EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you need to know before 9am…
1. #BLAST: An explosive device detonated in Cork city last night, injuring a bomb disposal officer who was attempting to make it safe. Hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes to a nearby church after the bomb was found underneath a vehicle.
2. #DOWNING STREET: Taoiseach Enda Kenny is travelling to London this morning for meetings with UK prime minister David Cameron. The talks are expected to focus on trade links – but Sinn Féin have urged Kenny to press Cameron on the legacy of the Troubles.
3. #BODY FIND: The body discovered yesterday in a Kerry bog is believed to be that of a Brazilian man in his 20s from Gort, Co Galway, who went missing last month, RTÉ reports. Two men have been arrested since the grisly find was made yesterday.
4. #TROIKA: Talks with the troika aimed at securing a deal on the Anglo promissory notes could also see changes to the Irish banking sector, according to finance minister Michael Noonan. Noonan said that loss-making mortgages in other banks could be transferred to Anglo.
5. #AFGHANISTAN: The US has warned of possible reprisals in Afghanistan after a US soldier killed 16 civilians including nine children in a shooting spree, the BBC reports. Witnesses have suggested that the soldier appeared drunk and was laughing.
6. #TEACHERS: More than 1,000 teachers have warned that their pay could be cut off if they continue to be repeatedly absent from work, the Irish Independent reports. Teachers’ unions said the warnings were given to many suffering from serious health conditions.
7. #BUSINESS: Confidence among businesses has improved significantly in the last three months, IBEC has said, with 30 per cent of exporters planning to hire new staff.
8. #SYRIA: Around 45 women and children have been stabbed and burned to death in a massacre by regime-allied forces in the flashpoint city of Homs, opposition activists told CNN. The bodies were discovered last night in the Karm al-Zaytoun neighbourhood.
9. #TRAGEDY: Two 12-year-old girls have committed suicide in China by jumping into a pond, seemingly in the hope of travelling through time. The pair’s wishes may have been inspired by popular Chinese TV shows in which people attain time travel after death, Shanghaiist reports.
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