EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you need to know with your morning coffee.
1. #MURDER: Two men are facing charges of murder today over the shooting dead of PSNI Constable Stephen Carroll. Brendan McConville, 39, a former Sinn Féin member of Craigavon borough council, and 19-year-old John Paul Wootton are accused of killing PSNI constable Stephen Carroll in March 2009.
2. #TALKS: Finance Minister Michael Noonan will meet with UK Chancellor George Osborne today to discuss how to best maintain Ireland and Britain’s economic ties following the UK’s refusal to participate in a new deal on increased EU fiscal consolidation.
3. #BELGIUM: The death toll following yesterday’s gun and grenade attack in the Belgian city of Liège has risen to six following the death of a 17-month-old baby. This morning police confirmed they had also found the body of a 45-year-old woman, understood to be a neighbourhood cleaner, at a warehouse regularly used by the gunman.
4. #CORPORATION TAX: DUP MPs warned that Ireland’s corporation tax rate may be under threat by the EU treaty negotiations taking place in the new year – despite previous assurances it would not be challenged, reports the Irish Times. Last night, Fianna Fáil leader Micháel Martin also raised fears that Ireland may be left vulnerable to an attack on its corporation tax rate.
5. #HOUSEHOLD CHARGE: Independent TD Thomas Pringle has called on homeowners not to pay the newly introduced €100 Household Charge – saying he has no intention of paying it himself, reports RTÉ. Pringle has called the measure a “tax too far”. Households could face fines of up to €2,500 for refusal to pay the tax.
6. #TUNISIA: Veteran human rights activist and former dissident Moncef Marzouki has been sworn in as president of Tunisia. On accepting the post, Marzouki said that the world would be watching Tunisia’s “laboratory of democracy”, reports the LA Times.
7. #EURO: The euro has fallen to an 11-month low against the dollar amid concerns that EU leaders will not find a solution to the escalating European debt crisis, reports the Economic Times.
8. #EIRCOM: Eircom says it will see a “significant” reduction in performance for the year ending October 2011 – but insists this drop is in line with expectations, reports the Irish Independent. The battered economy, lower consumer confidence and competition have been cited as reasons for the fall off.
9. #PRUNE OFF: It’s no secret that Britain and the EU are not seeing eye-to-eye at the moment – and one MEP has hit on a novel way of settling some differences.
Sir Graham Watson, frustrated at a European Food Safety Authority ruling suggesting certain fruits do not have a laxative effect, has challenged an EU Commissioner to a prune-eating contest, reports the Telegraph. Who says playground tactics don’t work?
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