EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine things you need to know as you start your day.
1. #WINNING: Team Ireland has secured its first medal of this year’s Special Olympics in Athens. Aisling Beacom of Wicklow took the bronze medal in the 800m freestyle swim on the opening day of the games – and recorded a personal best time, too.
2. #NIXERS: The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (ISME) has warned of a growing black economy in Ireland, including smuggling and cash-only ‘nixers’, which could be costing the state up to €5bn in revenue per year.
3. #LIBYA: As NATO’s military action on Libya enters its 100th day today, the International Criminal Court at The Hague is to decide if it will issue an arrest warrant for Colonel Gaddafi for crimes against humanity.
4. #ROADS: The body of one of the young men killed on Irish roads this weekend was left by the side of the road until discovered by his uncle later in the morning. The Examiner reports that relatives of 20-year-old Fintan Taylor had just returned from Australia and were out early because of their jet lag when they discovered his remains. Gardaí are still searching for the vehicle involved.
5. #EUROZONE: As the Greek government faces a crucial week in which it must pass its €28bn austerity package, European leaders are preparing a Plan B in case of a Greek default, according to the Telegraph.
6. #EXPLOSIVES: Gardaí are continuing to question two men who were arrested yesterday after explosives were discovered at a farm in Co Louth.
7. #DRUGS: Research at Dublin Institute of Technology has found that many of the psychoactive substances banned from sale in Ireland are readily available online, RTÉ reports.
8. #FLOTILLA: As Palestine continues to push for UN recognition as an independent country, Israel has warned journalists to steer clear of an activists’ flotilla heading for Gaza. Haaretz reports that Israel has threatened to punish journalists who report from the flotilla by banning them from Israel for up to a decade.
9. #HOAX: The male US graduate student who recently admitted creating the Gay Girl in Damascus blog is now suspected of inventing at least one other persona on the site: that of a complimentary commenter who accessed his site from the same IP address he was using. The Guardian reports that Tom MacMaster says that a friend who was visiting him decided to log on and defend him.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say