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The Evening Fix... now with added 114-year-old Mexican
Here are the things we learned, loved and shared today.
HERE ARE THE things we learned, loved and shared today as we round off the day in three easy steps.
THINGS WE LEARNED
#STRIKE: Bus Éireann is preparing for a major strike tomorrow, after admitting it was “highly unlikely” that it could stop members of the National Bus and Rail Union from striking from midnight in protest at proposed pay cuts. 1,100 of its 2,500 employees are members; others are unlikely to pass picket lines, meaning many services will not be running.
#ROADS: A man in his 50s has died after two trucks collided in Co Roscommon. The incident occurred in the early hours of the morning on the N5 between Ballinagare and Tulsk.
#LAWYERS: Alan Shatter has offered an olive branch to the legal profession in an effort to win support for his proposed reforms of legal regulation – saying he will allow nominated bodies to appoint members to its board. The legislation had met with opposition from solicitors and barristers because the board of the new regulator and disciplinary body was to have a majority of members appointed by the Minister for Justice – but this will no longer be the case.
#TURKEY: 40 people have died, and over 100 injured, in two bombs in Turkey. The blasts struck the city hall and post office in Reyhanli, close to the country’s border with Syria – which has become home to many fleeing the Syrian violence.
#PAKISTAN: 11 people have died in an explosion in Karachi, Pakistan – in a Taliban bombing aiming to disrupt the elections taking place in the country today. Polling has been taking place in what marks the first time that one democratically-elected government will give way to another. An Irish journalist based in Pakistan for several years – the New York Times’ Declan Walsh – has been ordered to leave the country, however, seemingly over his reporting.
#SPACE STATION: Two NASA astronauts have repaired an ammonia leak on the International Space Station, after a six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk to replace a busted pump. The leak, which was observed on Thursday, was a worrying one – ammonia is needed to cool the station. The whole procedure was streamed live online.
THINGS WE LOVED
- The news that the creator of the famous ‘Rachel’ haircut of the 1990s was high when he conceived it – and that Jennifer Aniston also hated the trademark do.
- The pretty impressed face of Amalia Lopez, who is Mexico’s oldest living woman, and who was recognised as such this week. She’s a mere 114 years old. (Photo: Eduardo Verdugo/AP)
- This pretty awesome (but also, we warn you, really big) infographic showing how many man-made satellites, and manned missions, have been made to other bodies in our solar system.
- Here’s a girl running through a wet garden, with a dog. As the Reddit title put it: ‘Nope… and nope‘.
- Finally, on the day that an ammonia leak on the International Space Station was repaired after a lengthy spacewalk, another scientific endeavour: a special circular saw which is built to stop immediately if it touches an aymmetric load – like a human hand. Enjoy.
(YouTube/John Presciutti)
