EVERY DAY, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you need to know before you start your day…
1. #BELFAST: A number of police officers have been wounded and there have been 12 arrests following further violence in Belfast overnight. Clashes between loyalists and the PSNI follow a controversial vote by the local council to restrict the flying of the Union flag at City Hall.
2. #HOAX CALL: The radio station behind the hoax phone call to a hospital where Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, was staying has apologised for the call taken by a nurse who was subsequently found dead yesterday. 2Day FM’s chief executive Rhys Holleran said that the DJs behind the call were “completely shattered” by Jacintha Saldanha’s death
3. #LAWSUITS: It has emerged that four record labels have filed papers in the High Court to commence proceedings against Irish internet service providers. The cases come on foot of Ireland’s controversial signing of a statutory instrument on copyright earlier this year.
4. #HEALTH: Around 3,500 jobs in the country’s health service are set to be axed next year under the Department of Health’s revised plan for implementation of the Croke Park Agreement on public sector pay and reform. New targets have been laid down in a document published on the Department’s website and the story leads today’s Irish Times.
5. #PROPERTY TAX: A government backbencher has called on the Finance Minister Michael Noonan to clarify whether homes affected by pyrite will be exempt from the property tax. Regina Doherty said there was no mention in the property tax legislation published yesterday of the “thousands of homes” affected by pyrite.
6. #NO CONFIDENCE: The government will be forced to defend its record next week when a Sinn Féin motion of no confidence in the coalition is debated by the Dáil. Though the motion has been criticised Sinn Féin TDs say that other proposed motions related to specific budget measures announced this week were ruled out of order.
7. #GAY MARRIAGE: The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear challenges to the law which bans paying federal benefits to same-sex couples. The challenge to the Defence of Marriage Act (DOMA) will be heard in the country’s highest court next year with a ruling expected in the summer.
8. #CLIMATE CHANGE: In what has been described as a ‘historic shift’ the UN climate talks in Doha, Qatar are being dominated by talk of rich nations having to compensate poor nations for losses due to climate change, BBC News reports. The US opposes the measure but could come under pressure if all other nations back the proposal.
9. #POST SECRET: It’s the internet phenomenon in which hundreds of people send their deepest secrets to one man who picks the best and features them on his website. Now the founder of PostSecret, Frank Warren, has told TheJournal.ie what the secret to his website’s runaway success is.
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