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GOOD EVENING
The 5 at 5 Five things you need to know: Gaddafi says Libyan uprising is al-Qaeda’s fault, government denies ‘three strikes’ downloading rumours, and who’s that girl in the Rubberbandits video?
Every afternoon, TheJournal.iebrings you five things you really need to know at 5 o’clock.
1. #LIBYA: Leader Muammar Gaddafi has once again spoken to the nation and refused to stand down from power – saying his role is similar to that of the Queen of England, while blaming the country’s ongoing unrest on al-Qaeda.
Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs, meanwhile, is assembling a crisis team on the ground in Tripoli as a second attempt gets underway to evacuate some of the 70 Irish citizens from the country, following yesterday’s unsuccessful attempt to remove them from the airport.
2. #GE11: As the broadcast moratorium on election coverage kicks in, the party leaders have been making their final pitches to seek the support of undecided voters ahead of tomorrow’s voting.
While the leaders step down from their soapboxes, though, there’s still time to check our their profiles on our candidate list – and to revise our guide on how exactly the PR-STV electoral system works. Meanwhile, HitTheRoad.ie has stuck up a handy tool guiding Dubliners to their polling station.
3. #WIKILEAKS: A British court has ordered the extradition of Julian Assange to Sweden, where he is wanted on a number of rape charges. The WikiLeaks founder is set to appeal the decision, however.
Meanwhile, PayPal has frozen a major account set up to provide for the legal defence of the suspected source of most of WikiLeaks’ material, Bradley Manning – in a move criticised by groups rallying around the sequestered US soldier.
4. #THREE STRIKES RULE: The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation has dismissed reports that it was preparing secondary law to introduce mandatory internet filtering for Ireland’s internet service providers.
Reports yesterday suggested that a statutory instrument was being prepared to allow for the mandatory implementation of filtering, with ISPs then bound by a ‘three strikes rule’ to disconnect users who were suspected of illegal filesharing.
5. #RUBBERBANDITS: The Limerick hip-hop duo have unveiled their new video, for ‘I Wanna Fight Your Father’ – an ode to male machismo, featuring Irish actor Páraic Breathnach as the father of Blind Boy Boat Club’s new belle, Róisín.
But following the lead of Madeline Mulqueen, who became an immediate star following her appearance in the ‘Horse Outside’ video, the video may have created a new modelling superstar: We’re told ‘Róisín’ is played by someone called ‘Holly’, but we’re not entirely convinced ourselves…
