EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine stories you need to know as you kick off your day.
1. #SAVITA: President Michael D Higgins has said there needs to be an investigation into the death of Savita Halappanavar which meets the needs of her family, the public, and the State. Praveen Halappanavar, Savita’s husband, last night repeated his call for a full independent inquiry funded by the government, saying he has no confidence that the HSE will do justice to the investigation.
2. #EU BUDGET: Taoiseach Enda Kenny and EU leaders are in Brussels today to kick off crucial talks about the budget for the European Union for the next seven years, amid calls for a cut in spending. Enda Kenny said the meeting will have significant implications for the EU over the coming years.
3. #GAZA: The fragile ceasefire between Israel and Gaza which began last night appears to be holding, following a week of violent attacks which killed at least 160 people. Twelve rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel in the hours immediately after the ceasefire agreement but caused no injuries and there was no response from the Israeli Defence Forces.
4. #COMPENSATION: Two cousins who were repeatedly raped and abused by a choir master starting when they were just 12 years old have been awarded a total of €4.7 million in compensation by a High Court jury, the Irish Independent reports. The figure is a record payment for damages for rape and sexual abuse charges.
5. #ALLOWANCES: The Oireachtas’ Public Accounts Committee will today publish a report which says the system of allowances for TDs and Senators is not fit for purpose and needs to be radically overhauled. The Irish Daily Mail reports that the leaked report says the allowances system should be overseen by an independent body rather than within the Oireachtas.
6. #SUICIDE ATTACKS: At least 35 people have been killed and many others injured in a deadly suicide attack on a religious procession in Pakistan overnight, which was the most serious assault in the country for five months. The attack happened as Muslim leaders are gathering fora rare summit in Islamabad.
7. #SETTLEMENT: A woman who was forced to travel to Britain for an abortion despite being terminally ill has been awarded ‘substantial’ compensation by the State, the Irish Times reports. Michelle Harte of Wexford, who has since died of cancer, sued for violation of her human rights last year after Cork University Hospital advised her to terminate her pregnancy because of the risk to her health, but would not authorise an abortion.
8. #WEATHER: The bad news: It’s probably wet and windy where you are now. The good news: It’s going to get brighter later. The bad news again: winter is going to bed in at the weekend with freezing cold weather and severe frost on the way.
9. #THANKSGIVING: Today is Thanksgiving in America which means – well, not a lot for people living in Ireland. But one of the more entertaining Thanksgiving traditions is the US President granting the traditional Thanksgiving pardon to one lucky turkey. Here’s Obama saving a turkey called Cobbler (and making a few jokes about elections and turkeys too).
(Video: whitehouse/YouTube)
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