LAST UPDATE | 20 Nov 2019
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1. #PROCUREMENT: Foreign security, government reviews and the supply of newspapers to a government department are among the hundreds of services procured by the public service outside official guidelines in recent years. Millions have been spent on services procured on almost 350 occasions over a three-year period.
2. #SPURS: Jose Mourinho has been given the top job at Tottenham Hotspur, just hours after it revealed the departure of Mauricio Pochettino from the role. The club said it was “delighted to announce” the appointment in an announcement online at 6.30am this morning.
3. #HEALTH: Just over one-third of Irish people have a normal weight with 60% of adults considered overweight or obese, according to the latest Department of Health’s Healthy Ireland survey. The survey also shows that 17% of Ireland’s population now smokes and only around half of men and women achieve the minimum level of recommended physical activity each day.
4. #MIGRATION: A ferry crew found 25 migrants in a refrigerated container on a boat sailing from the Netherlands to Britain yesterday. The cargo vessel was bound for a port in Suffolk but returned to a Dutch port near Rotterdam after the stowaways were found.
5. #FINE GAEL: Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is continuing to back Fine Gael by-election candidate Verona Murphy after she repeatedly linked migrants with terror group Isil, the Irish Independent reports. Varadkar said he would campaign with Murphy in the coming days despite coming under pressure from some in his own party.
6. #IN THE PAPERS: UK newspapers have been reacting to the televised verbal tussle between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn last night. Last night’s debate was almost eclipsed by the Conservative Party’s Twitter account which re-branded itself as a factchecking channel yesterday evening, drawing heavy criticism.
7. #PSC: Chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Simon Byrne has met businessman Kevin Lunney who was abducted and tortured two months ago. The Quinn Industrial Holdings (QIH) director suffered life-changing injuries after he was taken near his home and violently assaulted.
8. #TAKE A LEAP: Plans for the introduction of “next generation ticketing” on public transport in Ireland are being progressed in a move which could ultimately see the Leap Card being replaced by 2027. Passengers could be able to pay for their trip through phones, bank cards or official ID cards.
9. #HONG KONG: The US Senate has unanimously adopted legislation supporting “human rights and democracy” in Hong Kong, threatening to revoke its special economic status, and angering China which promptly summoned a US diplomat and threatened countermeasures.
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