EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine things you need to know as you start your day.
1. #SUPPORT: In its latest report on Ireland, the IMF is urging the EU to provide additional support to Ireland in tackling the banking crisis. The IMF also commended Ireland on its efforts to meet the bailout targets, but warned that income tax brackets may have to be increased.
2. #HEALTH: Sinn Féin’s Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin has criticised the government’s plans to restructure the HSE. The health body is to be replaced by a seven-member directorate, but the TD says that the plan is “only creating the semblance of doing something” to improve the health system.
3. #INNOVATION: IBM has released its list of the five technological advancements it expects to be implemented in the next five years, including changes to security passwords and mind reading. Check out the five here.
4. #SYRIA: Over 100 people have died in the past two days of violence in Syria as government security forces continue to crack down on protests. Arab League observers are expected to arrive in the country before the end of the month to view the situation from the ground.
5. #EGYPT: Thousands of women have taken to the streets in Egypt to protest recent violent attacks against woman by security forces. Soldiers have been filmed and photographed over the past week dragging women protesters by the hair, striking them about the head and kicking them as they lay on the ground.
6. #EXPORTS: Despite dipping in October, Enterprise Ireland says Irish exports have performed strongly through 2011. However, it warns that trading conditions will continue to be challenging in 2012.
7. #IMPLANTS: Thousands of women in Britain and France have been warned that their breast implants may leak after it emerged that leading implant supplier Poly Implant Prosthesis (PIP) used low-grade silicone in the implants. France24 reports that French authorities are expected to advise around 30,000 women to have their implants removed as a precaution over an alleged link with cancer.
8. #DAGGERS: The US Transportation Security Administration says it discovered two daggers concealed in a hallowed-out book on a passenger preparing to fly from a Washington airport.
9. #FRANKINCENSE: Some bad news for prospective wise men this morning: Frankincense is in danger of disappearing because the trees which produce it could be wiped out from a combination of fire, livestock grazing and insect attack, the Telegraph reports. And on that note, here’s one interpretation of why the three wise men were late to the party:
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