EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine stories you need to know this morning.
1. #WAR CRIMES: The trial of former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic begins at The Hague today, with Mladic charged with 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including genocide. His defence team had argued for a delay in the trial because of the 70-year-old’s ill health but the request was rejected by the judges. At least 400 witnesses are expected to testify during the trial.
2. #OCCUPY GALWAY: Gardaí in Galway have dismantled the Occupy Galway Camp at Eyre Square which had been in place for 215 days. The operation involving about 40 Gardaí began in the early hours of the morning. Galway City council said it took the action to remove the protesters because the camp had been erected without consent.
3. #SHOOTING: Gardaí are investigating after a 32-year-old man was shot and injured as he sat in his car in Ballyfermot in Dublin late last night. The man was approached by a lone gunman who fired a number of shots, hitting the man at least once in his side. The man was able to drive his car to nearby Cloverhill Prison where he received help before being taken to Tallaght Hospital.
4. #CARETAKER GOVERNMENT: The president of Greece is set to appoint a caretaker government ahead of fresh parliamentary elections which are expected to take place next month. The BBC is reporting that a final round of talks to secure a coalition failed on Tuesday, almost a week and a half after the elections produced a hung parliament. The uncertainty has hit the markets with the euro falling to a four month low against the dollar this morning, the Guardian reports.
5. #MISSION TO PREY: A Kenyan bishop has become the third cleric to take legal action against RTE over its controversial Prime Time Investigates programme Mission to Prey, according to the Irish Independent. Edel Kennedy reports that papers were lodged at the High Court earlier this week by Philip Sulumeti, who is seeking damages as a result of his inclusion and portrayal in the programme. Separately, senior management from RTE and the BAI are to meet with an Oireachtas committee later today to discuss issues arising out of the Fr Kevin Reynolds libel case.
6. #COURTS: A former Fine Gael councillor who is on trial over corruption charges has told the court that the €80,000 he received from a property developer was a loan, the Irish Times reports. Fred Forsey Junior said he intended repaying the money he had received from the property developer and denied lobbying members of Waterford County Council to rezone land owned by the developer.
7. #MENTAL HEALTH: Almost one in three young people have experienced mental health problems according to a major new survey of youth mental health in Ireland. The study of 14,000 people aged between 12 and 25 found that nearly half of all sixth years in secondary school reported drinking behaviour outside the normal range and that depression and anxiety were found to be significantly higher when young people engaged in harmful drinking.
8. #BIPARTISANSHIP: The government has said it will not oppose a Fianna Fáil bill which would regulate firms offering debt management advice and household budgeting services. The proposal would compel operators in the debt advice industry to declare their fees upfront and for the Central Bank to produce a code of practice.
9. #SO LONG: One of the biggest companies in America has said it plans to stop advertising on Facebook – because the ads just don’t work. The Wall Street Journal said that General Motors decided that ads on the social networking site have little impact on consumers’ car purchases. Facebook probably won’t be too worried though – the social networking company is expected to be valued at over $100 billion when it floats on the stock market in the next week…
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