A young Hindu girl dressed as "Kumari", or living goddess, pauses at a ceremony during the Hindu festival of Ram Navami in Kolkata, India. Ram Navami is a celebration of the birthday of the Hindu God, Lord Rama
Image: Bikas Das/AP
EVERY EVENING, TheJournal.ie brings you a round-up of all the day’s main news, as well as the bits and pieces you may have missed along the way.
- Health minister James Reilly has defended his cabinet colleague Phil Hogan after it was reported that the environment minister has refused to pay an outstanding bill of over €4,000 in property management fees – while simultaneously encouraging people to pay the household charge.
- Figures produced overnight from the Local Government Management Authority showed that as of midnight last night, an estimated 805,569 homes had registered either to pay the €100 charge, or to get a waiver from it.
- Meanwhile, an emergency motion has been tabled for tomorrow night’s meeting of Dublin City Council, by Sinn Féin councillors who want the local authority to become the first in Ireland to formally oppose the charge.
- The British government is reportedly considering plans to monitor all phone and internet traffic in the UK – in a move which could have implications for Irish internet users. Here’s how.
- Justice minister Alan Shatter has confirmed a criminal investigation is underway into the circumstances of how a Garda officer was slashed in the face during a repatriation flight to Nigeria last month.
- Shatter has also said the government has no plans to get rid of either of its two jets – one of which had been earmarked for retirement by the last government.
- A circus trainer remains in hospital after being trampled by an elephant at a circus in Cork yesterday evening.
- In Burma, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is set to become an MP – declaring victory in her by-election to gain a seat in the national parliament. Her victory comes 22 years after she led her party to overall election success, only for the military junta to strike out the result and put her under house arrest for almost two decades.
- Police in Northern Ireland have appealed for information after a number of separate petrol bomb attacks in the region.
Romanians perform fire stunts during an event to mark Earth Day in Bucharest, Romania. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
- Another busy day in the sporting world: Tipperary and Cork drew in the National Hurling League, while Kilkenny booked their place in the semi-finals with a thumping win over Galway.
- Cross-channel, Tottenham overcame Swansea to catch up with Arsenal in the race for third place in the Premier League, but it was another miserable day for Kenny Dalglish as Liverpool slumped to defeat against Newcastle.
- The exploits of the hurlers and footballers shouldn’t distract from Irish tennis player James McGee, who has won two different competitions at the inaugural International Tennis Federation (ITF) Futures event in Bahrain.
- A Pakistani boy, 13, has died after setting fire to himself – because his parents couldn’t afford to buy him a new school uniform.
- In this evening’s Read Me, Survivors of Symphysiotomy chairperson Marie O’Connor writes about how the barbaric practice of symphysiotomy was portrayed as an easy way of ensuring an easy childbirth – when it was anything but.
- Former Boyzone singer Ronan Keating has confirmed reports that he and wife Yvonne have split after almost 14 years of marriage.
- Imagine the biggest storm you can think of. Then forget about it, because it’s tiny compared to this one: a solar tornado that’s five times wider than planet Earth.
- Official reports in Japan have suggested that if the area off its east coast was hit by another 9.0-magnitude earthquake, the resulting tsunami could be 34 metres in height – more than double the height of the one that caused so much damage last year.
- In case you missed it earlier, we have some exciting news to share with you about the forthcoming future for TheJournal.ie.
- On a different subject entirely, here is a round-up of today’s best April Fool’s Day news stories.
- Ever wondered who gets to keep the stuff that gets lost when a ship sinks? Wonder no more – our Susan Ryan has been trying to figure out the legalities of it all.
- As we mentioned, yesterday would have been Dermot Morgan’s 60th birthday. The lamented satirist is remembered by most as Father Ted, but had a richer career of political satire behind him by then. Given how many of you liked yesterday’s reminder, here – via YouTuber TByrno – is the opening of his Live show in 1994.
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