EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you should know with your morning coffee…
1. #GREECE: Greece has confirmed that an overwhelming majority of its bondholders have signed up to a deal which will see the country knock over €100 billion off its national debt.
The country’s finance ministry this morning said that 85.8 per cent of the holders of its Greek-issued debts had agreed to take part in a write-down of 53.5 per cent on the value of the bonds, and losses reaching up to 75 per cent when the lower interest rates are taken into account.
2. #STUDENTS: Rising tuition costs in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have led to a significant rise in the number of students from the UK applying for places in Irish third-level institutions, according to newly released data from the CAO. Students are also demonstrating changes in their subject choices – with more opting for science, agriculture and computer courses.
3. #JOBS: Internet job search website Indeed has announced the creation of 50 new jobs at its Dublin-based European Headquarters. The new positions will be in sales, client services, business development and operations.
4. #DUNDALK: Two men found dead yesterday in burned-out car in Dundalk, Co Louth, had been fatally shot before the fire in the vehicle began, according to post-mortem results. It is suspected that the men, who have not yet been formally identified, were involved in a Dublin-based gangland feud, RTE reports.
5. #FUEL POVERTY: The Minister for Social Protection has rejected claims made at a recent conference that half the population of Ireland will be in fuel poverty by 2017, and insisted that households with high levels of fuel poverty will be prioritised this year.
The Energy Action conference in Dublin early last month heard that of 3,000 ‘excess’ winter deaths of people aged over 65 recorded in Ireland between 2005 and 2009, over 400 were directly linked to the temperature inside their homes.
6. #31st DAIL: Today, the Fine Gael-Labour coalition mark the anniversary of their first year in government. Earlier this week, Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore reported on their coalition’s progress in government over the last 12 months. TheJournal.ie has prepared its own analysis of what Fine Gael and Labour promised…
7. #SYRIA: Dozens of people have been killed in a fresh wave of attacks in the Syrian city of Homs, with 44 victims coming from just a handful of families, the BBC reports.
The reported attack has come just one day after the Syrian Arab Red Crescent team entered the struggling neighbourhood of Baba Amr in Homs and the UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos travelled to Damascus to appeal to the Syrian government to allow relief workers access to crisis areas.
8. #CANCER: Coca-Cola and Pepsi have altered their recipes in order to avoid putting a ‘cancer warning’ on the label as demanded by California law, the Guardian reports. The new recipe contains less 4-methylimidazole, a chemical caramel colouring that has been included on the state’s list of carginogens.
A representative for Coca-Cola insisted the company believed there was “no public health risk” associated with the chemical, but undertook the change “so that our products would not be subject to the requirement of a scientifically unfounded warning”.
9. #ONE YEAR IN: The government’s first year in office has seen Twitter debates over Miss Piggy, print toner and internship schemes – as well as political discussions such as the Queen of England’s visit in May to the fallout of the Cloyne Report’s publication in July. Take a trip down memory lane with the top hastags of the 31st Dáil’s first year.
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