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# need to know
The Evening Fix... now with added memes and genes
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
#ANGLO TAPES: There have been calls for recordings of conversations between top executives at Anglo Irish Bank to be handed over to Gardaí and the DPP. The tapes, published by the Irish Independent, appear to suggest that the bank deliberately understated the extent of its financial problems so that the State would be on the hook for the whole lot. Here’s our selection of some of the most striking quotes from the tapes.
#AIB: Both personal and business customers at AIB are going to face higher bank charges from the end of August – with some fees rising by a whopping 75 per cent. Here’s our full guide to what’s changing.
#WHISTLEBLOWER: Where oh where is Edward Snowden? The man who blew the whistle on US internet surveillance was due to leave a flight from Moscow to Havana, Cuba this morning – but never made it to the plane. He hasn’t actually been seen by the public or press yet, but his American passport has been revoked.
#DONABATE: Gardaí are stepping up their patrols on a north Dublin beach after allegations that men were engaging in “lewd acts” on the beach. The paper yesterday reported that the beach at Donabate had become an “open-air sex den” with men having sex in broad daylight.
#ITALY: Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has been sentenced to seven years in jail after being found guilty of having sex with an underage girl, and then trying to have criminal charges against her dropped. The 76-year-old is also banned from public office – but neither punishment will take effect until the appeals process has been exhausted, which could take years.
#SPAIN: A 26-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder, after attempting to flush her newborn baby down the toilet. The boy, just two days old, was found wrapped in plastic bags and still had his umbilical cord attached when he was cut out of a drain. He may have been in the train for up to 40 hours.
THINGS WE LOVED
- Poor seat 17A, going empty while Edward Snowden (selectively?) misses his flight.
- On a related note, we’re loving the fact that dozens of international journalists took a flight from Moscow to Havana just because they thought someone else was on board, and now they’re on an alcohol-free plane to Cuba for absolutely no reason.
- We’re not sick of Get Lucky yet, so we’re making you listen to Barack Obama sing it.
- Here is the most unfortunate and probably CGI-ed GIF you’ll see today.
THINGS WE SHARED
- This is interesting… Sony and Disney have started offering new movies for online streaming in South Korea, in a bold (and possibly industry-redefining) effort to stop movie piracy.
- But will that save the movie industry? Perhaps not. Let’s pretend you’re an aspiring musician, and one of your tracks is played on Pandora a million times. How much money do you expect to make from that? Probably more than you’d actually get.
- Now, not everyone is a fan of Richard Dawkins… but this video has been doing the rounds with particular vigour today. The first five minutes of this eight-minute talk about memes is pretty standard going. The rest is… wait, what?
(YouTube: The Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors’ Showcase)
