EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you need to know before 9am…
1. #BUDGET: There is ongoing confusion as to how documents apparently containing details of a VAT rise in next month’s Budget ended up in Germany, with the Government complaining to the EC over the leak. Meanwhile, TheJournal.ie can reveal that the documents in question were prepared as long as six weeks ago.
2. #OCCUPY WALL STREET: More than 200 protesters have been arrested in New York after Occupy Wall Street activists staged a ‘day of action’ to mark two months of their campaign, the New York Times reports. However, the demonstrators failed to close down the New York Stock Exchange.
3. #SCHOOLS: Around 258 schools in 47 areas across the country have been earmarked for transferring out of the control of the Catholic Church. The recommendation put forward by an advisory group is the first phase of Minister Ruairí Quinn’s wide-ranging rethink of school management.
4. #RTÉ: RTÉ has said there will be no dismissals of staff after the State broadcaster settled with Fr Kevin Reynolds, who was libelled in a Prime Time programme. The Irish Times reports that the broadcaster is expected to pay more than €1million in damages and costs.
5. #ROAD TO NOWHERE: Clare County Council has acknowledged that it spent €3.7million on a stretch of road which has never been used – because builders did not complete the final 200m, the Irish Independent reports.
6. #WHITE HOUSE: A suspect has been charged with attempting to assassinate US president Barack Obama, after an assault rifle was apparently fired at the White House. Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez reportedly described Obama as an “Antichrist” who planned to “mark” all children with GPS chips.
7. #GP VISITS: Free GP care will become a reality as early as next March for people with long-term illnesses. The announcement was made yesterday by Minister Roisín Shortall, who said the Government hoped to make GP visits free for everyone by 2015, according to RTÉ.
8. #MYSTERY: There could be new revelations in one of Hollywood’s biggest mysteries after LA police announced they would re-open investigations into the 1981 drowning of screen legend Natalie Wood. Police said they now had “additional information” about her death, CNN reports.
9. #CURSES: Prone to a bit of bad language in text messages? Lucky you’re not in Pakistan – where regulators have blocked 1,500 rude words from all SMS communications. As well as the usual suspects, banned words include “flatulence”, “deposit” and “fondle”, the Guardian reports.
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