditions than before the supposed regeneration, according to this morning’s columnist Eoin Lynch. Problems being experienced by locals include corrosive damp and raw sewage rising up through sinks and into washing machines.
5. #EGPYT: Egyptian troops are being heavily criticised after footage emerged of soldiers dragging a woman across the ground with her clothing torn revealing her bra. One soldier is filmed stamping on the woman’s torso as two others pull her along by her hands. Other footage showed soldiers kicking prostrate protesters in the head and striking them with batons. Parliamentary elections are still underway in Egypt.
6. #SYRIA: Syrian activists say that up to 70 army defectors were killed by government security forces yesterday after deserting their posts near the Turkish border.
7. #BURIED ALIVE: A 25-year-old Polish man who buried his former partner alive has been convicted of attempted murder by a Leeds court, the Guardian reports. The young woman managed to save herself by scratching on the cardboard box she was buried in and digging herself out.
8. #SIT IN: Former Vita Cortex staff are staging their fourth day of a sit-in at the company today in protest over redundancy payments. The company has come under NAMA’s control, but the state agency says workers need to look to the company’s owners for their redundancy pay, according to the Examiner.
9. #NOT DEAD: Good news for Bon Jovi fans – singer Jon says that despite a spate of recent rumours, he is in fact not dead. Photographer David Bergman tweeted Bon Jovi’s reaction to the rumours (sign reads: “Heaven looks a lot like New Jersey”):
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