Every afternoon, TheJournal.ie brings you 5 things you really need to know by 5pm.
1. #BAILOUT REPUBLIC?: Portugal has said it is in danger of having to ask for a bailout – because of the fears being spread across the eurozone by Ireland’s precarious situation. Both Michael Noonan and a markets insider, though, believe the bailout is already underway and will ‘come to a head’ within the next day or two.
On a related note, the government has indicated that it will announce its four-year budget plan next week, while the cost of Irish bonds has today fallen below the 8% ceiling for the first time in a week.
2. #SPEED CAMERAS: The Garda website is still down this evening, as users overload the site with requests for its new map of mobile speed cameras, which go live at midnight tonight,
The full map, however, can be accessed through our own story on the subject here.
3. #EMIGRATION: An Irish company that handles visa applications to Australia has seen a 60 per cent increase in the number of young Irish people wanting to emigrate to Oz.
Australian Visa Specialists said the bulk of its consumer base comes from graduates aged 18-25 who are leaving because there are no job prospects here, as well as slightly older people who have lost jobs and are struggling with personal debt.
4. #HOTEL EXPLOSION: Five Canadian tourists and two local staff members have been killed in a suspected gas explosion in the Mexican resort of Playa del Carmen, on the country’s Caribbean coast.
The luxury Grand Riviera Princess Hotel, just south of Cancun, was struck by the blast in the early hours, with the lobby of the affected building left with a metre-deep crater.
5. #ITUNES: Apple has announced a press conference tomorrow at which it is expected to launch a new edition of iTunes, anticipated by many to be a ‘cloud’ edition allowing streamed music in the manner of other services like Spotify.
Blog AppleBitch suggests the new service could take the form of a “free, ad-supported format or a subscription-based model where users could pay a set amount each month for unlimited streaming”.
Other potential features may include the ability to sync devices like the iPhone or iPad wirelessly with a computer, perhaps automatically – with the devices linking up as soon as they come within WiFi range.
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